Am I going to freak when I see my electric bill?

[redhen]

i dont know..i'm waiting with baited breath also..i have 3 heated waters going 24/7..(1 each for chickens,ducks, goats)...i have a 250 watt daylight heat bulb for morning/daytime heat and egg laying..and i have a red 250 watt red heat lamp for night time.....

..hoping its not to bad...

 

[Mrs MIA]

You probably don't need a 250w bulb for the daylight - just a 60w will work. And the night-time red lamp... you don't need it at all. Seriously. Not unless you get to -20, and even then you may not need it. Keep the water thawed, but don't give them extra heat. If your power goes out for any length of time, they will not be happy with you for spoiling them.

And I'm only saying this in the kindest way I can, to everyone, with the written word.

 

[hippichick]

I have some 7 week old Orps in a run with a lamp with a 60 watt bulb for warmth if they need it. Could I put some 4 week olds with them? I have them in brooders right now with heat lamps. It's supposed to get down in the low 40s tonight, and the next few nights may be colder.

Paula

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

If your chickens are used to heat you need to gradually over 2 - 3 weeks get rid of it if your going to. Any chicken fully feathered (about 5 - 6 weeks of age) is not in need of heat. I'm in Canada and my chickens get no heat, they just have deep bedding and closed doors at night. You would be surprised if you put a thermometer in your coop that registers the low and can be reset every day, like the greenhouse ones, how warm chicken's body heat will keep a building.

If you want eggs all winter they have to have light for at least 14 hours a day so make sure that you have good quality light to add in to the day at the morning and evening to make up that many hours. This is not a heat lamp but a good quality daylight spectrum bulb and they come in those compact florescent now so you will only be spending pennies to run them.

Give them whole grains before they go to roost so that they have a full crop as whole grains last longer and give more energy to the bird to keep warm for the night. In fact I just feed more whole grains period. In really cold weather (-30) I have whole grains out free choice in the feeders rather than pellets, or mixed in. It can help then too if you have a low light like a night light by the feeder so they will top up in the night if they need to.

 

[lovemychix]

I give my older hens cracked corn and wheat now to warm them up. Can I start giving my 5 week old chicks some corn?

 

[kelliepulido]

I have just sectioned off a smaller area in the nest box section of the coop it has almost 3 sides with deep litter,roosts,12 nest boxes a dogloo,and then I suspended a heat lamp w/250watt bulb at about 24in from the floor with food and h20 in that area too,this spot is about 12ft,by 4ft.and 8ft.hi,they have access to the rest of the coop but I wanted the heat lamp area sectioned off to keep that area abit warmer.It is suppose to be 18degrees tonight.Earlier today the chooks were all fluffed up perched and some were shivering so I thought i better do something.They are banty cochins 6.5m old.

 

[lovemychix]

It's like 20's here so I plugged my other light in for mine. I can't sleep at night knowing my babies are cold. As for the bigger chickens I know they will be ok but those babes I worry about. I did take a lamp away today and they seemed warm. I guess I'm a softie and I don't care if I have a little larger electric bill... I have kept the house colder and have been dressing warmer.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

If it is pretty cold you really should run some sort of heat source. You can look up the wattage on heat lamps, reptile ceramic coils (my favorite becuase the chickens go to sleep for the night) or even an oil/electice heater. I have a nursery that I have separated off about a 8 x6 area with heavy moving blankets. There are two coop areas, one for the new 3 to 5 week old babies and the other has the older chicks that can regulate their body temperature. I have two heat lamps. One on the babies is always on. The other is on a photoelectric day/night switch. This one is in the big chicks area. It really heats the coop up. I have had to put in the electric/oil heater an the switdh becuase it is getting really cold. This is outsid coops.

 

[Chick_a_dee]

Quote:
Hahaha, I ran ours 24/7 for 5 weeks because we got our chicks in July when it was warm, and we don't have AC at all so we didn't need the light after 5 weeks, our bill wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
Let your chickens grow their own warm coat... Your babies are NOT cold just because you are.

If I had heat lamps going 24/7 from September to May, I wouldn't be able to sleep wondering if the bulb had burnt out or if the power went out.

I will say this again... it is 9°F outside right at this moment, and there are at least 6 birds sleeping outside - all on their own free will. They do not have extra heat, and they are just fine. If you keep them too warm, they will not grow the down undercoating that they need to stay warm, and WILL freeze if the power goes out for any reason. Turn the heat off and watch them... you will know for sure when it's too cold for them, because they will be huddled into each other for warmth and won't want to leave the coop. That would probably be around -20F. I've not heard of any healthy chickens dying of the cold, but they can get sick if they're kept too warm and moist. Give them a draft-free coop, fresh water, and good nutrition (gawd, I feel/sound like a broken record!!

) and they will do just fine without the extra heat. They are not affected by windchill like we are, though they should be able to get out of the wind if they want to.