Heat lamp suggestions?

[mamajos]

The coop is 8’x12’, with it divided inside—a storage area, and 7.5’ x 6’ coop space.

 

[WIchickMama]

The coop is 8’x12’, with it divided inside—a storage area, and 7.5’ x 6’ coop space.

thanks

 

[mamajos]

I’m in Minnesota, the Sweeter Heater company is located in Wisconsin.

 

[Goosebaby]

My “coop” is technically the undernatth of a covered deck, I have three 5’ x 10’ cages that fit fully underneath, the ceiling height “underneath of the deck” is 8ft, length in total is around 18 ft, width 10 ft.


Just adding that information if it makes any difference.

 

[WIchickMama]

I’m in Minnesota, the Sweeter Heater company is located in Wisconsin.

gotcha-my bad

 

[mamajos]

@Goosebaby, I would still call the company and just see what they say. It would be more input, so you can make a decision, and they know what their product can do.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have been a Firefighter for 26 years and have been to several structure fires where heat lamps were to blame.

I totally believe you. Would you say that in most of those fires the lamp was not supported appropriately?

I’ll need to hang it out of reach, which is pretty high because they’re geese which can reach pretty high, so above 4 ft at least, but will the distance make the heater pointless?

I don't know how warm you need to keep it or if the geese will know that they need heat. I use a heat lamp in my brooder in the coop. at most 2' above the brooder floor. Even when it is below freezing outside that end of the brooder is toasty, but the far end of the brooder can have frost on it on cold mornings. The chicks know to stay in the warm end. Will your geese? The further you are from that lamp the less it will heat.

Many of us avoid heating a coop. If the birds are feathered out they can keep themselves warm enough. The real danger for them is frostbite, so we want plenty of ventilation up high that lets moisture out. Frostbite is a lot less likely if the air is dry. Frostbite is not your risk as long as you keep the temperature above freezing.

Warm air rises. You might want to limit ventilation up high to keep heat in no matter what heat source you use. I think you want a little ventilation up high to let ammonia out. The poop develops ammonia as it decays and ammonia can kill them. But ammonia is lighter than air so even a small opening over their heads will let the ammonia out. You might consider insulation to keep the heat in.

I'm not trying to talk you into using a heat lamp, I'm not sure it is your best option. Mainly I wanted to warn you about that clamp.

 

[Goosebaby]

@Goosebaby, I would still call the company and just see what they say. It would be more input, so you can make a decision, and they know what their product can do.

Definitely will do, thank you!

 

[Goosebaby]

I totally believe you. Would you say that in most of those fires the lamp was not supported appropriately?


I don't know how warm you need to keep it or if the geese will know that they need heat. I use a heat lamp in my brooder in the coop. at most 2' above the brooder floor. Even when it is below freezing outside that end of the brooder is toasty, but the far end of the brooder can have frost on it on cold mornings. The chicks know to stay in the warm end. Will your geese? The further you are from that lamp the less it will heat.

Many of us avoid heating a coop. If the birds are feathered out they can keep themselves warm enough. The real danger for them is frostbite, so we want plenty of ventilation up high that lets moisture out. Frostbite is a lot less likely if the air is dry. Frostbite is not your risk as long as you keep the temperature above freezing.

Warm air rises. You might want to limit ventilation up high to keep heat in no matter what heat source you use. I think you want a little ventilation up high to let ammonia out. The poop develops ammonia as it decays and ammonia can kill them. But ammonia is lighter than air so even a small opening over their heads will let the ammonia out. You might consider insulation to keep the heat in.

I'm not trying to talk you into using a heat lamp, I'm not sure it is your best option. Mainly I wanted to warn you about that clamp.

I already know how worthless the clamps are, if I was going to use a bulb lamp I’d suspend it, not use the clamp, I had one almost land on top of some goslings a few years ago, I can’t understand why manufacturers even still make them with clamps.

I clean my coop once a week, it’s also technically the underneath of a covered deck, it’s about 18’ long, 10’ wide, 8’ high, I can fit three 10’ x 5’ cages in there. The entire front is open to the air, so there is a lot of ventilation, I have to suspend a tarp over the front when it’s raining to keep the rain out when it comes in sideways, this winter I’m probably just going to keep the tarp in place at night weather or no weather to keep the wind out and warmth in.

I’ve never used a heat source before with my geese so I don’t know if they would actually use it or not. They never needed it before but unfortunately they caught mycoplasma from a new neighbor’s chickens this year so I’m looking into some supplemental heat for when it gets close to freezing because I have a feeling they’ll need it, as it is the sniffles already started up this week when it started dipping into the 40s at night.
If it was just one or two geese I’d just move them into the garage until spring, but it’s 8 geese.
I’m actually only planning on one lamp per cage for just two of the cages though, the six geese who’ve had the worst symptoms this year will get the cages with a lamp each, the third cage with the other two I don’t think need a lamp, they seem to have more or less asymptomatic throughout this and don’t seem affected, so far at least.