Heat lamp?

[arkchicks]

In Arkansas here, it's getting to 12 degrees tonight! Normally don't heat out small coop, (4x3x4 ft) for our 3 ladies, however I put a heat lamp with 75watt bulb. Should I run it all night??? Or just a few hours tonight and then again before sun rises??? Don't wont to over heat them but I don't want them froze either. Also curious if I shoud out a small rabbit watered in coop since they're shut up for the night?? TIA

 

[Wyandottes7]

Welcome to BYC!

We're glad to have you.

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. I don't suggest using a heat lamp at all. Not only do they too often seem to end up starting fires in the coop, but the cold isn't a problem for chickens in Arkansas (I was born in Hot Springs, AR). I've raised chickens in where winter temperatures have dropped to 30 F below zero, and with a well ventilated (to prevent moisture from building up), dry, and draft free coop, they did just fine. Feather are excellent insulators, and moisture is a much greater danger than cold. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. What kind of chickens do you have?

 

[arkchicks]

I have 2 RIR and a BR. Our coop is a little tikes play house with chicken wire, lattice and clear plastic covering the windows with a 9 ft run attached. We have one nesting box and a perch that goes the length of the little tikes house. They free range our backyard during the day but are put up before dark. We've had them for about 3 months now.

 

[Michael OShay]

I have 2 RIR and a BR. Our coop is a little tikes play house with chicken wire, lattice and clear plastic covering the windows with a 9 ft run attached. We have one nesting box and a perch that goes the length of the little tikes house. They free range our backyard during the day but are put up before dark. We've had them for about 3 months now.

Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks are both very cold hardy birds. They will be fine without any supplemental heat in your winters, as long as their coop is dry and draft free. )

 

[drumstick diva]

Chickens need a draft free coop with adequate ventilation, to start healthy & hardy. I'm not sure a plastic Little Tykes house offers that. What do you have for flooring/litter?

 

[arkchicks]

It's mounted on a wood platform the wood platform is covered with those stick on tiles and covered with wood chips that are replaced weekly. The windows are all covered with a really thick plastic covering the kind you Cover upholstered chairs with. I have sprayed the spray foam along the roof edge and where the plastic is on the windows they have been caulked then screwed down. And for extra security I have a tarp rafter around the windows and roof as well to keep from a cold draft if I happen to have missed any areas. I'd post pictures but it's dark here now.

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Barred Rocks are heat machines. At least mine are. LOL So they should be able to keep the RIR's warm. I usually don't turn on any heat unless the over night low is going to be 30+ degrees colder than the average over night low. A 35 degree drop off average can be a shock. Anything less than this and they can handle the cold. You might install a panel heater in front of your roost bar. One that is low wattage. I have one in front of my roost bar that I only use when it is going down below zero. It never gets too hot to touch so it won't burn the birds either. But it radiates enough heat to warm up their tiny bubble. I let the colder birds roost in front of it and the warmer birds roost on the sides of the colder birds.

Good luck and stay warm!!

 

[song of joy]

They'll be fine without an electric heat source, but it's really important that the coop is ventilated, especially considering it's plastic. From your description, it sounds like there's little air flow, which would increase the risk of trapping moisture inside, which will cause frostbite on the combs and wattles. Make sure air can enter the coop from low and escape from near the roof. Warmer, moisture-laden air will exit through vents near the top of the coop, reducing the risk of frostbite. If this moist air lingers and cannot escape, it will condense on the walls of the coop, as well as on the combs and wattles, causing frostbite.

 

[RonP]

Dry is so much more important than warm.

Heat lamps are a documented cause of coop fires.

Heat lamp fire!
Another heat lamp fire!
Yet another issue, and fires!