Heat Lamp Question

[Wildsky]

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Thats what I have - the ceramic one..... I bought it when they were chicks and I didn't want to keep em up all night.... also wanted them to know the difference between day and night.

 

[Smitty's Farm]

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I am so sorry about the loss of your roo.

I just wish the literature had specific guide lines for what coop temps should be in the winter to keep your flock healthy. I know some breed are more winter hearty. My educated guess would be to just above freezing, but I haven't a clue.

I agree w/ the ceramic lamp after my party chicken experience.

I think people just don't need to go over board and have their flock get to toasty at night to just release them to the cold weather outside in the run the next day.

Our erractic weather probable stresses my flock out by itself. We had 70 degree F a few weekends ago, then it fropped to 30 degrees to warm up to 50 degress then the 20's and then single digits. Today is 33 degrees, but yesterday the high was 12 degrees. It's crazy!

 

[krturpie]

Just throwing some info in the discussion...

The coop that I built is very small (~3 x 4) and houses only a few pullets. I designed it originally for good ventilation, b/c my grandparents told me more stories of losing animals in the heat of summer than the cold of winter (in north western PA). I do have both red and ceramic bulbs in the coop, but together they only bring the interior temp up by about 5 degs, assuming that's it's not windy. I was directing them on the water to keep it from freezing, but the past few nights, even that wasn't enough. I can tell when the chickens are in because my remote thermometer reads at a couple of degrees higher. All told, not much change from the outside, but it often makes the difference between freezing the water or not.

It got down to 7 degs here in MD last night and my DD brought the birds into the basement. Sigh. Inside, I think that they look too hot (so, my DD opens a window!). But, honestly, that's a bit colder than it usually gets in these parts, so I didn't know how they'd fair and let it go.

Acclimation and dealing with extremes seem to me to be issue here. The weather in MD is a bit wacky, especially on the edge of the piedmont. We had a spat days around 60 degrees a few weeks ago and now this deep freeze. It's hard on everything. Likewise, I'm sure artificially shifting temps too much is also not good. But, I'm thinking that the best approach for here would be to keep the extremes at a minimum when possible. What I'm not sure about is what kind of swing in temperature is reasonable. Any suggestions?

 

[horsewishr]

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Excellent point. I think that our temperatures have been vacillating much more in the past few years. And when we have huge, quick temperature fluctions, animals suffer. Ask an equine vet. They get TONS of colic calls when the weather is crazy.

 

[mosier]

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My thin plywood coop has been down to -11 so far, and for 99% of the past three months have been in constant below-freezing weather. I have three birds. They don't like walking in the snow, but don't seem to mind the cold. This is my first winter with chickens and this weekend I was scared of the super cold forecast so I went out and bought a red light to put in the coop....my husband laughed at me and thought I was silly. I was. The chickens are fine in cold weather! I've had it in there for a day and half, but I think I'll take it out tonight. It doesn't seem to do much good (the coop only warms up about 1/2 degree from outside weather)..except that at night I can see into the henhouse because there's a red glow. I have more of a "let chickens be" attitude.

 

[Wildsky]

un We're going down to -7 tonight, its 6 in the coop right now.... Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[Smitty's Farm]

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Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! That sooooooo soooooo sooooo cold!
We've warmed up to 34 degrees. Crazy weather.

 

[chickensforever]

I turn my heat lamp on whenever it drops below freezing at night. I only have hens from the original chicks I purchased several years ago and haven't added any since. They are getting older and in an effort to make sure they are as comfortable as possible from certain signs of aging, like arthritis, I think the benefits of the extra heat are more important.

Also, a thought about the adaptation of chickens to cold weather: Artificial selection has dramatically decreased chickens' abilities to survive on their own. Our backyard hens are not the same jungle fowl from southeast Asia. Some have feathers on their feet, on their head (Polish, etc), and extravagant combs. Even our "hardy" breeds like Wyandottes, Rocks, and others, were selected ultimately for egg and meat production. While they will fare better than a Sebright, they still are domesticated! The entire process of domestication for any species reduces body size, strength, and hardiness.

I don't understand the argument that "a little frostbite is ok" because it hurts like heck! And even if frostbite doesn't occur, imagine spending an entire night with your fingers frozen. Chickens can tolerate lower temperatures than we can, but to figure out where that line is, the best thing is to look at your birds' behavior because they're individuals and no formula will work reliably. Use their breed and age as guides. If they puff their feathers up more than usual or are crowded together or under a heat lamp, they need more warmth.

 

[Wildsky]

Smitty's Farm :

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Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! That sooooooo soooooo sooooo cold!
We've warmed up to 34 degrees. Crazy weather.

We're going to start slowly warming up from now on out - by the weekend I think we'll get up to 39 or something on Sat. or Sun. I can NOT wait!​

 

[krturpie]

brrrrr. -7!!!

We're at 19 deg now with a predicted low of only 17 (I suspect it will be lower). I feel warmer already.

The girls and lamp are keeping the coop a toasty 25 degs according to the interior sensor and I assure you that a goodly portion of that temp diff is purely chicken heat.

I hope that the lamp keeps the water from freezing.