Heat lamp or light??

[muddler6]

Dependong on the size of your coop, mine is sized to keep only a few birds in there, I have 4 standard and 2 bantys now, and I only use a light as a heat source on VERY cold nights and they seem to do fine, I do have the run covered with plastic with a couple gaps to let in some fresh air but keep out the wind. Last year I had the lights on (I built in fixtures that I turn off by unscrewing the bulbs) for about a week 24 hours a day, some say that is too much light, but the did fine, then when the weather warmed up I used a timer and a clip on light that I secured with a wire so that they could not knock it down and cause a fire hazard. Chickens are surprisingly hardy and will do well with just a little warmth.

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

They seemed very happy with their new set up! They all huddled beneath the heat lamp (We have 11, ten hens and a roo) until the white light went out at 6PM Then they were all in their roost as usual!.


It was 56 degrees inside the coop! And 9 degrees outside!

And as a reward they gave us 3 eggs today!! One was clearly some one's first effort! It was teeny and thin shelled. It had broken in the coop, I suspect she either missed the nest or one of the others pushed it out. They have 3 nesting boxes but they seem to insist on laying in the same one! Silly chooks. But, that means I now have three laying!!

 

[curliet]

I have WHAT in my yard? :

When beloved DH woke up this afternoon (midnight shift) I told him of my worries for the poor roo and his comb. He gave me the look that those long suffering spouses of the chicken addicted do when they know they are defeated.

He heaved a huge sigh and said, "You want the heat lamp AND the white light don't you?" I batted my eyes at him and he melted like a frozen water dish under a heat lamp!

The coop is now outfitted with a white light on a timer for 12 hours and heat lamp on all of the time!


(These are HIS chickens you know. I had nothing to do with it!

_

I have what in my yard, that's the same system I've been using and it's working great for me. I started doing this in mid November, and have had no problems with it. Our temps have been in the single digits, and at night it's pretty bad, but the lights keep the coop nice, about 25 during the day, and at night they just hop onto their roosts and settle in.​