cold weather and heat?

[jjoos99]

After reading some and watching some you tube videos I decided not to heat my coop. I am in ohio and it will get cold at times. We have had some single digit temps with several lows near 0 deg. My granddaughter was holding her iso brown (nugget) the other day and I noticed one of it's comb tip was white. I am assuming that this is frostbite. From seeing this I guess that I need to add some heat on those low single digit nights. I dont want to use a heat lamp and my wife showed my the cozy coop flat heater. Just wondering everyone's thoughts.
thanks
Jeff

 

[Flock Master64]

I've never heard of that but if it's meant for coops I'd try it a little. Try and keep all the dry bedding away from it.

 

[bobbi-j]

One little white tip isn't going to be a huge problem, and adding heat may make things worse as it will contribute to more humidity - which is usually the cause of frostbite in the first place. This far into the winter without heat, your chickens are acclimated to keeping themselves warm. They have grown nice warm down coats that they won't be able to take off if you add heat. Think about that. It would be like you wearing all of your winter gear in the house with the heat on. Not a comfortable proposition, is it. You're far better off making sure you have the plenty of ventilation in your coop to draw extra humidity out.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would skip the heat too. A bit of frostbite isn't any thing to be worried about. We get much colder here and my birds do fine without extra heat. Providing extra heat can leave your birds dependant on it which can be a bad thing.

 

[aart]

Ditto on skipping the heat.
That white tip will be fine.....just mild frostbite maybe.

 

[MinnesotaNice]

Ditto on skipping the heat as well. For birds with larger combs, use some bag balm on it at least once a day during cold weather. You can find bag balm at most TSC places or online (Amazon, ebay). It will help keep the comb safe from frostbite. Their comb will start to collect dirt and the bag balm will dull the look of their feathers, but that will all go away. We had a recent cold snap where the temperatures were around -20 for a good week or so. All was well in the coop. Good ventilation, protection from wind, and a dry coop/bedding is all they need. Chickens are much more resilient than what we think!

 

[jjoos99]

Well being a noob I have my coop sealed up too tight. I thought that any extra holes would allow cold air into the coop and just keep them that much colder. We are having a warm spell here and I will get out and drill some vent holes toward the top of my coop. My bedding has also been getting wet when it rains hard so I need to find that leak also. I think between those 2 item the girls will be good. Of my 7 chickens the iso brown has the largest comb so she is the one I might need to use the balm with.
thanks for all the help
Jeff

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Read up on ventilation. It's a common mistake and also one of the most posted topics here.

 

[aart]

Read up on ventilation. It's a common mistake and also one of the most posted topics here.

Ditto Dat^^^

Here's a good thread on ventilation
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1048597/ventilated-but-free-of-drafts

 

[jjoos99]

Here is a pic of the coop that I built this past summer. I will be drilling holes just above the coop door opening and probably some on the nest box side towards the top. Hopefully that will allow some cross flow through the coop.
thanks
Jeff