Heat lamp for coop...regular light bulb or "black bulb"?

[Ohhhdear]

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Seems to me there may be something else taking advantage of that 75 watt lightbulb and the heat that's spooking your pullets. Mice, rats, a snake, something that banged on the Eglu in the night... a lot of critters can get into very tiny openings.

Once my girls decided their coop was the place to roost for the night, they all troop up into it at dusk, no matter what. Lovely things, chickens... creatures of habit.

 

[bobbi-j]

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That's what I do. I usually use a 60 watt bulb (the heavy duty kind made for garage doors with electric openers). I use a black rubber pan in the winter for their water, with a big rock in the middle of the pan so they don't tip it over when they invariably roost on the edge of the pan. Although I've never had a problem with them picking on each other with the constant light, this year I was thinking of putting in a heated water dish and just having a ceiling light on a timer so it doesn't have to be on 24/7.

 

[JLS]

I put a poultry water heater under my metal waterer in the winter. My coop is NOT insulated but it is draft free. It averages 20F in the winter and many nights it drops to roughly 10F. Sometimes it goes below zero as well. BUT my coop always stays 20F above the outside temps. I learned my lesson the hard way, as I already stated earlier. I was soooooo concerned about drafts that I plugged up every opening possible - WRONG thing to do!! I am the one who caused more harm to my beloved babies that nature did! It got so humid in the coop which lead to one of my babies getting frost bite

I am telling you these things so you wont have to feel the way I did. I listened & learned. Draft free & ventalated without added heat (just make sure they have access to water) is the way to go. They are honestly happier when I let them be chickens instead of babying them like puppies

Who knew??

 

[arch_cpj]

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You bet it gets cold but I really do miss Wisconsin I spent many years in Oconto and the fall was awesome..... If you want to get a consistant lay then some sort of artificial light is neccesary if not the birds will slow down considerably in the winter... I use a 60 watt equivilant florescent cfl and timer I run my timer from 1730 to 2230 that is it and it works for me...

 

[arch_cpj]

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EXACTLY RIGHT!!!! HEAT LAMPS HAVE VERY LITTLE USE IN A COOP OF ADULT BIRDS!!! Im a firefighter and Ive seen 3 big fires where the whole barn went from 1 light!!!!!!! I use a 5 gallon pale for my winter waterer and a bucket deicer I also use an cfl as a addittioanl light source and all are GFI protected only time there is a heat lamp is whn the little ones are there and even then I worry...

 

[TheMainException]

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The way I figure it, if chickens have lived this long in the wild without our help (only our stealing of their eggs), they should be just fine with what we do give them. I'm only giving them the few extra hours of daylight with a fluorescent bulb that gives off very little heat to keep them laying.

 

[BellevueOmlet]

Red light seems to be better

 

[teach1rusl]

OP - if you're using a bulb at night time, I would suggest either a black one or a red one. There are red ones available that aren't heat bulbs.
Now if you're wanting a heat bulb, they do come as low as 50W in pet stores (reptile section). As with any bulb you use in your coop, but even moreso with heat bulbs, be sure that the housing is appropriately rated and that it is well secured (not clamped - but chained or wired) at least 18" from any potential flamable material (including your chickens' heads). You might also do a search on clay pot heaters. They are great for keeping water liquid AND putting off a bit of heat for your birds.

 

[nancypo]

We use a 75 watt red bulb, only when it's below 30 or so. My hubby is in the electrical biz, so it super safe, gfi, the works. It's off during the day, except (like last winter) when it was the high of 10, or less. Since I have a small flock of 3, I view them as pets. I keep my dog comfortable, why not my chickens? There's also lots of extra bedding, so if we lost power (we rarely do) I'm sure they'd be fine. We are going to switch to a ceramic disc, as it has more multi-directional heat- the kind they use for reptiles, and they last for years! Don't wear out like the bulbs...

 

[teach1rusl]

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Well, I have a dozen...lol...but I feel the same way. If a person is able, there's no harm in providing a little reasonable comfort for one's pets

Why should dogs and cats get all the special treatment???