chicken coop heater pictures

[MissPrissy]

If you check through some of the archives this past winter there were one or two fires documented from the chicken dust igniting on the heat bulbs and then dripping down and catching the bedding on fire.

 

[gritsar]

I'm scared to death of fire but that has nothing to do with why I don't heat my coop. We have several outbuildings that do have heat lamps because they have water sources in them and we don't want frozen pipes.
I don't heat my coop for one reason and one reason only. The chickens don't need it heated! We built a draft free coop that's insulated. We are on a rural electric system. Our power goes out all the time during the winter. If my chickens were used to a warm coop and all of a sudden there wasn't any power to heat that coop that's when I'd start to worry. That's when you get sick chickens.

 

[MissPrissy]

Quote:
Thank you! I agree 100%!

 

[jubylives]

I'm not promoting heating a coop for the chickens. I've said that. I mostly keep the buggers from freezing into popsiciles. Last winter we had almost two weeks of straight -0 F temps and that makes it hard on myself to be in the coop dealing with feed, water, gathering eggs and cleaning. Not to mention beint single digits most of the winter or low teens. A little common sense in all this can go along ways. Plus alot of peopl still put up christmas lights and christmas trees. We had alot of people die last winter due to christmas decorations and still see it happen alot with no problems. I'm just saying if it is something one wants then do it smartly.



jeremy

 

[REELDOC]

At what age are chickens considered adults for the purposes of heat in the winter? My 6 hens are now 17 weeks old.

For the past couple of nights our temp has dropped below 25 degrees so I put the 250 watt heat lamp back in the coop which is 48 square feet x 6' high inside. The night prior to my putting the lamp in the coop the water froze.

 

[speckledhen]

Yours are plenty old enough at 17 weeks not to worry about them, heat-wise. I have some 19 week old birds in an uninsulated, unheated coop that isn't airtight at all. They do great and in the last week, it's been 5 degrees at night.

 

[griffin45]

I am not heating my coop, but I am going to be installing solar panels next month so that I have lighting in my coop and in my goat and sheep stable. I thought about heat so I could incubate and brood in the the stable, but the dust issue convinced me otherwise. We just moved 10 6 week old chicks outside and it has been quite cold as of late (15 to 20 degrees F). My coop is well ventilated and it is at least 1 foot off the ground at the lowest point. The chickens can handle cold. It is cold and wet that they can't handle. Just make sure that they are completely feathered and have lots of friends! As for the solar, I am intending on using 6 volt golf cart batteries to store the energy from the daylight and use it at night. It will also power my electric fence (which works wonders to keep out the vermin!).

 

[ghillie]

I put a small radiant heat panel from A1solutions.com on a thermostat to keep it above 32. They are designed to be safe especially in dusty situations. However, after reading some of the posts, i am concerned that the heat itself may cause health problems. Am I reading the posts right?

 

[Mrs MIA]

No extra heat...
We knock the ice out of buckets and refill them. The breeder coop has an auto watering system that has the heat-tape on it to keep the water from freezing. Other than that, there's one small heatlamp on the waterer in the main coop that just keeps the water from freezing. The birds don't need extra heat.

 

[pdpatch]

Although it has never happened to us, a fire in a animal house facility is not pleasent to be around.

There are some situations where you do need to heat.

If you are in a cold climate and do not have enough poultry so they keep each other warm.

You didn't get the coop insulated, for some reason, or don't have an insulated coop.

Not all variaties of poultry are considered hardy enough to live in cold climates.

There are some things you can do.

1.Keep the heater clean, no matter what kind you have. Keep it clean by blowing the dust out if it, an make it a weekly habit. It should also be a portable heater so you can remove it from the coop to clean.

2. Use heater with a tip sensor, That is if it is accidently tipped over it shuts off.

3. Put a shroud or shield around the heater so the poultry does not get to close to it.

4. Use a radiant heater if possible, one that does not have any exposed heating elements. But still keep it clean.

5. Make a stand so the heater does not set on the floor next to your litter.

To heat or not ends up being a personal choice, as most of time it is not really needed, except in some unsuall circumstances.

In our case we heat, but only to about freezing.


Tom