Coop fire

[ChirpyChicks1]

Exactly. Fall provides animals with a chance to get use to the coming cold weather. If people provide a heated coop and the electricity goes out in a storm???? Hello! That would be a huge shock to the system.

 

[SusanPC]

As I read all the forums and posts on byc and begin my adventure with my own chicks, I always keep my co-worker and her chickens in the back of my mind. Her hubby is a cotton farmer and all her animals - chickens, ducks, dogs, and cats live outdoors and loose. Her chickens do not have a coop and choose to roost in bushes on her property (and leave their eggs and raise babies wherever they choose), even though she does have a barn that they could get into if they wanted. They spend the cold winters (we're not as cold as you northerners, but we get down into the low teens and have freezes, frost, and snow) outdoors. Even in the cold wind, she tries to entice them into the barn, but they continue to roost in their tall bushes. She has never lost a chicken to the cold. Had one get frostbite on its comb once. The other night we had cold 40 mph winds and she said her chickens were roosted on the fence and she thought for sure they would get blow away, but they were doing fine the next morning. She also rarely loses a chicken to a predator. Now, I'm in a suburban neighborhood and am planning to practice a much more controlled environment for my chickens, but it helps me to know that her chickens survive the heat and the cold with very little (if any) intervention from her.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

Another side of this coin is that I believe it is harder on the birds to provide a heat source in most situation. Warm, cold, warm, cold.

I totally understand where you are coming from saying that.. But how the weather is like lately (at least where I live) it seems like that already! One day, warm, next day, cold. etc.

Its crazy!

 

[Bocktobery 10]

I used to put a heat lamp on for my flock when it reached down to the single digits, but I have to say that I realized they don't really need it. I think its more of a nuisance than a help, though I did like walking into a warmer-than-outside coop.

The thing that always got me was that at night, if I had the heat lamp on, I'd take a look outside at the coop through the coop window and see my hens active as if it were daytime, jumping off the roost and some jumping back on it. It seemed constant. I'd both laugh and be frustrated at the same time because who knows how many picks and pecks and little fights might be going on all night long when they should be sleeping. Granted, the coop section they roost in is 8 foot by 8 foot- but I have about 17 chickens in there- so its quite crowded if they are partying all night long.

 

[Trefoil]

Whether or not a person wants to provide extra heat in the winter is a personal choice and we need to be concentrating on the safety aspect. Heated roosts are pretty safe and effective. Of course coop electrical should always be surge protected.

 

[coop-er]

This was my first winter with chickens, it was a horrible, cold, snowy, freezing, windy season. In the Fall my husband and I took certain precautions to windblock and protect our coop from the weather. We really had no idea the weather would turn as awful as it did for such a long time. I worried and worried about those birds but all winter long I continued to consult with my BYCers and told myself I would NOT add heat. My husband offered several time to arrange for heat but I resisted because I knew they were "cold hardy". Every bird did fine! Not even a bit of frostbite. They actually thrived, grew, and only slowed their laying for a few weeks. I am actually happy for this experience because if I have birds for another 25 winters I will always know heating the coop will be not be necessary.

 

[efalls]

I am new to the hobby but I agree on the less artificial heat the better. Can I ask your guys opinion on what age they can handle the cold? If my brooder is inside the house do I need a heat lamp on my 2+ week old chicks? I even have the brooder right over a heat vent. I check on them at night and they make a border around the light all night none go direct under for more then a minute. When could the go outside and still survive this cold spring? I am in Michigan, building my coop Thursday/ this weekend with builder friends and family.

 

[The Lazy L]

... today many grab a heat lamb, a knee jerk reaction that has to be well planned out...

Too many permanent decisions are made with temporary emotions.

 

[petrel]

We have just had our first winter with chickens too. It was also one of the worst winters we've had in a very long time with single digit temps, snow, sleet, ice, and negative nighttime wind chills for two or three evenings at a stretch. I know it is nothing to northerners, but big for us here in the South.

I had to ignore the pleas of my family and stick with what appeared to be the consensus of advice on BYC and provide no heat, eliminate drafts, provide adequate ventilation. Even though the coop was fitted with two heat lamps for brooding, I removed the heat bulbs from both fixtures and installed a CF red light for a morning and evening light source in just one of them.

Chickens are amazing! They are so cold conditioned that if the sun comes out now, they seek the shade!

 

[urbanfarmgirl22]

we just started our bunch this year and on the first and second weekends we lost power for a long time. i simply boiled water and put into a container and wrapped the container in a towel and they all huddled up to it. didn't lose a single one. well not bc of the cold one got a poopy butt and we didn't know to clean it before they couldn't go any more . but i talked to a friend of mine and he said that's what is grandparents did when it got sub zero out. they never had any other heat source.