Heat lamps and light

[Lifetime chicken lover]

Hi everyone!
I just finished building my winter coop in my garage- it's a 5x5x9 shipping crate (placed on its side-so the floor space is 5x9). I thought of everything except light and heat. I have one heat lamp with a regular heat bulb, but I don't think I can keep that on all night due to the light factor, right? So how can I keep my 8 chickens warm at night? any suggestions? I can't have anything too big, as my chickens don't have too much room as it is.

 

[chicmom]

You could try those red bulbs for your heat lamp....they do put off less light. Truthfully, you should be OK without heat. As long as the girls have some nice lean straw to snuggle up to. There are also flat heat panels that you can use. I think they're expensive though.

 

[elmo]

Are you sure you need supplemental heat?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-winter-coop-temperatures

Most breeds of chickens manage even bitterly cold temperatures fine if they have a dry, draft free but adequately ventilated coop. For an excellent discussion on ventilation, here's another page:


https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-VENTILATION

 

[woodmort]

Read this post https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=5001095 and you may want to rethink adding unnecessary heat. If you area is well vented you don't need to put your birds, garage, house and family in danger.

 

[Lifetime chicken lover]

I have one blue silky roo that may need the extra heat. I heard that they can freeze with temps under 40 degrees.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
It's much warmer here and I've never had a silkie, so who am I to say? Never the less, I would think he would stay warm by cuddling up with others. I would not want the threat of a heat lamp in my garage. But then we had a house fire earlier this year, wiped out the house, due (they think) to faulty wiring. The house was about 1.5 years old. You just never know.