Coop Heating

[GOATLADY006]

We have been experiencing extreme cold weather the past two weeks. -25 C and colder with wind chill. Going to -33 tonight with wind chill. My chickens were freezing with two heat lamps and a coop radiant wall heater. The radiant heater did nothing so we now have two electric heaters which still are not doing much. We have now insulated two walls and the ceiling (will insulate entire coop for next year). All the articles I had read on chickens said they are very tolerant of cold but like all mammals I believe they must have heat when enclosed in a small area without much space to run around. Too cold to allow them out (skin freezes on humans in minutes). Anyone have any suggestions for a coop heater that is safe and produces actual heat?

 

[DobieLover]

We have been experiencing extreme cold weather the past two weeks. -25 C and colder with wind chill. Going to -33 tonight with wind chill. My chickens were freezing with two heat lamps and a coop radiant wall heater. The radiant heater did nothing so we now have two electric heaters which still are not doing much. We have now insulated two walls and the ceiling (will insulate entire coop for next year). All the articles I had read on chickens said they are very tolerant of cold but like all mammals I believe they must have heat when enclosed in a small area without much space to run around. Too cold to allow them out (skin freezes on humans in minutes). Anyone have any suggestions for a coop heater that is safe and produces actual heat?

But your chickens aren't mammals. They're birds. Little walking ovens covered in down coats.
If you have a dry coop with excellent ventilation and draft free roosting space they will be just fine.
Can you post pictures of your coop inside and outside?

ETA: wind chill factor is not applicable inside a coop.

 

[PirateGirl]

You hit on some important points in your post. You said that they must have heat when enclosed in a small area without much space to run around. Coop size is important for those of us that live in cold climates. The coop must be big enough that if the chickens choose to stay in there all day they have enough space to walk around and scratch about and be active and doing normal chicken things. Activity improves circulation and helps keep them warm (just like when we exercise we begin to feel hot, even work up a sweat). Encouraging activity on cold days is good too, a bit of scattered scratch that they need to walk around and hunt for will do the trick. But @DobieLover has a good point, they aren't mammals, they have a higher body temperature than us and feathers designed to regulate their body temperature. Also many "coop heaters" are not really coop heaters, but create a warmer area where chickens can huddle or a panel they can snuggle against, they aren't designed to heat all the air in the coop and raise the overall temperature in the coop.

Some chickens tolerate extreme cold better than others, and some chickens tolerate it longer than others. Extreme cold for a day or two is one thing, but a week or two is something else, over time it may wear on your chickens. It's important to check on them often when it's cold and their body language will tell you if they are doing ok or not. A chicken that is lethargic, standing still, huddled/puffed up, standing on one leg, shivering, eyes closed, is a chicken that is struggling with the cold. A chicken that is walking around, alert, active, scratching, doing normal chicken things, is doing ok.

I'm sorry I cannot specifically recommend a heater, I generally choose not to heat my coop. I have used a heat lamp with a red bulb designed for poultry in the past for some particularly young/vulnerable pullets that were not hardened to the cold. The key is not only to have it secure, but to have it positioned in a way that they can be under it or move away from it, and where they can't easily fly into it and potentially break it.

Keep an eye on them, and hopefully they all get through it just fine.

 

[PirateGirl]

Also you said "too cold to allow them out" I like to let them choose, in or out, I open the door for them in the morning and food and water is outside, they choose to spend much of the time inside on days like you describe, but I do like to give them that choice.

Also this is something I was once told that helped me feel better. Look around your area at the wild birds that stay all winter. Generally many of the smaller birds migrate, but some of the larger ones remain year round. These birds survive your winters just fine, without a nice coop/shelter to call home. If they can survive, so can your chickens

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

But your chickens aren't mammals. They're birds. Little walking ovens covered in down coats.
If you have a dry coop with excellent ventilation and draft free roosting space they will be just fine.
Can you post pictures of your coop inside and outside?

ETA: wind chill factor is not applicable inside a coop.

Exactly, we tend to think they are like us. They are not.

Gary

 

[Kessel23]

-25C is -13F, those temps do not sound too bad. We had a few weeks that low here last year and we have had several days lower this year. The lowest this year for me was -30F/-34C inside the coop for two days. All my birds did fine. I have no heaters, I have some juvenile birds, and I have small breeds like Egyptian Fayoumi and Leghorns that are not birds you would think of when you think "Cold Hardy." Chickens can definitely be outside during -13F weather, they do not require any heating devices. If your birds have a well ventilated coop that is dry and draft free they will do fine. I am outside for 30 minutes at a time or more in that weather with exposed skin, my face. I have not noticed any damage to my skin, I mean it is cold when I am out there but no frostbite. The only breed that really need assisted heating in that weather is frizzles I think. Their feathers can not function as well and do not hold air in like other breeds from what I have read. I have never tried to raise frizzles because of this.

 

[GOATLADY006]

When I go into the coop (which by the way is about 8' x 8' and well ventilated but was a bit drafty that is why we insulated and lines lower part with plywood) and find my chickens with frost on their faces and waddles and crops turning white I believe that is way too cold for them. Two heat lamps and a radiant heater screen was just not cutting it. They have done fine for most of the winter but the extreme -20 to -35 temps were going to kill them. I am in Calgary and the last two weeks have been horrible.

 

[DobieLover]

When I go into the coop (which by the way is about 8' x 8' and well ventilated but was a bit drafty that is why we insulated and lines lower part with plywood) and find my chickens with frost on their faces and waddles and crops turning white I believe that is way too cold for them. Two heat lamps and a radiant heater screen was just not cutting it. They have done fine for most of the winter but the extreme -20 to -35 temps were going to kill them. I am in Calgary and the last two weeks have been horrible.

Can you please post pictures of your coop inside and out?

The temperatures you have mentioned are WITH wind chill. Wind chill is not a factor inside the coop.

If the coop was dry with proper ventilation, the birds should not have frost on them.

I have experienced -25C actual temperatures this winter. I had NO heat source in my coop. No one had frost on their faces or wattles in the morning. I did have some minor frost bite on comb tips (all single comb birds), but everyone was otherwise just fine. And went on to spend their day in their wind protected run when the temperature did not rise above 10F.

My 32 sq ft coop has 5.9 sq ft of ventilation open year round. If the temperature will be above 15F, I will leave another 3.5 sq ft open. More gets opened up in the summer.