Do You Heat Your Coop? (Poll) LATEST UPDATE PG 15

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
I can always tell who the tourists are in the summer here (Alaska) because they're wearing coats. Come to think of it, if they're wearing coats in the winter, they're either tourists or Cheechakos that haven't thickened up their blood yet.

30°F for me is T-shirt weather...

I don't usually put a heavy coat on until it's 10°F or below.

Not to muck things up, or nuthin...

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Hi Caran, at the risk of starting of a whole 'nother discussion on what's really cold, I wanted to give you my view on the adding heat.
The main risk I see in adding heat is that you are acclimating your birds to a "false" temperature range. They will get less in the way of winter down. If and when you lose power they will be poorly equipped to deal with the cold until the power's back on. Chilled birds can become sick birds really quickly.
I see this every day in other creatures. My outside dog has a nice full winter coat and with his dog house does just fine in the wintertime. Our inside dog never develops a winter coat and she can't stand to be out in the cold for very long.
I base my view on what I've learned from the old time chicken experts on this board (excuse me Miss P, speckled & Mrs. AK for considering you old time

) and what my SO's family has always done in their years of chicken keeping.
Plus, coop fires do happen. Just do a search here on BYC.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Gritsar, I am honored to be mentioned in the same breath as Miss P and Speckledhen...

Though I'm not really old time when it comes to chickens... I've just had to learn really fast in the past few years! LOL!

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
That's the biggest trouble I've had in acclimating myself to winter in Arkansas vs. the mountains of NC where I grew up. It does get very cold or cold enough for me in the mountains, but nowhere near as wet as it is here.
Basically if it's wintertime in Arkansas it's raining. You'll not see the sun for weeks at a time. Cold I can deal with. Cold and wet I hate.

 

[luvmygirlsinAK]

Quote:
Hi Caran, at the risk of starting of a whole 'nother discussion on what's really cold, I wanted to give you my view on the adding heat.
The main risk I see in adding heat is that you are acclimating your birds to a "false" temperature range. They will get less in the way of winter down. If and when you lose power they will be poorly equipped to deal with the cold until the power's back on. Chilled birds can become sick birds really quickly.
I see this every day in other creatures. My outside dog has a nice full winter coat and with his dog house does just fine in the wintertime. Our inside dog never develops a winter coat and she can't stand to be out in the cold for very long.
I base my view on what I've learned from the old time chicken experts on this board (excuse me Miss P, speckled & Mrs. AK for considering you old time

) and what my SO's family has always done in their years of chicken keeping.
Plus, coop fires do happen. Just do a search here on BYC.

Which is EXACTLY WHY I ABSOLUTELY HAVE A HEATER IN OUR COOP!

Up here the temps can change as much as 80 degrees during a 24 hour period-not much time to acclimate there!!!! If I lived in a different area, things might be different, but the variables are too great here. The electricity very rarely goes out in the winter here, and storms in the winter time are extremely rare. When the electricity does go out, it is usually for less than a half an hour, and even that is very rare. The wild birds up here dive into the snow to keep themselves warm here, and burrow under for warmth-ever seen a chicken do that?

If you have, I'd for sure like to see a picture of one!

There is a major difference in temps. even in Alaska. What is fine for one person may not be for the next in a different area.

As for me, I still don't plan on bringing my chickens in to sleep with in the winter!!

(much as I love the girls!)

As far as the coop fires are concerned, you haven't tried the electric oil filled radiator style heater obviously!

I can touch the heater with my hand, in fact actually leave it set on it, and it doesn't burn my hand! I guess there are heaters and there are heaters!! If someone decides to use a heater in their coop, I would highly recommend this type. And besides, they are only $37.00 at Lowes! And because they are sealed with oil running through them they are very economical to use!

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Hi Caran, at the risk of starting of a whole 'nother discussion on what's really cold, I wanted to give you my view on the adding heat.
The main risk I see in adding heat is that you are acclimating your birds to a "false" temperature range. They will get less in the way of winter down. If and when you lose power they will be poorly equipped to deal with the cold until the power's back on. Chilled birds can become sick birds really quickly.
I see this every day in other creatures. My outside dog has a nice full winter coat and with his dog house does just fine in the wintertime. Our inside dog never develops a winter coat and she can't stand to be out in the cold for very long.
I base my view on what I've learned from the old time chicken experts on this board (excuse me Miss P, speckled & Mrs. AK for considering you old time

) and what my SO's family has always done in their years of chicken keeping.
Plus, coop fires do happen. Just do a search here on BYC.

Which is EXACTLY WHY I ABSOLUTELY HAVE A HEATER IN OUR COOP!

Up here the temps can change as much as 80 degrees during a 24 hour period-not much time to acclimate there!!!! If I lived in a different area, things might be different, but the variables are too great here. The electricity very rarely goes out in the winter here, and storms in the winter time are extremely rare. When the electricity does go out, it is usually for less than a half an hour, and even that is very rare. The wild birds up here dive into the snow to keep themselves warm here, and burrow under for warmth-ever seen a chicken do that?

If you have, I'd for sure like to see a picture of one!

There is a major difference in temps. even in Alaska. What is fine for one person may not be for the next in a different area.

As for me, I still don't plan on bringing my chickens in to sleep with in the winter!!

(much as I love the girls!)

As far as the coop fires are concerned, you haven't tried the electric oil filled radiator style heater obviously!

I can touch the heater with my hand, in fact actually leave it set on it, and it doesn't burn my hand! I guess there are heaters and there are heaters!! If someone decides to use a heater in their coop, I would highly recommend this type. And besides, they are only $37.00 at Lowes! And because they are sealed with oil running through them they are very economical to use!

We had thunderstorms and cold yesterday and I'm in a t-shirt today. It's s'pose to snow tomorrow. Arkansas weather is all over the scale, so I do know what you mean.
I own and used an oil filled electric heater in the first shed the chooks were in as babies and it was fine. Of course they were in a brooder and it was on the bare floor, so not in direct contact with anything.
Again, I base my opinions on what I've learned from others. If Mrs. AK doesn't need to heat her coops then I definitely don't need to heat mine. To each his own.

 

[Chez Poulet]

The electric oil filled radiator-type heaters work great. I put flat garden paver for it to stand on and some on top of the heaters for safety in case any of the girls wanted to jump up on it. The bricks absorbed the heat and it was great for distributing it. In W WA, the power can go out form time to time, especially during a wind storm and that is when it is freaking cold! I have a generator and the chicken coop power is connected to my well house. So, when we need water pumped, the heater will go on for the chooks and give them something to take the edge off. Also, if the power goes off and you have a gas or wood burning stove, heat up the garden pavers in or on that, wrap them in towels seam side down and you have something for them to cuddle up to. My heat lamp hangs down over their roosting perches at a safe height very securely from the ceiling and I dust it frequently to avoid any chance of that catching on fire. As we all know, chickens are very dusty from their own dander and whatever is on the floor that gets kicked up. My girls are rediculously spoiled, they have an insulated coop with good ventilation. I am not worried about them not becoming acclimated because they hang out outside all day long or under their coop and it gets quite cold even during the day. They have a choice to be inside or out all during the day from sun up to sun down, so I feel they'll be fine.

 

[KrisRose]

I've also used the 250 watt heat lamps to get moisture out of my coop after a wet snowstorm. Worked great.
When I use the flat paneled heat in cold weather it just raises the temperture by 10 to 15 degrees. There is no furance taking the temperture up to 70 degrees. If electric goes out the ladies will survive, just not happy. If its out for hours or days then the generator is started.
My dog also comes in the house in winter but he still grows his winter coat- bummer

.
I base my opinion on what kind of behavior I see in my hens. They do not like the snow, extreme cold, or wind. If I chose to add heat then thats my decision, just as if someone choses not to use heat, that is their decision.
As Gritsar said- to each his own.

 

[alyssa558]

I do not heat during the day. I have a red heat lamp on my "bench" chickens at night (Madagascar Games, Blue Cochin, Buckeye and Buff Cornish). The other 8 chickens roost in the rafters and I worry about them getting too cold. I worry about the Madagascar Games, since she has, like, no feathers! She also shivers when it is too cold. I also worry about my Mediterranean breeds (big combs) and my Red-shouldered Yokohama. They are not supposed to be cold-hardy. I just bought a flat panel heater that was *hopefully* shipped yesterday. I went out yesterday morning and the water was frozen, so I need to get a water heater, too.

North Carolina
Zone 7
Coop: 8'x8'x8' w/ a 12' pitch
12 chickens

 

[CATRAY44]

I do not heat . I used straw bales, pallets, and tarps to make wind breaks around the run. They are in and out of the coop all day and seem to be doing fine, laying well.