Heat in the winter...we're talking minus 40 here!

[Lynn57]

Thats good to know. I would in a second provide them with heat if it wasn't such a extreme fire hazard. My insulated room for them is in a old old barn with alot of hay...which kinda scares me. I'm sure they would survive in the extreme cold but I can't imagine them being very comfortable, which wiould bother me. At the same time if they get use to the added heat and there is a power shortage...they may really suffer from the cold.

 

[CityChook]

Fire is an extremely real and scary possibility. We hard wired a light fixture to the wall (make sure it has a ceramic socket) so that I wouldn't worry about it coming unclamped and falling down into the shavings. It does get very dusty inside the coop, especially when it's closed up for the winter, so I blow the dust off the bulb/fixture about every other day. The fixture components (socket and base) came from the hardware store and cost less than $10. Totally worth it.

While I can't recommend heating the coop to 32 and above (but some certainly do), keeping it above negative temperatures makes it easier on your birds. Yes, they would probably survive the hard cold, but it takes a toll on them. Our winter is long enough here in MN that I chose to heat my coop.

 

[randomchick]

I have -40 weather during part of the winter, and all we use is an insulated coop, we raised it off the ground and insulated the bottom as well with straw bales under the coop. Also have just a light bulb in the winter, and that's it. Extra treats. We did have a few chicks which we put in the barn near the pigs for extra heat last winter, my husband will not allow birds in the house.

 

[2DogsFarm]

This will be my first Winter with chickens.
Lots of interesting info on this thread!

My coop is a converted metal shed - maybe 12X10 - for 5 hens.
I was thinking of putting straw bales outside on the North wall for insulation (prevaling wind is from that direction) as well as on the East & West sides to help with snow buildup.
I'll also be adding 2X4s inside the coop for Winter roosts.

I don't have electric in the coop so I was going to run an outdoor-rated extension cord from the garage (about 30') to the coop for a heated water bowl. The cord will run through a channel so the hens won't peck at it.

Should I also put some straw bales inside the coop? They could roost on them and the bales could also help insulate and act as windbreaks for any drafts.

Except for subzero days, I planned on letting the girls go out into their fenced yard for some fresh air. Would that chill the coop too much? I'm gone at work from 8A until 5P.
There is a small window on the South wall & it will be closed up for the night.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
You should probably be thinking about insulating the INSIDE of the coop, either "too" or "instead". The problem with metal sheds is that they become condensation farms on ALL interior surfaces when outdoor temps drop real low. When you have condensation/frost all over the inside of the walls and ceiling, ventilation cannot move that moisture out of the coop and you end up with excessive humidity and a much greater likelihood of frostbite.

Even just putting an inside wall of plywood inside the shed will help. The problem with stacked strawbales is that they do not contact or cover the surface of the metal, so there is still cold metal surface exposed to cause condensation.

Also I've never seen a metal shed that has anything remotely approaching sufficient ventilation for chickens, so even with just 5 (which is a good number to start with IMO and your management will be much easier than if you had more!) you will want to cut a bunch of extra ventilation, closeable with weatherstripped flaps.

Should I also put some straw bales inside the coop? They could roost on them and the bales could also help insulate and act as windbreaks for any drafts.

You can if you want (securely stacked so they cannot fall over on chickens!) but be aware they will get massively pooey real fast, and if a mite problem gets going you may have to ditch 'em all fast.

Except for subzero days, I planned on letting the girls go out into their fenced yard for some fresh air. Would that chill the coop too much? I'm gone at work from 8A until 5P.

As long as you have finagled some sort of windbreak to prevent wind from rushing right in the popdoor, sure, most people leave it open and let the chickens do as they wish, that should be fine. With only 5 chickens in that size shed you have a lot more options (and so do your chickens) so if they end up wanting to stay mostly inside, or if there are some days when you think they *ought* to stay in, they will not get too stressed and rammy, with all that nice room at their disposal

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​

 

[2DogsFarm]

Thanks, Pat

I have been mentally arranging straw bales inside the coop & this morning added a 2X4 roost for colder weather.
If they don't switch themselves to this from the less-than-1" partition they now prefer to use I will take that partition out & replace it with a bale!
Former owners of my house kept poultry in the shed and left me a bunch of movable partitions. some of them I haven't used yet have plexiglas and I may see if they can be used to insulate from inside too.

As far as ventilation: I added a small screened window to the shed on the South wall and that can be left cracked open a bit if needed.
It should also allow some sun to get in & help warm the coop.
Even in the worst heat of Summer the coop seemed to have enough air circulating, which made me think I need to make it a little tighter for cold weather.

I don't have a pop door - just a small (2'X5") screened door that leads to the yard. Thankfully this door opens in, so I can block it off from outside with straw bales & that will cut down on the exposure to outdoors plus the hens can jump onto it & outside if they want or huddle below it.

 

[Amethyste]

I believe as long as you keep the water drinkable, supply lots of food, wide enough roosts so they can cover their toes, and adequate ventilation then they should be ok.

I am always suprised just how warm they are!!

 

[possumqueen]

There was an experiment done once years ago where a guy went out on a minus something night and very veeeerrrry gently lowered a thermometer wire into the fluffed up feathers of a cardinal sleeping in a shrub. The reading at 1/4 inch from the cardinal's back was a nice crispy 85degrees!

 

[rstampa]

Quote:
I agree. Seem as thow most of the BYC members are up North. No heat here in Tampa, Fl. Most don't even have a coop. Just a boxed in section in the run for them to lay their eggs.
Now ya ol stay warm now ya hear.

 

[Akane]

It depends on the breed. In -30F (not counting windchill) in a large uninsulated coop with no heat and the door wide open my standards were wandering about like it was a nice summer day. They suffered no frostbite or cold damage including those with large combs despite a very cold winter. If it hits 0F my japanese bantams start to frostbite and huddle in corners. When it got down to the negatives I pulled them inside and had to dub one rooster because his comb was completely black. Standards tend to do better than bantams overall but there are particular breeds that handle cold well and ones that don't handle it at all. I'm hoping to get a good solid coop built that I can run a small heater in this winter for those few breeds I have that don't handle the cold. I'm not worried about any of my standard flock and my d'uccle mix bantam EE will probably do alright but the japanese bantams, seramas, and possibly sebrights concern me.