Heat in Winter

[KMurphyVT]

Hello,
I have 8 hens who are 22 weeks old. We live in Vermont, and I’m wondering if I need to have supplemental heat, or will they keep each other warm enough?
Thank you,
Kelly

 

[wamtazlady]

Gets down into the -20s F here in NW Montana. Birds do just fine. They spend all day out in their run that is protected from breezes. I have no heat. I have no insulation. What I do have is lots of ventilation. Have about 10 square feet of ventilation that is never closed in a 6 by 8 foot coop. Ventilation is mostly up high while I keep the roosts down low to keep breezes off the birds. Never lost a bird to cold in winter. Don't have a frostbite problem. A bird can get frostbite at close to 32 degrees in a closed up humid coop. A bird can live perfectly fine at -20 with no frostbite in a coop with lots of ventilation. A warm chicken is a dry chicken.

 

[KMurphyVT]

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[Weeg]

No, supplemental heat will do WAY more harm then good. They will just to he heat, and no longer be able to survive the chilly months and then, your power goes out, you loose your whole flock in 1 night. They down need it, it would be like you, putting on a puffy, down winter coat, (which is made of bird down), and going outside for a while, your fine, there fine!

 

[wamtazlady]

What do you do for ventilation? We live in Wyo and have never had a problem with frostbite or comb problems nor losing a hen to the cold -however we are building a new coop and my husband is going back and forth about insulation. In our old coop I believe he had used cardboard for insulation and they had straw and shavings in their coop. He is now considering fiberglass insulation between the plywood wall and yucca board "paneling". We are now considering sand for bedding but don't know how well this will work in Wyo as well!

Under my eaves I have vents covered in hardware cloth. There is no way to close those areas off. Because of the overhanging eaves no rain or snow can blow into the coop.

I do not use insulation for one major reason. If I had insulation I might try to close the coop up to "hold in the heat." That would be the worst thing for the chickens. They have a lovely down coat that keeps them warm if they are provided a safe draft free place to live. Holding in the heat would only hold in the moisture they make while breathing and pooping.

Think about those little birds that flit around all winter. Do they look miserable? They are using the down they were given to fluff up and trap heat next to their bodies. If that down did not work they would look miserable and die during the winters. Instead they jump around looking for good things to eat and find a place out of the wind to sleep at night.

So many people worry about winter and chickens. I think that chickens can be more miserable in the summer. Try to imagine yourself wearing a down jacket outside in the sun when the temperatures are 80+ degrees. That has got to be way uncomfortable.

 

[Ted Brown]

Oh, thank you! I have heard that before, but I guess It was incorrect?.... Glad I could get correct info!

This is often discussed, again very recently; someone (sorry I forget who, will try to find post) listed the actual negative possibilities (one was dirt build up).

Here is the link:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...water-at-night-in-cold-weather.1425299/page-2

Here are the reasons:

"#1 it clogs pores, traps dirt, debris, poop and moisture.
#2 its hard to clean off, once you put it on.
#3 chickens regulate their body temperature via the comb and wattles.
#4 if dirt does get trapped, then you get a pecking problem from the other chickens, trying to clean each other off. Then blood happens, and it turns into a disaster after that in some cases." [sic @ValerieLovesChickens]

 

[Weeg]

A tip on frost bite, you can cover combs and wattles in Vaseline to prevent it! No need for heat, but you did a great job coming for research!

 

[jreardon1918]

The coop looks great. Do you have a few more pictures? Inside the run, looking at the coop? Other sides?

 

[Ted Brown]

A tip on frost bite, you can cover combs and wattles in Vaseline to prevent it! No need for heat, but you did a great job coming for research!

DO NOT USE VASELINE, does more harm than good.

 

[Alaskan]

With crazy amounts of wind, it would be ideal to go way overboard with ventilation, but have ways to close everything up.

NOT because you want to close up everything at once... ventilation is very important... but you might not know, until you are in the middle of a storm, exactly how the snow will blow and swirl around in all of that wind. If you have oodles of options you can stand there and close up everything on one wall... but open lots of ventilation on a different wall... etc.

As an example, lots of people say eve ventilation is ideal... but in my coop shed, no idea why, but snowy wind swirls through my eves and dumps snow in my coop, but the vent a foot lower down on the wall does not.

So yes, I plugged up the eve vents, left the lower wall vents open.

Another option is to put air-condition vent filters over vents, or grow cloth, or some other fabric that will not block, but will slow air exchange.