COOP HEATERS

[Ja Mee]

NONE
Chickens don't need heat.
Because you're cold doesn't mean your chickens are.

I want some heat in the coop because several of my chickens have lost half their combs due to frostbite and I am in rural Georgia.

 

[saysfaa]

I want some heat in the coop because several of my chickens have lost half their combs due to frostbite and I am in rural Georgia.

Usually, in climates like Georgia has, frostbitten combs are caused by the moisture from the chickens' poops and their breath settling around the chickens in near freezing temperatures. Not from the cold. The moisture is carried away by the moving air when there is enough ventilation. A square foot of opening per chicken is a good rule of thumb minimum. Adding heat without enough ventilation often causes more health problems than the same conditions without the added heat; although not necessarily losing parts of combs.

 

[Echelontheory101]

I have 2 cozy coop panels mounted behind the roost bar connected to a thermostat outlet that only sends power to the plug when the thermostat says the temp drops under 30. It wont heat the coop at all, its radiant heat so it only provides warmth if youre right next to it so that way it just takes the chill off while they sleep but the chickens are still acclimated to subzero temps if there were to ever be a power outage they wouldn't go without something theyre used to.

 

[nuthatched]

I want some heat in the coop because several of my chickens have lost half their combs due to frostbite and I am in rural Georgia.

If you're getting frostbite in Georgia, it's likely a ventilation issue. You don't want moisture build up.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I want some heat in the coop because several of my chickens have lost half their combs due to frostbite and I am in rural Georgia.

I have to agree with the two previous posters. I'm 95% sure your problem is a lack of ventilation and a buildup of humidity. It happens fast. The moment you close the coop door.
I recommend a hygrometer, preferably one that tracks or records data.
I once had doubts about ventilation in one of my buildings and put a hygrometer in it. Shortly after closing the chickens in for the night. Even with two windows and a ridge vent the length of the building, the humidity shot up to 25% above ambient. The next day I used a circular saw and tripled the size of the windows.

 

[Debbie292d]

I want some heat in the coop because several of my chickens have lost half their combs due to frostbite and I am in rural Georgia.

If you're having issues with adding more ventilation, here's what we did to overcome it. I'll mention we're in WI, where the average humidity in the winter is 75%. Mold can start growing at 70%. Many days it's in the 90s. Ventilation wasn't going to lower the humidity, so we had to find an alternative approach. All we had prior was opening the two windows. These are Amish 12'x20' buildings with steel roofs, and hubby refused to cut into them.

We installed an exhaust fan in one of the windows and a cold air return on the opposite side in the human door. We took out all of the waterers and made 5-gallon nipple buckets. We put 2" of horse bedding pellets on the floor. Now, it can be 80% humidity outside, and our coop is in the 60s.

We heat the coops to 40°F so that the waterers won't freeze, nor will the eggs, and I don't have to haul water out. They last a few weeks to a month.

That was so successful, we began using pellets in our brooders, and what a game-changer that was! No smell anymore!