Arctic cold front on the way

[Builderbee]

I’m in Maine and have 9 full grown girls some of whom are still molting. I have a small insulated, draft free and ventilated coop which I cleaned yesterday and added extra shavings to. I was thinking of adding a Producers Pride radiant heat plate for the nights when we are going to get below zero. This is not to keep them warm or heat the coop, but I was thinking that it would just add a few degrees of warmth (kind of like having another hen or two) in the coop. I didn’t do anything last winter but no one was molting either. Appreciate thoughts on whether or not to do this. Thanks.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Welcome from New Orleans. I don't have your problems with severe cold in winter. I think we have only had to break ice in the girls water one winter and that was only a couple of days. Having said that, I personally would be afraid the shavings could get too hot and cause a problem.
I am also biased, when I was a child I had a puppy and we had a hard freeze here. So Daddy placed the dog house in the shed (Mom refused to
let it in the house). with a light bulb inside the dog house. the puppy, who chewed everything, chewed the wires to the light bulb and the shed caught fire in the middle of the night.
Everything turned out fine, including the puppy. Just repair work to the shed.
There are lots of people here who deal with sub zero weather every winter. I am sure some will be around soon with more experience and better advice.

 

[aldarita]

I think your idea of adding a plate of radiant heat to your coop is good. I used to have one in each one of my coops, they are safe and will only bring enough warmth to keep the hens fine, especially if they are molting, they might not have enough coverage to fluff up to be warm.

 

[Builderbee]

Welcome from New Orleans. I don't have your problems with severe cold in winter. I think we have only had to break ice in the girls water one winter and that was only a couple of days. Having said that, I personally would be afraid the shavings could get too hot and cause a problem.
I am also biased, when I was a child I had a puppy and we had a hard freeze here. So Daddy placed the dog house in the shed (Mom refused to
let it in the house). with a light bulb inside the dog house. the puppy, who chewed everything, chewed the wires to the light bulb and the shed caught fire in the middle of the night.
Everything turned out fine, including the puppy. Just repair work to the shed.
There are lots of people here who deal with sub zero weather every winter. I am sure some will be around soon with more experience and better advice.

This is a radiant heat plate so while I won’t say there is no danger of fire (because there is always some risk with electricity),it is much less and I plan to mount it on the wall above the pine shavings.

 

[Builderbee]

I think your idea of adding a plate of radiant heat to your coop is good. I used to have one in each one of my coops, they are safe and will only bring enough warmth to keep the hens fine, especially if they are molting, they might not have enough coverage to fluff up to be warm.

I have a wireless thermometer in the coop and I have noticed since I lost a couple of birds it’s not as warm in the coop as it used to be at night. Thanks for the reply. We are going from snow last Friday to rain today to arctic temps Tuesday. This winter has had huge temperature swings this year. My new bantams are going to be living in the garage all winter at this rate. I won’t risk them with these temperature swings.

 

[canne50]

I’m in Maine and have 9 full grown girls some of whom are still molting. I have a small insulated, draft free and ventilated coop which I cleaned yesterday and added extra shavings to. I was thinking of adding a Producers Pride radiant heat plate for the nights when we are going to get below zero. This is not to keep them warm or heat the coop, but I was thinking that it would just add a few degrees of warmth (kind of like having another hen or two) in the coop. I didn’t do anything last winter but no one was molting either. Appreciate thoughts on whether or not to do this. Thanks.

Hello! Welcome from a former Maineac!
I lived in up in Aroostook Co. close to Caribou..
I had a tall coop about 12' high and 8'x8'.
Positioned for winter solar gain and summer cool.
Never needed supplemental heat. Winters I blocked the upper 4' of roosts with plastic sheeting. Whole coop wrapped with clear plastic. Bales of hay up sides of all interior walls with chook door unblocked. Center of coop liberally covered with loose hay for deep bedding.
35 gallon rubber livestock tub was the spa or dusting hole. Spa contents were a loosely measured mix of peatmoss, sand, & a little wood ash.
I had full size Buff Orpingtons, Bantams, and some mixed. None of them ever suffered from frostbite on combs.
In late spring the plastic came off the outside and from upper roost block. Permenant chicken netting on SE side wall gave good ventilation along with shading trees.
My chickens in Maine (-25 °F) and here in SW NM (15°F.) have never had a problem keeping warm. It's the summers which can be hard on them.
Hope all's well for you & yours!
Happy New Year!

 

[3KillerBs]

Helpful Articles:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-extreme-weather-spiel.75893/

 

[Mrs. K]

Well, no, you don't need the heat plate, but if you want to, go ahead.

What you do need, it sounds like you already have. Good solid wind protection, good ventilation, and dry bedding. Dry chickens out of the wind are warm chickens. Soaking wet chickens dry off in a very short amount of time, because chickens produce a huge amount of body heat. This is why heat is harder on chickens than cold.

All of us wonder about the plan of molting in the middle of winter, it just does not make good sense... but I have had chickens for decades, and what I found, was I had much healthier chickens when I kept them dry, verse keeping them warm.

Ventilation needs to be well above their heads. No drafts and deep, dry bedding will keep them as healthy as possible, in well below zero temperatures. We have had temps as cold at -35 degrees.

Here in western SD, we always have big temperature swings, often times in a single day. Never seems to bother the chickens.

Think DRY not warm.

Mrs K

 

[Poultrybonkers]

Any heat is bad chickens have downfeathers to keep them warm I have one rooster in a coop hes fine by himself the amount of birds have nothing to do with them dying odds are there was something else wrong is why they die in the winter. Adding heat and when power goes out is when they will die because they were not use to it.

 

[canne50]

Yes, I forgot….you will rarely see a chicken with frostbite on its feet. Their nice, warm and fluffy feathers cover their feet while on the roost.
My girls could be out flapping and hopping through the snow or muck, but their coop is always dry.