Do I still need a heat lamp? Please help solve our family argument!!!

[Greanleef1]

I have 2 chickens that are fully grown and live in a 4x4x4.5 foot coop. Lets just say it was a "quick build", because we just needed a quick something to put our chickens in, and it is quite drafty. It's about 30 degrees during the night and 40 during the day. I think that my chickens are good without them, while the rest of the family thinks they will die! They are gold star hens, which is a cold hearty breed i believe. What should I do!!! -all opinions are appreciated

 

[DavidKerk]

My chicken coop gets down to about 20 I'd say. I think they'll be fine without the lamp and will get warmth from each other.

 

[ScottM]

I'll only use a 60watt bulb for light and we see -20 to -30 temperatures during our Canadian winters.

 

[Ceilismom]

My winter temps get a lot colder than that, and my coop is a lot bigger. I don't add heat except for the brooder full of chicks that haven't grown in their full down coat yet.

 

[sane cat lady]

i think that a 4X4 coop is quite large for 2 birds and will probably not heat up with body heat perhaps spend a day insulating the coop

 

[Greanleef1]

Thanks Everyone! I think since it is just plywood i will just leave it in until like may or something!

 

[Chicks4me8]

I have yet to put mine outside (they are in the house right now) but I have 4 RIR that will be moving outside this weekend coming up. I have been told that I don't need a heat light for mine after they get acclimated to being outside. Living in CO you can see all 4 seasons in one day so I do worry about them. Eventually I will have all 8 of our chickens outside hopefully year round.

 

[4 the Birds]

Your coop should not have drafts! Ideally it will have slow air movement via vents up high and perhaps an open pop door or low vent. 30 deg F is not cold for a chicken. I use a few brooder lamps in a large coop during a few months in the depth of Winter (sub zero temps). A small coop may do without or have a small wattage set-up. Elec to the coop is essential for my set-up so as to have heated water containers during the long Winter. Hauling water several times a day to a remote coop is not an option!

 

[aart]

Ventilation is more important that heat. Moisture is what causes frostbite.

Ideally there should be some openings (on the downwind side of the coop) down low to let in fresh air and some openings above the roost area to let the moist, ammonia laden air out.

As long as there are not significant drafts blowing right on the chickens as they roost, they should be fine.

Post a pic of your coop so we can see what you mean by drafty

 

[JackE]

They'll be fine. 30 is nothing to them. After they are full grown, forget about the heatlamp, and put it away until you get new chicks. All you are doing is needlessly running up your electric bill, and possibly taking a chance on burning your coop down,(It has happened) I have an open air coop, coops like these were used up into Canada nearly 100yrs ago. I can get temps into the single digits, not including wind chill, and my birds have absolutely no problems. It has been well proven that chickens can handle cold weather, unless you have some kind of thinly feather exotic breed. On the top of pg 24 in the link below, you can read of open air coops in use in -40F temps. Like aart said, ventilation is way more important than adding heat. So make sure you don't totally seal up your coop, let it breath.
Jack

http://archive.org/stream/openairpoultryho00wood#page/n7/mode/2up