Do I need a heater in my coop?

[JonRigby2005]

I am in Tampa, FL and we are experiencing a bit of a cold snap. Nothing below freezing but cold for us, lol. Its getting into the 40's at night. Should I be setting up a heater in the coop at night, or would that be unnecessary. At what temperature should I worry about the cold. I know I don't do cold at all, and my chickens are probably spoiled also, lol.

 

[sourland]

No, you do not/will not need a heater in your coop as long as it is dry and well ventilated. Their feathers insulate them.

 

[SBFChickenGirl]

They will be completely fine
It's been below freezing all week here, and my birds have had no problems.
When it gets below 0F, then you might want to think about getting a heater... but still, I'd hesitate.
Your chickens are wearing down coats, 40 degrees is a breeze.

 

[Geena]

cold snap... into the 40's at night.

Most definitely not. We regularly get well below freezing at night here in the winter and our chickens do just fine.

 

[JonRigby2005]

What can I say...we're spoiled down here, lol. That's what I thought. Thanks for the help.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yeah, we are spoiled down here. I'm trying to decide what to get from the garden for supper tonight. Cabbage or kale probably but those mustard greens are looking good. I need to cut the grass again too. At least that's now every two weeks.

There are two main dangers form cold. One is frostbite, mainly on the combs and wattles. While frostbite is technically possible whenever the temperatures drop below freezing even the chickens with huge combs and wattles do fine even in the single digits Fahrenheit or even colder as long as the coop has decent ventilation. The other problem would be freezing. They wear a down coat, those things are warm. Yours are probably just getting to where they feel comfortable instead of warm.

Alaskan, one of the members on here, wrote an article on what he/she's observed in really cold weather. From what I've read -20 F (-29 C) is a cut-off point. You can have issues warmer than that but -20 seems to be a breaking point in when you might want to plan on doing something. It's possible you and I may see temperatures that cause us all kinds of problems in life in general, like frozen water pipes, but it is unlikely we will see anything that really threatens the chickens.

 

[Geena]

Yeah, we are spoiled down here. I'm trying to decide what to get from the garden for supper tonight. Cabbage or kale probably but those mustard greens are looking good. I need to cut the grass again too. At least that's now every two weeks.

There are two main dangers form cold. One is frostbite, mainly on the combs and wattles. While frostbite is technically possible whenever the temperatures drop below freezing even the chickens with huge combs and wattles do fine even in the single digits Fahrenheit or even colder as long as the coop has decent ventilation. The other problem would be freezing. They wear a down coat, those things are warm. Yours are probably just getting to where they feel comfortable instead of warm.

Alaskan, one of the members on here, wrote an article on what he/she's observed in really cold weather. From what I've read -20 F (-29 C) is a cut-off point. You can have issues warmer than that but -20 seems to be a breaking point in when you might want to plan on doing something. It's possible you and I may see temperatures that cause us all kinds of problems in life in general, like frozen water pipes, but it is unlikely we will see anything that really threatens the chickens.

Must be nice! Our kale is all frosted and wilting, and I LOVE fall kale, it seems particularly good when harvested in the cooler weather.

 

[Ridgerunner]

But we have to get through our summers. I can grow some nice things but you will have more options in Maryland. There are always trade-offs.