cold weather &heat lamps

[newchicks]

Hi, We have a Morton building type barn with a metal attached garage w/garage door. This was our old horses stall, worked great for him till his passing at 30 yrs. old. For the 2 girls that we acquired it's working beautifully. We built a roost and it already had running water, sawdust and empty hay feeders and water tanks for laying. But now for the question about the heat lamp. Being that the space is very large and has a high roof, would a heat lamp in the cold of the winter be of any real help? Do we section off an area for just the heat lamp, or are they warm enough without? We live outside of Kansas City KS. so the winters aren't too bad, except for the occasional ice and below 32 degrees. any opinions or ideas. All are welcome as I've never had chickens, am loving it and want to do right by them. thanks

 

[Ellie_NY_chick]

I guess the big question would be how cold does it get inside the barn? I used to live in KS, so I know it's not so much the cold, but the WIND CHILL. It seems if the barn is large enough for horses, then just a regular heat lamp hung from the ceiling won't do very much good. Maybe if it can be set up close to the roost, but not too close (chicken flambe is bad), then maybe it would be helpful. With only 2 girls, they really can't get too much body heat going, so they may need a heat source during the coldest months.

 

[newchicks]

Good point. The barn walls face the west, north and south the only interior wall is on the east. We can hang a heat lamp from the celling, yes well enough above the roost so we don't have chicken flambe. The roost is next to that east wall. The temps. can dip down below 32 off and on especially in jan. and feb. And we're going to keep the garage door part shut and surrounded with straw bales to keep the drafts out during those cold months. any other ideas or suggestions?

 

[cmom]

I think a heat lamp is a good idea. I use a red lamp just about 3 feet above a part of their roost, and on the really chilly nights they're under it. If they get to warm they will move away until they're comfortable. I use my brooder lamp with the red heat lamp bulb. It has a clamp. I made a bracket to clamp the light on.