Heat for Canadian Winters

[UrbanHenKW123]

Hi there - I'm thinking ahead to our Canadian winters. I'm near the great lakes area so we get a lot of damp cold reaching -20 C sometimes and even lower with the wind chill. I was thinking of either adding a heated water bowl or one of the heated pads from amazon like this one
https://www.amazon.ca/Cozy-Products...hicken+heater&qid=1566917260&s=gateway&sr=8-2

We only have 3 sex link hens (small urban backyard setup) and our coop is 3 X 4 with an 9 X 4 Run. It is insulated with the exception of the large door I used to clean it out. we have two vents at the top so its well ventilated.

Any recommendations would be great!!

 

[slordaz]

Hi there - I'm thinking ahead to our Canadian winters. I'm near the great lakes area so we get a lot of damp cold reaching -20 C sometimes and even lower with the wind chill. I was thinking of either adding a heated water bowl or one of the heated pads from amazon like this one
https://www.amazon.ca/Cozy-Products...hicken+heater&qid=1566917260&s=gateway&sr=8-2

We only have 3 sex link hens (small urban backyard setup) and our coop is 3 X 4 with an 9 X 4 Run. It is insulated with the exception of the large door I used to clean it out. we have two vents at the top so its well ventilated.

Any recommendations would be great!!

you will need a deicer not a heated water bowl, if it gets below -20 with the wind chill wont work, one thing I do as we are constantly down that low is add some straw on the floor, I don't have any experience with your particular breed but mine aren't in an insulated coop or a heat source and do fine, I have Rhode Island reds and whites, EE's and an Amerecuana

 

[UrbanHenKW123]

you will need a deicer not a heated water bowl, if it gets below -20 with the wind chill wont work, one thing I do as we are constantly down that low is add some straw on the floor, I don't have any experience with your particular breed but mine aren't in an insulated coop or a heat source and do fine, I have Rhode Island reds and whites, EE's and an Amerecuana

Oh thank you!! The sex links I have are hardy breeds. (crossed with rhode island reds).

So for a deicer - do you just mount it inside the coop? Like this one?

https://www.amazon.ca/Farm-Innovato...words=de+icer&qid=1566918309&s=gateway&sr=8-9

The other think I was thinking was using my brooder heater or a heating plate like this one
https://www.amazon.ca/Cozy-Products...hicken+heater&qid=1566917260&s=gateway&sr=8-2

 

[annampet]

Hi There! I'm on the North Eastern corner of Michigan right on Lake Huron. I have a regular heated waterer and it's worked fine for us through the winters. We don't have a heated coop and it's smaller so our food and water sit in the run. I hang cheap clear shower curtains around our run to protect the girls from the wind. They help break the wind and keep some of the heat from the sun in, our waterer has frozen around the edges but the inner "wall" is always open enough for the girls to get a drink.

 

[slordaz]

they have some for plastic buckets that work best inside a chicken cook or out in the run. I have never put heat for my chickens, nature if allowed to will give them more down feathers, but if they are used to heat they won't do as well if they don't have it as their bodies are used to not having to do what it needs to for them. Natures gives them fair warning before cold starts

 

[UrbanHenKW123]

Hi There! I'm on the North Eastern corner of Michigan right on Lake Huron. I have a regular heated waterer and it's worked fine for us through the winters. We don't have a heated coop and it's smaller so our food and water sit in the run. I hang cheap clear shower curtains around our run to protect the girls from the wind. They help break the wind and keep some of the heat from the sun in, our waterer has frozen around the edges but the inner "wall" is always open enough for the girls to get a drink.

oh thank you! I actually have a heated waterer out in the run. I'm just concerned about in the coop maybe keeping them a little warmer since I only have 3.

 

[UrbanHenKW123]

they have some for plastic buckets that work best inside a chicken cook or out in the run. I have never put heat for my chickens, nature if allowed to will give them more down feathers, but if they are used to heat they won't do as well if they don't have it as their bodies are used to not having to do what it needs to for them. Natures gives them fair warning before cold starts

Makes sense! I'll see how it goes !

 

[annampet]

oh thank you! I actually have a heated waterer out in the run. I'm just concerned about in the coop maybe keeping them a little warmer since I only have 3.

Sorry, I misread I think you're coop is small enough that the three of them will stay warm enough. They'll huddle together if they are cold and as long as they are out of the wind they should be fine. The heat pads only work when they are standing on them or snuggled against them and I would be worried if the power went out. They'd be use to the heat and their bodies will have a hard time adjusting so quickly. It's better to let them adjust through the fall and be use to the cold.
I had the same concerns as a "first time" chicken mom last winter Our flock made it through just fine...although a few with larger combs had a little frost bite that they easily recovered from on their own. (we have a flock of 7 this year)

 

[aart]

We only have 3 sex link hens (small urban backyard setup) and our coop is 3 X 4 with an 9 X 4 Run. It is insulated with the exception of the large door I used to clean it out. we have two vents at the top so its well ventilated.

Can you post some pics of your coop?
As long as they are dry and out of the wind, they will be fine(wind chill temps don't count).
Heating a coop is really not needed. Unless you have sustained temps of -20°F.
Insulation and 'more birds make for a warmer coop' are both fallacy.

 

[UrbanHenKW123]

This is my coop!