Sponsored Post Tips From Nutrena: The Heat is On, But is heating the coop really necessary in winter?

[Utard]

The girls aren't in the coop during the day anyway, they pop out as soon as their auto door opens (on a timer) and only go back in to lay or eat crumbles. I got the auto door last spring when the house was undergoing major reconstruction and we had to live elsewhere. It was neither practical nor reasonable to drive 25 miles every morning to let them out and I couldn't see having them "trapped" in the coop all day so the door paid for itself in gas money pretty fast.

(*) Nothing more than about an 18' squarish area surrounded by chicken wire. I made it so they could be somewhat confined when they were small. Now they just fly out so it isn't really used.

Bruce

Do you by chance know the MFG of the auto door? I like the sound of that as I can be lazy sometimes.

Do you ever have a problem with them not getting in in time?

 

[blucoondawg]

I would be more inclined to think it could be some other environmental factors? Who knows? Maybe I just got lucky this year? But in a lot of animals the biological clock is very strong with them.

This is my hens first winter. Maybe younger ones do better? I will have a better feel next year since I am moving and at least tripling the amount of birds I will have. Plus the fact I am a complete novice at this

We have a very dry climate here. But we did have a very cold time in december. Cooler than average. Down to low single digits for a little over a week straight the first time.

The only day I did have a problem is when the water froze and they did not have water for about 16-18 hours? I felt bad about that so I extra made sure that did not happen again.

There aren't any other factors it could be like I said it got severely cold and they stopped laying, when it warmed up they stared again. I am not talking cold like you experienced I am talking 25 to 30 BELOW zero. My birds lay fine in single digits above zero

 

[MaPa26]

Quote:

Always, always, always room for improvement. Oh- we didn't want our roosts any higher than eighteen inches not just because of the limited height inside of the coop, itself, but because I had read many warnings from people who said that some of their chickens developed bumble foot or could incur internal damage from jumping down from high places, on a regular basis. I am not taking any chances. They do it often enough just around the yard and our deck. I don't need to add to the chances of injury. If I had a walk-in coop, I would put the poop board at a convenient cleaning height, with the perch about twelve or fifteen inches above it, but I would make sure they had a ramp to climb up to the board.

Yep, I don't make ANYTHING that I don't later think of some way it could be improved. So many things, so little time

I just checked on bumblefoot, it is a bacterial infection they get in cuts on their feet. I doubt a chicken would get it from coming down off a roost if they land in shavings. What I have seen posted is they may damage their legs if the land hard, thus the need for adequate "runway" so they can fly down and "run out" like a parachutist.

I still think I'd go for something they could hop down to as a mid point (like my parallel 2' high roost if you have the space) rather than a ramp if you are concerned about the DOWN height. As you know by now, chickens poop whenever and wherever. Just one more thing to clean. They wouldn't likely use the ramp to go up anyway, at least not most of it. For one thing, as I am sure you have observed, chickens aren't very democratic. One or two would start up the ramp and get shoved off by a bird higher in the order deciding she wants to go up at the same time. I have a long ramp going out a barn window with a missing pane (and a plywood "door" for closing at night) to their outdoor 'pen' (*), probably a 30 degree slope, and it still needed cleats every couple of inches so they could walk up when they were too small to fly the ~5.5' to the window. Once they got bigger, they mostly flew to near the top, then walked in. They would go down a foot or two on the way out, then fly the remaining 4'. Same thing on the inside. I made a short ramp that they used when they were little, but now they just use it as a staging area to get out the window if the doors on the barn are closed. The missing pane area is only about 8"x10" so it is single file. Push, shove. "No, *I* want to go out first" "Hey I want to come in ... NOW. Get out of the way".

But now they are full grown and just go in and out the people doors at the ends of the barn alley (barring any predators, knock on wood, been safe so far). We open them in the morning and shut them at bird bedtime. There was evidence of a chicken door in one of the people doors way back. Someone else screwed plywood over the opening, I'm guessing the door rotted. I made a new door so they can go in and out if they like without having to have the people doors open when it is raining, snowing or really windy.

One thing to look for, with respect to your "straight into the coop" opening. Someone posted a picture last year of their windproof opening. Basically a U shaped tunnel. The wind won't make the 180 turn into the coop. Very slick.

I gave serious consideration to a poop board (or hammock, seems like a great idea - just take it out, dump the poop in the compost pile and hose it off) but a quick rake daily and occasionally adding more pine shavings seems to work fine. It is below freezing most of the winter so the poop becomes frozen rocks in no time. I take the clear plastic off the sides of the coop (the part on the 2 sides above the 4' high plywood walls) and leave the people door on the coop open all day in the summer. That seems to allow plenty of air clearing ventilation with the people doors on the barn alley ends also open (not to mention the natural flow in a 100+ year old barn). The girls aren't in the coop during the day anyway, they pop out as soon as their auto door opens (on a timer) and only go back in to lay or eat crumbles. I got the auto door last spring when the house was undergoing major reconstruction and we had to live elsewhere. It was neither practical nor reasonable to drive 25 miles every morning to let them out and I couldn't see having them "trapped" in the coop all day so the door paid for itself in gas money pretty fast.

(*) Nothing more than about an 18' squarish area surrounded by chicken wire. I made it so they could be somewhat confined when they were small. Now they just fly out so it isn't really used.

Bruce

The 180 "turn tunnel" sounds like a good idea. We had considered building a wind block just around their entrance door, just leaving the east side open. It would have been a lot easier and cheaper than making wind blocks on the pen. Hubby is OCD about the coop looking "nice" so plastic sheets wouldn't do. lol! The panels make a big difference, though. But it is also nice that they now have an outdoor place that is out of the rain and wind and it keeps ME dry and WARMER when I'm doing chores out there. Our coop has a linoleum floor that cleans up like a breeze in warm weather. We have a tool we picked up at a Home Show that is long handled with a rubber squeegee/rubber bristled end. Works great. If any poo DOES stick to the floor, I just spray it with some vinegar-water and let it loosen up. Sometimes I put a few wood shavings on the stuck down poo and wet them down. Easy-peasy. I don't even bother with having shavings all over the floor when it is warm; maybe a light coating under the roost. Had to use deep shavings for winter because the floor is just too cold. Gonna try to get it insulated this summer. We also had planned to make a guillotine door that would be on the inside, but just didn't get around to it. That's another thing on the list for this year. ALSO planning to try using the Sweet PDZ under the roost, as an experiment. Supposedly it will be similar to cleaning a litter box. I have the perfect little "kids" rakes that I use for cleaning the coop and the yard (yes, they free range close to the house, so I clean my yard), We are planning to let them free range farther out this year. I am concerned about hawks, though.

 

[bruceha2000]

Do you by chance know the MFG of the auto door? I like the sound of that as I can be lazy sometimes.

Do you ever have a problem with them not getting in in time?

Yep. Saw it first mentioned here on BYC.

It is a Pullet-shut door from chickendoors.com. It is made of aluminum, is side hinged and runs on 12V DC. It is easy to "program" because you use a magnet to open the door in the morning and again at night - once. That sets the schedule. You can "force" the door open or closed at any time using the magnet without cancelling the "schedule".

That easiness is also the only down side. As the daylight shortens in the fall, you have to reprogram it if you want to keep them on a schedule relative to the day length and you have to do both morning "open" and evening "close". They do have a photo sensor you can buy to have it open and close based on sunlight but since my coop is in the barn some distance from the outside wall, I'm not sure how this would work for my girls. What if it closes before they decide to go in the coop? I would be interested in other peoples' experience with this optional feature.

It opens for a minute 5 minutes after it closes for laggards. I do have a light pointing into the coop on a timer so there is light in the coop until after it is dark enough outside that they SHOULD be in the coop and since that would be the only light around they should be in. But I have had a couple of instances where I went to the barn before the chicken door opened and was met by a girl who was on the wrong side at second closing. Maybe she went out for a bedtime drink at the wrong time.

You can buy their battery and either a float charger if you have power in the coop or a solar charger. I actually am using two 6V "lantern" batteries wired in series because:
- Power to the barn was out from the end of March until September (house reconstruction) so I had no way to power the float charger.
- I didn't know how much sunlight the solar panel needed and if would it get enough light in the winter, especially if it got covered with snow.
- MONEY!

While the lantern batteries are not rechargeable (which goes against my environmental nature) they have lasted a LONG time. I got the door in early May and pulled 2 of the 4 alkaline batteries from the fluorescent lantern so they weren't new. The first pair lasted until probably Sept or Oct. I figured the second were probably dead a few weeks ago given the length of time and COOOOLLLLLDDDDDDDDD but nope, they are STILL going. If you have an old car battery that isn't going to start your car in the coldest weather, it could probably power this door for a year at least and you can recharge it.

With a nod to Amazon: Yes, I would recommend this product to a friend and I give it 4.5 stars. Would be 5 if the open and close settings were separated so you don't have to reset both. It isn't hard, but you have to be available at the right time both morning and night on a given day.

Bruce

 

[mrballance]

Yep. Saw it first mentioned here on BYC.

It is a Pullet-shut door from chickendoors.com. It is made of aluminum, is side hinged and runs on 12V DC. It is easy to "program" because you use a magnet to open the door in the morning and again at night - once. That sets the schedule. You can "force" the door open or closed at any time using the magnet without cancelling the "schedule".

That easiness is also the only down side. As the daylight shortens in the fall, you have to reprogram it if you want to keep them on a schedule relative to the day length and you have to do both morning "open" and evening "close". They do have a photo sensor you can buy to have it open and close based on sunlight but since my coop is in the barn some distance from the outside wall, I'm not sure how this would work for my girls. What if it closes before they decide to go in the coop? I would be interested in other peoples' experience with this optional feature.

It opens for a minute 5 minutes after it closes for laggards. I do have a light pointing into the coop on a timer so there is light in the coop until after it is dark enough outside that they SHOULD be in the coop and since that would be the only light around they should be in. But I have had a couple of instances where I went to the barn before the chicken door opened and was met by a girl who was on the wrong side at second closing. Maybe she went out for a bedtime drink at the wrong time.

You can buy their battery and either a float charger if you have power in the coop or a solar charger. I actually am using two 6V "lantern" batteries wired in series because:
- Power to the barn was out from the end of March until September (house reconstruction) so I had no way to power the float charger.
- I didn't know how much sunlight the solar panel needed and if would it get enough light in the winter, especially if it got covered with snow.
- MONEY!

While the lantern batteries are not rechargeable (which goes against my environmental nature) they have lasted a LONG time. I got the door in early May and pulled 2 of the 4 alkaline batteries from the fluorescent lantern so they weren't new. The first pair lasted until probably Sept or Oct. I figured the second were probably dead a few weeks ago given the length of time and COOOOLLLLLDDDDDDDDD but nope, they are STILL going. If you have an old car battery that isn't going to start your car in the coldest weather, it could probably power this door for a year at least and you can recharge it.

With a nod to Amazon: Yes, I would recommend this product to a friend and I give it 4.5 stars. Would be 5 if the open and close settings were separated so you don't have to reset both. It isn't hard, but you have to be available at the right time both morning and night on a given day.

Bruce

I have the Pullet Shut door. It is wonderful. I have the Left hand version and the Solar Panel that recharges the battery, No electric power needed. I also have the Photo Sensor. You can adjust the Photo Sensor to Close or Open 30 mins or 60 mins later if it closes or Opens too early for you. I have had it almost a year now with no problems. If I'm not home the hens are safe with this door. Same battery, Good for four years I here.

 

[bruceha2000]

I have the Pullet Shut door. It is wonderful. I have the Left hand version and the Solar Panel that recharges the battery, No electric power needed. I also have the Photo Sensor. You can adjust the Photo Sensor to Close or Open 30 mins or 60 mins later if it closes or Opens too early for you. I have had it almost a year now with no problems. If I'm not home the hens are safe with this door. Same battery, Good for four years I here.

Thanks for the input, having some time adjustment on the photo sensor makes it sound like a good thing for my "wish list"!

Bruce

 

[Phoenixwmn]

This is SO informative, and I am grateful to have this valuable input. I've read so many pro's and con's of heating the coop and I worry about that being in New England. My better sense told me it might be potentially injurious to heat the coop, which would of course prevent them from acclimating to the weather here. I won;t have to worry about this til next year, but it's still a very important point and has to be addressed. THANKS to all who've posted, you've contributed to my learning curve.

 

[WalnutHill]

Greetings. My husband and I started raising chickens in 1997, in an old corn crib that was about as snug as the average plywood doghouse in the winter. Unfortunately, you could see that the moisture would condense and freeze on the rafters so the ventilation wasn't as good as it seemed it would be. Fast forward a few years and we switched to a structure called Chick-Inn-Hutch by Farmtek. 14 x 24, round pole on a raised deck, with a tarp-like cover with roll up sides and one end, a solid wall with man-door on the other end. We've since built another, and have only added heat when the temps drop below -5F. The coop stays about 20-25F above outdoor temp with the sides down, we leave at least the south side up when the temp is >20F, and the girls are happy to sunbathe indoors and lay well all winter. Here in Michigan we are now getting 120 eggs from 150 10 month old hens. We do have two 13w CFLs in each coop that go on early in the morning, and they have natural sunset. My Narragansett hen started laying in January, the Ameracaunas (who are 4+ years old) in February.

The only thing we watch is to keep the coop reasonably full or the roosts reasonably sparse so that the birds snug up together. When the temps dropped below zero we moved all the birds into one coop for the night, then just opened the doors in the morning and let whoever wanted, wander back to the other coop. Sometimes we do see hens with cold feet, they tuck them up alternately, but no harm done.

 

[Iluvmysilkies]

I have been wondering about this to. I just got 6 baby silkies and I am not sure what to do this winter with them. Do I need to worry about a heat lamp for silkies? I live in Utah where it gets pretty cold but rarely drops below 0 but it does sometimes. I have a ventilated wood coop made for them and plan to put their coop in the barn to, just to give them even more protection from the cold. Also do they need their run attached also during winter or should they just stay inside their 4x4 coop?

 

[hoytstkings]

I had my year old chickens here in eastern cold Montana lol, I thought it was warm enough so I took heat lamp out for other chickens in another half of my chicken coop n now we have chickens with gurgling n cold symptoms and pointers got them on meds