COLD at night--red light or regular light

[kimboolah]

or is any light necessary? It's dipping into the 40's and if that isn't too cold for them, what temp is supplemental heat necessary? I have 16 hens and they are spoiled and we live in northern wisconsin. It could snow here next week, we have had such a miserable cold summer......

 

[Teach97]

40's is fine as long as the coop is draft free...drafts are worse than the cold...I only use heat in the coop to keep the waters from freezing. I use red lights on animals so it doesn't disturb sleep paterns

 

[kimboolah]

They have a window with a screen in it--I broke the glass storm window so I better get that fixed pretty quick.

 

[Pathfinders]

Having lived in Duluth for five years, I know what sort of weather you are going to be dealing with. You will indeed want to get the window fixed, sooner rather than later.

Here's the thing. It's a fine line between draft-free and too-tightly insulated. You want there to be good ventilation in your coop, because ammonia fumes from feces can build up and cause respiratory problems. You will need to decide if you will be cleaning your coop out during the winter, or using a method where you add clean bedding all winter and only clean it out during the spring. Either will work, the key is to avoid the ammonia fumes.

What breed of birds do you have? If you're up in the northlands, you may well need to provide supplemental heat. Frostbite is a concern with Single Combed birds, and you'll want to ensure that the coop doesn't have those strong north winds blowing through it. Can you stack hay bales around the coop somehow? Can you post some pictures so we can make suggestions?

As Teach says, if/when you use supplimental heat, go with red heat lamps, white is not ideal.

Tell us more about your setup and we'll make what suggestions we can. And best of luck with them! I still miss the north, but not the extreme temps in winter, I will say.

 

[ScoobyRoo]

Like pathfinders said,,,,,make sure there are vents in your roof. I too, use a red light just pointing to the waterer to keep it from feezing. I live here in Ks so the weather isn't as extreme.

 

[ozark hen]

no light for heat. unless the waterer will freeze then we hang a sixty watt bulb over the waterer. They will be fine, they are covered in feathers and their stamina builds up for the winters. Just keep them out of drafts but have it ventilated as previous posters have said. As long as they are fully feathered out they will be fine.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
In N WI it would not hurt to have electricity available to run a lamp if you decide it's necessary -- like in JANUARY not now

-- but you may or may not need it, certainly not all winter or anything like that.

Assuming a draft-free coop with dry air i.e. good ventilation and good management, most chickens are perfectly fine well down towards 0 F. When you get towards -20 F (that's 20 *below*, not regular ol' 20 degrees) you might be likelier to use heat if available, but remember that's the temperature IN the coop, not outdoors temperature. And in a decent-sized well-designed coop, indoor temperature will often be significantly higher than outdoors, especially on the coldest nights.

Buy a max-min thermometer for the coop so you can develop a sense of how it behaves at different time of the year; and just keep a close eye on the chickens, and decide whether or not you need heat based on what's actually happening. You may not need heat at all.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat