cold weather

[mirsy09]

This morning when I oened up the coop, there was one dead chicken. It was cold last nite, -5 Celcius. I don't know if that was the cause?? I do keep them under a !00 watt lite on a timer for 12 hours to keep them laying in the winter. Can I get a bulb that will throw heat and supply them with enough lite to keep they laying.

 

[woodmort]

-5 C shouldn't be too cold for most chickens. I suspect there may have been some other problem with that particular bird.

 

[Dan Oelke]

We have had many birds doing just fine in -17C and colder weather.... now they had a 250W bulb close to them and a smaller coop. So, that temp isn't the problem or at least it isn't the problem all by itself.

One problem we have had is that when the weather gets colder we close up the ventilation and seal up the coop pretty good. Then, however the shavings and manure mixture doesn't dry out and ammonia starts to build. Bacteria love the moisture and thrive. The increased amount of bacteria in the environment can stress the birds. The increased ammonia stresses the birds. The cold temps stresses the birds. Add up all those stresses and a weak bird might die.

 

[TrystInn]

That's not really cold enough to kill a chicken (I'm assuming there were other chickens in the coop). An infrared bulb will keep the chickens nice and warm without disturbing their sleep or laying schedule.