Heat in coop...2 Q's

[anniem]

1) Does pretty much everyone have electricity to their coop? Or just using a long extension cord? I'm having a hard time imagining how i'd safely get electricity out to ours but didn't think it'd be that big of a deal, now i'm wondering b/c it seems like everyone mentions putting a lamp in the coop.

2) When do adult chickens need extra heat in the coop? Our weather is fairly mild here, but my neighbors seem to have their lamp on at night often (maybe always) in the winter.

Thanks

 

[rooster0209]

I have elec in mine but only use it when I have the brooder set up or the heated dog dish in winter. I also leave the lights on during the day, in the winter when snow covers the sky lights, just 2 60w bulbs. A bit of light helps the hens keep laying a few eggs during winter.

ND winters get pretty cold, especially this last one. I don't heat my coop and my birds all do just fine.

 

[patandchickens]

Where do you live, how cold do your winters get?

It is highly worth having electricity to the coop (preferably "proper" electricity, not just an extension cord) if you live somewhere that gets cold enough to require you to bring fresh water more than once a day. It is *so* nice to be able to use a heated waterer or waterer base...

As for whether/when to heat, it depends a lot on your particular chickens and on your coop design/management, but I would say as a general guideline, in DRY air (meaning, well ventilated dry coop) with sensibly chosen breeds, they'll most often be fine down well towards 0 F or sometimes even lower. In humid air, either from a naturally-very-humid climate or from a damp or underventilated or overpopulated coop, you can get frostbite barely below freezing.

See my 'cold coop' page (link in .sig below) for more discussion of this, and discussion of your options in terms of trying to minimize how cold your coop gets.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[WoodlandWoman]

We have electric in the big shed coop. We also have a chicken tractor that we built to use as grow out housing. For the tractor, we run a heavy duty outdoor extension cord to it, when we need to.

Let us know where you live and we can help with your other question.

 

[anniem]

oops, I thought I had my location by my name...duh.

I'm in Eugene Oregon. For the 7 winters we've been here we've had a good snow 2x, slushy non-sticking snow 4x and none this year. This winter was the first that we've had a real cold spell--a week of lows as low as 10 and highs at 30 or so. Usually it's at just below freezing for a day here and there. It's more about the wet here.

We're building "the garden coop" and i've been reading Storey's Guide, I need to make notes about the ventilation suggestions--the best sides to have open in the winter/summer, etc. The raised indoor coop of that is 3wx6dx3h, and we have 6 chicks--2 EEs, 2 BSL, 2 RSL. Pretty hardy right?

 

[Frza]

I live in Portland OR and have a small backyard flock of 4 hens. We uan a heavy duty extension cord outside to heat lamp. My birds are only 7 weeks old and just moved outside. I imagine once the weather warms up we'll quit using it. By next winter they will be fully grown and should be able to keep warm (I hope).

 

[briteday]

I live in northern NV, a bit colder than OR. We have sub-zero nights at times for a few nights in a row, with daytime highs only in the 20-30's sometimes. Our birds all do fine with no insulation in the coop and no electricity. They will generally eat more to stay warm and keeping plenty of drinkable water for them is crucial. But our birds go out in the rain and snow just like any other day.

 

[CityChook]

Annie, I'm thinking that you will be fine without heat. Besides, with a coop that's only 3 ft. tall, it might be difficult to mount it in a way that they wouldn't burn themselves or catch the shavings on fire.

Chickens can handle cold pretty well. My coop has been as cold as -5F inside, and that's WITH heat. You should be fine with temps in the 20-30s even if your lows dip down into the teens.

It's the moisture that will give you fits. Read all you can about ventilation as it will be really important in your climate.

 

[elmo]

Unless your chickens are breeds that are sensitive to cold, I think they'll do fine without heat. As another commenter mentioned, many people end up having accidents related to coop heating, and if your chickens don't really need it, why take the risk?

Last winter someone I know set up a heat lamp in her coop and one of her chickens managed to get close enough to the lamp to burn off most of her comb. At least her coop didn't burn down, though.

 

[calicokat]

I've read that the chickens do better with cold than heat, and with that in mind, we didn't heat the coop and it went just fine. I kinda held my breath, but we didn't have any frostbite on anybody, yippee!

We do have electricity there because it's right up beside the barn so it was easy. I use it for an extension cord for the heated waterer in the winter and a little 7 watt night light for when I go out to count heads and tuck the girls in after dark. (It's also good for a radio when I need to jam out on a big cleaning day out there, LOL).