Heat lamp vs Heating Pad

[Chasing Chickens]

The straw bales are an excellent idea! Wish I had the room to do that.

I just saw where beekeepers use campaign signs to insulate their hives over the winter! I think this would be a fantastic option for backyard coops!! Even in our large barn, I lose a lot of square footage when lining with straw bales. The corrugated plastic would probably last quite awhile. I just might have to round up some.

 

[Chasing Chickens]

Never thought about putting hay in there vs straw, hmmm. Besides being softer, do you think it's warmer? I like the idea about hay with shavings in their boxes.

Personally, I prefer straw to hay. Straw has hollow centers, so it’s insulating. Also, straw doesn’t absorb water like hay does. But, this probably makes more of a difference for animals that sleep on the ground (like ducks) than it does for roosting or nesting chickens.

 

[Highbrook Farm]

Well, i think i have found a winning combination! As the housekeeper (cleaner of the chicken coop) i have started putting shavings on the floor and in their boxes, and then covering the floor shavings in hay! They love it. I’m sure it is warmer, and they love the fact that they still have hay. It keeps them busy, kicking it around and is soft for them. I think it keeps the shavings nice and dry too, when they come in with wet feet from the rain!! It is going to be my winter combo from now on!! Cleaning is a lot easier too!

 

[and1223]

I live 2 hours north of you in the Foothills and we get low temps occasionally in low 20s but not cold enough to put a heat lamp. Not sure how many chickens you have but they all like to perch right next to each other. They snuggle with each other. I have both cold hardy BO and Cinnamon Queens. The cold does not bother mine with laying. I make sure they get omega fat in their feed in winter and lots of greens. You’ll be fine with straw and no heat.

 

[kodster]

Not sure where you got that Chelsey was 8 months old. Don't believe I even mentioned her age (she's 5). And yes, the fog that we get (though minimal since we are not that close to the ocean) was factored in to my thinking. Anywho, all of you who agree on not needing any heat source I hear what you are saying and I thank you for the time you took to advise me. It's a small world in that my siblings were born in Bismark and by the time I was born we had moved to Minnesota but still I spent many summers and several winters in N.D so I know what cold truly is. Sounds like the set up you have with the Thermocube is a good plan. thanks for your opines.

Your wording led me to believe she was less than a year old. And yes, my comment was an 'opinion', so glad you took it as such. Sometimes people get offended thinking we're trying to be superior or more knowledgeable, when we are not. We're working off our own experiences.

 

[kodster]

You've been a real good sport through all of this help! I'm in So Cal Sierras and we get snow & 10 degrees, so Phht to those who = California = endless summer. I agree - Bay Area is damp & feels cold with the moisture in the air. My thinking is if your birds have grown up with the extra warmth, they might be acclimated to it by now. Something safer than a heat lamp, lots of good intel on here - plus that will ease your mind... A Very important thing these days

I hear ya on the weather in California is different from area to area. I grew up on the peninsula in the Bay Area, but lived for 11 years, after leaving my parents' home, and lived in Sacramento. Even in the hottest time of the year for the Bay Area, when I returned to visit, I was wearing sweaters, lightweight jackets to stay warm, as I had acclimated to the central valley temperatures. And the memories of going up to Kyburz, east of Placerville on Hwy 50, in May, survival camping at the Silver Fork of the American River, and having to evacuate our campsite in the shortest time in memory, because of a freak snowstorm that happened over Memorial Day weekend, up in the Sierra Nevada. That's one of the things that people love about California... you can just travel a few hours and enter into a completely different environment/climate.

 

[Onyxflock]

I hear ya on the weather in California is different from area to area. I grew up on the peninsula in the Bay Area, but lived for 11 years, after leaving my parents' home, and lived in Sacramento. Even in the hottest time of the year for the Bay Area, when I returned to visit, I was wearing sweaters, lightweight jackets to stay warm, as I had acclimated to the central valley temperatures. And the memories of going up to Kyburz, east of Placerville on Hwy 50, in May, survival camping at the Silver Fork of the American River, and having to evacuate our campsite in the shortest time in memory, because of a freak snowstorm that happened over Memorial Day weekend, up in the Sierra Nevada. That's one of the things that people love about California... you can just travel a few hours and enter into a completely different environment/climate.

So Right, we've got it all. I grew up in So. Tahoe & lived in Sacramento area for years. It's some of the most beautiful country anywhere. Here in High Desert and Sequoias, pretty but not like there!

 

[kodster]

What part of NoDak are you in? I'm a little ways out of Minot. I wanted to ask about your set up... Is Comfort Cozy the same as Cozy Coop? How warm does it keep it when it's really cold? I usually don't heat the coop but this year I have some young peafowl and one is pretty small so I was thinking of giving them something to warm things up a little. The coldest I have seen on my thermometer in the 30 years I have been here is -38F (don't think it was windy at the time, but still pretty chilly!)

I'm about an hour west of Minot, just off Hwy 2. No, Comfort Glow (I used the wrong name) is an actual radiant quartz heater (it glows like a milkhouse style heater), whereas the Cozy Coop is a radiant panel. The Comfort Glow is adjustable from 59F (lowest temp) to 89F. It has 3 settings in which to heat at, though... 750, 1500, and an economy wattage. I've got it set at 750 wattage, which is enough to generate heat sufficient to keep the water from freezing. The 1500 wattage would take more electricity and would heat up the entire coop, which is what I DON'T want. The economy setting uses whatever wattage to maintain at 68F, which is more than I want or need. Because I mounted it on the wall (it won't work as a floor-standing heater), it's above the chickens so not radiating out directly on them, but heating the air in the coop... an 8x12 shed, so the size of a small bedroom. It'll also warm the coop up enough that eggs won't freeze, too (another plus, IMHO).

This is the heater I have... I didn't pay that much for it at the source I found it at. It's brand name is Comfort Glow.

https://www.amazon.com/Electric-Hea...228766&sprefix=comfort+glow+h,aps,208&sr=8-29

Here is the Comfort Cozy... as you can see, they are completely different types of heaters.

https://www.amazon.com/Cozy-Product...d=1606228928&sprefix=Cozy+coop,aps,209&sr=8-5

 

[kodster]

So Right, we've got it all. I grew up in So. Tahoe & lived in Sacramento area for years. It's some of the most beautiful country anywhere. Here in High Desert and Sequoias, pretty but not like there!

Both hubby & I would return to California in a heartbeat, if the leadership of the state would change and much of the restrictions would be removed... let the people be free instead of oppressed and overtaxed. That's one of the reasons why we left... we're conservatives, always have been, and got out before the flight began in earnest (early 1990s).

 

[Onyxflock]

uggh... do not blame you. We decided to stow away in this tiny mountain community & shoot for self-sufficiency. But everybody we know has left