Chicken Heated Pad

[Aunt Angus]

If you have hardware cloth over the windows, you should be able to keep them open as they seem to be high up enough.

How cold does it get in your neck of the woods?

 

[CKfarm22]

If you have hardware cloth over the windows, you should be able to keep them open as they seem to be high up enough.

How cold does it get in your neck of the woods?

Right now it’s in the upper 30s at night and 50s-60s during the day. But in the winter it can drop to the 20s or upper 10s at night

 

[Aunt Angus]

Right now it’s in the upper 30s at night and 50s-60s during the day. But in the winter it can drop to the 20s or upper 10s at night

I think they'll be fine without the heater. It gets that cold here, and I've never used a heater. That said, I think you could use it if it would make you feel better, though. I don't think it would hurt.

Lack of ventilation will hurt, however. I just recently added more in my coop because my ducks decided to sleep in there, and they really increase the humidity. I just drilled several big holes (like 3" holes) under the eaves and covered them with hardware cloth. The eaves prevent rain/snow from getting in.

 

[CKfarm22]

I think they'll be fine without the heater. It gets that cold here, and I've never used a heater. That said, I think you could use it if it would make you feel better, though. I don't think it would hurt.

Lack of ventilation will hurt, however. I just recently added more in my coop because my ducks decided to sleep in there, and they really increase the humidity. I just drilled several big holes (like 3" holes) under the eaves and covered them with hardware cloth. The eaves prevent rain/snow from getting in.

Our roof isn’t i guess elevated would be the word? It’s fixed to the top of the coop. We are putting eaves in the new coop. But for this one, do you think it would be fine to just leave the windows open all night for ventilation? There’s no water in the coop of course

 

[Aunt Angus]

Our roof isn’t i guess elevated would be the word? It’s fixed to the top of the coop. We are putting eaves in the new coop. But for this one, do you think it would be fine to just leave the windows open all night for ventilation? There’s no water in the coop of course

Yes, as long as they are covered with hardware cloth to keep out predators and above the roosting chickens so as to keep them out of drafts.

 

[CKfarm22]

Yes, as long as they are covered with hardware cloth to keep out predators and above the roosting chickens so as to keep them out of drafts.

The windows are kind of at head level with the chickens when they roost, but i could possible throw a little piece of plastic on them so the top of the window is the only thing letting air in

 

[Smileybans]

I’m in upstate NY. The first winter I had chickens I thought about getting them a heater too. I did buy one but it caused more issues than it helped. Some of my silkies ended up with a respiratory issue because the snow was melting around the heater. So there was too much moisture in their bedding. I even had the heater covered. My run was roofed and it was in the bottom part of a prefab coop.

Anyway, heaters aren’t necessarily always the answer. As others have mentioned fixing your ventilation issues can fix a lot. There’s also a great article on here about whether or not to insulate your coop. Maybe look into that as well.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I’m in upstate NY. The first winter I had chickens I thought about getting them a heater too. I did buy one but it caused more issues than it helped. Some of my silkies ended up with a respiratory issue because the snow was melting around the heater. So there was too much moisture in their bedding. I even had the heater covered. My run was roofed and it was in the bottom part of a prefab coop.

Anyway, heaters aren’t necessarily always the answer. As others have mentioned fixing your ventilation issues can fix a lot. There’s also a great article on here about whether or not to insulate your coop. Maybe look into that as well.

That is so interesting. I never would have considered those complications.