Red Light?

[bobbi-j]

I have done this for years...I am trying to help. Just as you think you are...?
I run heat only enough to keep my water from freezing. My window is never steamed or frosted over. I use sand in my coop! My birds lay all winter. If OP is interested in my method they will ask. Other than that, it's a mute point.

Cheers!

You asked why everyone asks about ventilation first, I answered. We are all just sharing our methods and experiences here. No need to get defensive - no one said you were wrong...

 

[Kimberbach]

Nothing wrong with asking questions and getting multiple answers/opinions. From these answers/opinions, your common sense, and from your success and failures form your own plan. Take advice and file away. If you feel better using a red heat lamp, secure it correctly (which I'm 100% sure you do), have a backup plan for electrical outages (only you know the average time if any without electricity) use it! It doesn't affect animals like a regular heat lamp. We use red lamps through our zoo and haven't experienced any problems. Good luck..... guys give advice just don't get defensive and snippy if it's not taken or if it's questioned. Just mho

 

[jemimarose]

Last winter I had to give my chickens to my mother in law because I was moving. She has a tiny travel trailer she converted to a hen house and she had about 25 chickens in there. I thought there would be enough body heat in there to keep my hens alive but one morning I opened the door to let them out and one of my hens was frozen solid on the floor. It had been about -20 Fahrenheit the night before.
So now I have chickens again and I want to use a heat lamp on the coldest nights because I don't want that to happen again. I got a red lamp and put it on for a few nights when the weather was well below freezing and left it on during the day because the hens were going in there now and then to escape the cold for a while.
But then they started acting weird. My rooster was extremely irritable and pecking the hens for no reason, and the hens were fighting with each other like roosters! They also quit laying. I turned the light off and everything went back to normal and they started laying again. Why did this happen? Any thoughts?

 

[aart]

But then they started acting weird. My rooster was extremely irritable and pecking the hens for no reason, and the hens were fighting with each other like roosters! They also quit laying. I turned the light off and everything went back to normal and they started laying again. Why did this happen? Any thoughts?

Hard to say if it was just the light or something else @jemimarose .
Would be best to start a new thread here with info about...
-your flock size(numbers, ages, genders),
-your coop(size in feet by feet with pics),
...and....
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!