Heat light?

[rooster brandon.]

Ok i have a couple of questions:can you use heat lights in your coop: will they stay far enough away from heat light to not get burned : and what wattage should i use:And where should i put it: ok i think thats it thank you!Oh and this is for winter........

 

[Ema]

I have had a heat lamp in my coop now for a while. it serves as a bit of light when its pitch dark out here int he boonies. it is about 4 feet from the ground where I have their straw and directly in the middle of the room so its nice and dark where they roost. my coop is 12x12. I have never had an issue with the heat lamp at all. but I made sure my DH placed the cord coming down from the rafters and secured so it cannot fall down. Also the way we placed it if the hook ever gave out (which it won't) and the lamp shifted down the cord would pull and it would force it to unplug. It is just a safety precaution we used.

at this point I know my chickens do not need heat so I have great ventilation (now that DH came home and took that darn plastic he put up last week back down) but I prefer to give them a little light just in case

 

[Ema]

ohh ya and my chickens avoid it I have never had one fly into it. also its a 250 watt light bulb I am using and I bought the proper lamp shield for it cause before I had chickens I had reptiles and needed something for inside the house that wouldn't cause a fire

 

[FlipFlopFarmer]

also, other than fire, be careful for moisture, heat lights can and will explode if they get wet, make that lil loop(dunno what its called), but u loop the cord so water cant run down it towards the light if it rains outside. most of my chickens do just fine outside with no supplemental heat, and the only ones i worry about are my silkies, although they sleep in a pile in the winter. Something i havent tried, but will this winter, is a ceramic heat emitter, they are at most reptile supply stores, they screw into a light bulb socket and put off heat but no light, they are much more expensive, but are not glass.

 

[woodmort]

My question would be "why?". Unless you live were it is 50 below for days on end and are raising jungle fowl, your birds will not need heat as long as their coop is solid and well ventilated, Moisture, not cold will cause chickens the most problems since most breeds are very cold hardy--the interior if my coop has dropped to 20 below with no adverse problems, including frozen combs, other than frozen eggs. Using a heat lamp--especially one of the 250w variety--is asking for trouble. First it is not allowing your chickens to get used to the cold so should the lamp burn out or the power go off they would be in trouble. Second, given all the dust, shavings and dry grass in a normal coop you have ideal tinder for starting a fire should any of that stuff get too close to a heat source. I, personally, know of 3 buildings housing chickens that burned because of some well-meaning owner using heat sources for his birds--in all cases not a bird survived. If you must add light, go with a 20w florescent or one of those 60w equivalent cfb's your birds will be just as happy and a lot safer. Remember, what is cold for you is just pleasant for birds with nice warm downy coats.

 

[rooster brandon.]

Well all this is great and it is moisture free it does get well into the teens somtimes here so would i be good with a good amount of dry hay in the coop and out in the run and a wind breaker?????????????????

 

[speckledhen]

Yes, you probably won't need a heat lamp at all, unless you have extreme conditions, which I consider close to or below zero and you have birds with large combs. Keep it very dry in there and you shouldn't have many issues with cold. Ventilation is essential in winter, too, up above their heads. Never close up your coop tight, no matter what.

 

[Luckytaz]

Everything Woodmort said, is correct. We had a mild winter here last year, our lowest temprature was -27.5 degrees, no problem with the chickens. No heat in the coop.
Make sure they have liquid water, and feed them well.

 

[Ema]

Quote:
you know I never even thought of that....last year in my area it was -43 with the wind chill for about a week. I figured with that sort of cold a heat lamp would be beneficial. and now I am thinking about this a bit more, with the heat lamp and then the chickens breathing, that would cause moisture even with all the ventilation I got??? our regular temps are about -25 to -30 Celsius and we have snow from end of October till late April mid May..usually!!! so what do I do replace the heat lamp to a non heat red bulb now before it gets too cold??

 

[CarolAnn]

What purpose does the no heat red bulb serve?