Any Northerners NOT Use A Heat Lamp?

[Turkeyrangler]

This is my first year with birds in a long time. I have 6 turkeys, 3 peafowl and 5 chickens in an 8x12x7 coop. My chickens are single combed EEs and very cold hardy; gotten locally. My turkeys and peafowl are also gotten locally and all are doing fine. This morning it was about -2F when I went out to open up the coop. The door is well protected from the wind so I leave it open all day for right now. I threw out some scratch in the run in the snow and everyone was out pecking around in a minute after opening the door. It was actually pretty nice in the coop when I filled the feeder, could hardly see my breath in there. The turkey's keep the snow in the run packed down so the chickens will come out on the packed snow. I gave them a bale of straw to play with and they have that scattered all over the run in the snow. Everyone looks great. They are really feathered out right now and very healthy; no frost bit combs or feet. They do get all the food that they want right now, have deep litter but no heat. They do have a heater for the water, but that is it. I'm sure there will be days this winter when I will keep them cooped up, like when the high will be -10F. I've seen days here where the high was -25F, but that is pretty rare. Coldest I've seen is -56F on February 2, 1996. That was WAY cold. I camped out in a Quincy (snow cave) I built in the backyard just because I wanted to experience it. It was nice and toasty in there with the snow for insulation. I was a wilderness guide at one point and have camped out at -24 on the ice on a lake with no tent in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area here in Northern MN with nothing more than a couple closed cell foam pads under me and a very good sleeping bag. It was a down bag and the way I see it is my birds walk around wearing a down sleeping bag all day...

They will be just fine with no heat. I'm just doing what all the locals have been telling me and the good folks on here have backed up.

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

We've gone through 3 winters up here...never provided any heating for my birds. Sturdy coop. That's it. All has been fine.

 

[enggass]

Not me. 9.5º F outside right now. Birds don't seem to mind... ( although I am not actually with them right now

 

[cybercat]

Something else I wanted to mention. Increaseing scratch now is a must. Mine are getting half of there feed in scratch wheres before I did not added it. Scratch is a junk fatteneing food, work great for this time of year. It puts on the layer of fat they need to keep a bit warmer. Should not be fed other than winter if you want lots of eggs.

A note on adding heat to the coop. If using a heat lamp, heat rises so what good does that really do. Also heat lamps can cause fires due to all the chicken dust that lands on the lamp. This happens alot if you do not clean lamp daily for a regular light bulb.

 

[rubyred]

Thanks to all for the great posts about not needing heat.

I'm new at chickens having recently rescued two bantams (8 months old) and am still trying to get my mind around all things chicken related. It seems from most posts that one doesn't necessarily need to worry about the cold, but that seems to be from people with lots of chickens to snuggle together at night. I've only got the two as pets and they're not generating enough heat to keep them coop more than a degree or two above outside temps (probably a result of the ample ventilation and the not well-enough insulated coop).

It's been below freezing for close to a week now (sometimes just above during the day) and the coop has gotten as low as 25 so far without adverse effect. But they're now saying it will get into the single digits this week and I'm wondering at what point it may be necessary to provide some form of heat (ie snugglesafe or like) since there are only two of them. We get to -25, -35 in winter so best to think of it now.

They're in a relatively small space with ventilation, draft free and I'm careful about water. But at 25 degrees they are already somewhat reluctant to come out, so clearly feeling the cold. My guess is that they'll be OK down to 10 or maybe even zero? But that below that I should probably be thinking some form of supplemental heat, especially since they're still a bit fragile (one having successfully survived a hawk attack last week).

If anyone has any thoughts on whether there's a temp at which they think 2 scrawny little chickens might need a little heat supplement I'd sure appreciate some reassurance and/or advice!

 

[mountaintopchicken]

I live on top of a mountain in an exposed location in VT, gardening zone 3 and I do not and will not heat, unless I someday decide to get Serama's or silkies.

 

[Lesa]

I have 6 turkeys, 3 peafowl and 5 chickens in an 8x12x7 coop.

DH brian here...

We were told it is not a good idea to have chicken and turkeys in the same area. One passes a disease to the other, I don't know which way.

We don't heat our coop be we have plenty of birds. I think all that means is you have to size the coop accordingly. Insulation is a good idea in zones 4 and colder.​

 

[Raketemensch]

How are all you non-heating people keeping your water from freezing?

 

[2DogsFarm]

Quote:
I have electric in the coop (converted metal garden shed) and use a heated 1gal dog bowl.
As long as they don't roost directly above the bowl it stays unfrozen & clean for days but I usually dump it every morning & refill from a plastic watering can I keep in the house.

Last Winter was a first for my chickens (hatched in March '09) & me.
I kept them confined to their unheated coop and they were fine except for picking my Houdan hen bald from boredom.
This Summer they learned the Joys of freeranging, so now I am getting the Stinkeye for the change in weather & their obvious distaste for going out in the snow-covered yard.
I leave the West-facing door to the coop closed as that's where the wind seems to be coming from most, but they have access to their fenced yard.
Not
Good
Enough

they tell me....

 

[Turkeyrangler]

Quote:
DH brian here...

We were told it is not a good idea to have chicken and turkeys in the same area. One passes a disease to the other, I don't know which way.

We don't heat our coop be we have plenty of birds. I think all that means is you have to size the coop accordingly. Insulation is a good idea in zones 4 and colder.

Hi Brain,
Although this is the first winter these birds have spent with me I'm not the first owner of many of them. A bunch were given to me and most of them have been together for at least a couple years. The previous owner has had turkeys, chickens, peafowl and guineas together for at least 15 years with no disease problems. We don't have a problem with Blackhead in the area. That would be my main concern since chickens can pass it to turkeys.

Adding this so I'm not hijacking the thread. The bottom is supposed to drop out of the temps this weekend here. Double digits below zero on Saturday and Sunday. Still won't be heating them. The deep litter seems to be holding heat well, or producing heat. It was pretty cozy in the coop when I locked them up tonight. My door and windows close up nice and snug, but my soffits leak pretty well so the ventilation is good up high. There is no breeze in the coop. I only have just a touch of frost on the windows so the humidity is pretty low in there and will continue to drop with the temps. No heat needed at this point. We got another couple inches of snow today.