100 watt lightbulb re: heat

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kimbymarie

kimbymarie

In the Brooder
8 Years
Apr 18, 2011
68
2
39
Central Massachusetts
Hi, I know that many folks recommend not putting any heat in coop. Would a 100 watt ceramic infrared bulb (gives off no light) be ok just to maybe take the edge off when it gets close to freezing. I'm just having a hard time dealing with my chickens being out in the coop all winter in freezing temps. Thanks,
 
You have to do what you need to do. It won't be for them, but if it makes you more comfortable, it's fine. The danger of providing artificial heat is this. Should you lose power or have a disruption during a particularly bitter cold snap, they wouldn't be as hardy as they would have been otherwise. They'd be slightly more spoiled and the loss of the lamp, due to power or equipment failure would be very, very hard on them.
 
Remember that each chicken puts off 10 watts of heat themselves. Say 6 chickens would be heating your small coop with 60 watts. I'm 2 climate zones north of you and don't provide heat.

Our hatchery stock BR, sexlinks, RIR and Leghorns didn't slow down at all in winter extending daylight with 13W energy efficient bulb to 12 hours.
 
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Cold barely effects their laying. It is much more about the light or lack thereof. First year pullets lay well through the winter, while older hens will not, even if extra light is provided, many still will not lay well until spring. Chickens also consume a bit more food in winter as they need to create body heat.
 
Fred's Hens :

Cold barely effects their laying. It is much more about the light or lack thereof. First year pullets lay well through the winter, while older hens will not, even if extra light is provided, many still will not lay well until spring. Chickens also consume a bit more food in winter as they need to create body heat.

Thanks ! for the info !!!​
 
A 100 watt ceramic bulb gets awfully hot. I almost started a fire with a 60 watt one once when I stupidly put the lamp it was in down on a table as I was cleaning out a reptile cage. In less than 15 minutes, it started to burn the table top even though the bulb was not in actual contact with the surface. Those things scare me, especially in an evironment that contains something as combustable as wood shavings.

I use a Delonghi oil filled radiator to provide warmth in our coop. At its lowest setting, it never gets too hot to touch. For further safety, I set it on stone pavers inside a birdcage, and weight the top with stone pavers.

32217_heater.jpg


We don't get very cold winters where we live, but last winter we had a whole week of below freezing weather and this heater set on low kept the 8' by 8' coop above 40 degrees.
 

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