Bitter cold on the way: girls in the house?

[Princessferf]

When we have had very cold temps (single digits and below zero) I have not done anything different for my chickens. The temp has dropped to 20 degrees in the coop and since I keep the water open (I have a warming base for their water) they seem just fine.

When I check on them, even when its 20 degrees in the coop, their mood is fine. When I reach through their feathers and touch their skin, they are toasty warm.

We added some more straw for them and made sure they had enough food and water.

I don't know if a chicken's breed helps... I have RI Reds which we got purposely because of their egg laying skills and adaptation to colder weather.

 

[s6bee]

I'm worried too. I haven't yet given any supplemental heat but I am considering putting in the heat lamp with the upcoming temps. I have a small coop so it should do the trick. One question I read that I want to know the answer to as well is, should the lamp run 24/7, if not, what times would be best?

Thanks
Steph

 

[SeaChick]

Steph,

I wondered about that, too. When it got down to 0 last month, I left the heat lamp on all night, but the chickens didn't sleep (even with a red bulb). That can;t be good either.

We have a regular light fixture on a timer to come on around 3:30 AM (for egg-layng)... what I did last night was to simply replace the regular light with the heat lamp. The coldest part of the night is between then and 5, here, so I figured that was a good compromise, allowing them the dark nighttime, but heating them up in the coldest hours. I just checked the min/max temps on the remote thermometer, and it got down to 25.7 before the heat lamp came on, which isn't bad at all. Also that thermometer is on the other side of the coop from the roost, so I trust it was warmer where they actually were, from body heat.

Stacey

 

[s6bee]

Oh my husband has more work to do.....he's just happy they are producing now.
I'll try and do a light run here tomorrow night, I think the temps arrive Saturday-Monday, so I'll have enough time to tweak if needed. I just want them to be OK. That's just so darn cold, even for cold hardy birds.

Thanks

 

[SeaChick]

Steph, make sure you get a fixture (ceramic bulb socket) that is rated for the 250-watt heat lamp you're likely to get. The cheaper look-alike work light sockets aren't and I had one melt on me. Scary. Here in Maine they were really pricey at the feed store and at the hardware store, but only about $12 at Tractor Supply, FWIW.

Good luck!!!

 

[Farmer Kitty]

I have a 8x8 coop. When it gets down into the single digits I put the heatlamp on. The coop stays around 20 and they do fine. We had a bout of below zero already this winter and I just put the one heat lamp on. They were fine. It's us people who have to go out and do the chores that need to make sure we bundle up well. This weekend it's not expected to get above 0. Stay warm everyone!

 

[JaciesCoop]

Hi Amy> I don't know how yours is set up but I have a regular light fixture in my coop and just have one of those multi outlet fixtures screwed into it and have the two lights plugged into that so I can just turn the switch on the wall on and off. Maybe you could just get a multi outlet extension and plug them both into it.
It was 10 degrees here this morning and the coop seemed fine. I leave them on all day when it's cold like this.

Jacie

 

[Ma]

I leave the lamps on 24/7 until the temperatures recover at least into the teens above zero.

We use 2 (250 watt) infared lamps, and the red lights don't phase the birds. They sleep fine right through, go to roost right underneath them, no problem.

I heard/read somewhere that they can not see red light. I don't know about the validity of this statement, but seems to be true, in our case at least.

The girls (and roo) hang out underneath the lamps all day on the bitter cold days. And we're in for a spell here in east central Iowa. Starting tonight, the lamps will run 24/7.

HTH

 

[elliemb]

There are times when the temps in Manitoba have gotten down to a frosty -20 or -25 and my birds are quite happy in an insulated granary with 2 heatlamps going. I do have over a foot or so of straw on the floor, which sounds a little like overkill, but the floor is not insulated. Also my husband uses the tractor to tightly place round bales around the building to shelter it. Wind or drafts are much more damaging than just the cold temp. Some of my hens are seniors and have lived long happy lives, and through some miserable Januarys. Before we caught onto the bale idea, I would shovel a lot of snow against the building. It's a terrific insulator!

 

[bamagirl68]

Ya'll are making me cold just reading these posts!!LOL! We are expecting 21 degrees here in a couple of days!

I am so not lookin forward to it either! I HATE cold weather!( I work outside ) Last week the high was around 70!