COOP HEATERS

[CovenantCreek]

Quote:
Mine has been plugged in for about a week and a half -- as promised, when the temps dipped low enough to freeze the water the heater came on, when it got warm it went off. I think my flat panel heater has been running for about 36 hours without any signs of getting too hot for the hay shed/coop.

 

[Cheryl]

Quote:
Is the flat panel heater plugged into a thermo cube?

 

[6chix]

I have the flat panel from Shop the coop and the thermocube. Its been in the coop for a couple of days now with no problems. Looks to be really cold here next week, so the girls should be a little more comfortable.

 

[chickflick]

hey Richard.... You might want to move this post to your own thread..... you'll get more help that way. There are alot of people here to help you, if they can find you!
Can you maybe put bales of hay around the opening? That would help with the wind and insulate against the cold. Please post another thread so you can get the help you need!

 

[chickflick]

My new flat panel heater has been on for 24 hrs and I'm so pleased with it. The temp is staying around 38 degrees, and the water is not freezing!!

Perfect! So easy to put up and it's quiet and the chickens go to bed when they should and get up when they should. Even with the red light, they were getting up way to early and the roosters were having way too much fun!!

 

[CovenantCreek]

Quote:
Is the flat panel heater plugged into a thermo cube?

Yes.

 

[s6bee]

Richard, sorry if it's obvious, but I'm not picturing this 2' space? I too live in Western, NY, and have a chicken tractor. I never had intentions of bringing them into the garage so I built it with insulation boards in between the ext./int. walls. I also have a 40 watt bulb and that seems to be keeping things just warm enough ( plus it's giving them the 14 hrs. of light....I'm still waiting for my first egg.) Keep vaseline on the combs to help prevent frostbite, you may want to make sure that isn't what your RIR has, we did get darn cold not too long ago, I think about 9 degrees last week.
If you can get bales of straw to stack outside the coop and that space, that will help a lot. Also, keep the deep litter method going if you aren't alredy, they will keep each other warm. I'm assuming you have breeds that can handle the colder climates?
Hope that helps.

Stephanie

 

[richard perkins]

Stephanie -- thanks. I need to get that 2X4' opening closed with something to protect the chickens. I'll try the 2X4 with fabric nailed onto it. My 5 hens re laying 3-4 eggs per day. Is that a sign that all is well with them? or is that just whatever happens under these terrible conditions?

 

[s6bee]

Well, since I have yet to get an egg, and they have everything other than a plasma TV and hot tub, I'd say you're doing something right. If they survived the weather over the weekend, take advantage of the good weather to come this week ( mid 30's and no snow!) and fix it. The carpet remnant sounded like a good idea too.

Stephanie

ps- where in WNY are you?

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Richard, are you saying that the house section of the tractor is totally open to the run section? So that there is no wall between the house section and run section? That's a pretty common tractor design.

If so, and you are having problems closing that area between the housing section and the run section, can you just cover the run? Even if you cover it with plastic or a tarp, it might help. Straw bales against the side would help insulate, also. You could even put plywood or some other type of panel on the sides of the run, over the wire, for the winter. Then the entire tractor becomes a coop, basically. It would even help to cover part of that gap, using something solid. Leave just enough opening for a small pop hole, but have the rest of the gap be enclosed by a piece of plywood. That would still keep a lot more heat in than leaving it totally open.

It's a little hard to know exactly what would work best for your tractor, without knowing a little more about what it's like structurally, but I hope you get some ideas that help you. You can always post a new topic here in the coops section, on winterizing a tractor, to get other opinions. Plastic or tarp might be a good way to go, if you are just trying to get through the next two weeks, before moving them to a new coop, depending on the weather coming.

It's hard to say what happened with your RIR hen. It could have started with pecking or it could have started with frostbite and then turned into pecking. Can you dress warmly and spend a little time watching them, to see what's going on?

Chickens can start pecking on each other for a lot of different reasons. Do they normally free range in the warmer weather? Are they spending their time huddled in the housing end, trying to stay warmer, or using the run section, too? It's always tough if they have to adjust to any kind of stress, like more cramped quarters than they are used to, cold or anything else. I think some breeds or individuals are just a little meaner than others, too. How many chickens do you have in your tractor?

You could try spraying her comb with BluKote, so it's not as attractive to peck and try to give them something else to do. You can try tossing scratch or other tidbits out to them to search for. If it was me, I would pull her out and treat her, even if she had to live in a cat carrier temporarily. If she's already a target, reintroducing her would be a challenge, though, in cramped quarters in the winter. It's pretty ugly to see a chicken pecked to death, so I'd try to do something. I would definitely keep a close eye on her. Maybe you could post this as a separate topic in one of the other sections and get other ideas. There are even rings you can put on the aggressor(s) to keep them from closing their beak all the way. I've never used them, but one of the members on the forum has.

Good luck with all of this. Once you get through the first year, you should be all set. Every season has it's own challenges.