Heat or no heat?

[Henlife]

Just throwing it out there upstate New York two hours from Canada do we heat or do not heat the coop?? As of now we are not...

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

I never use heat for my chickens after 8 weeks. Like other birds they will grow the neccesary down feathers to keep them warm. If you use heat for them and their coop is let’s say 30 F and it’s 0F outside and there’s a power outage your birds will die because they will not have grown the neccesary down feathers. Not to mention a fire hazard. That’s how I look at it. Sometimes less is more. Good luck.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Also

 

[sourland]

Keep a dry, well ventilated coop and feed and water well and your birds will be fine. Just again today there was a post about a heated coop burning.

 

[PirateGirl]

So, like you, and many others, I have struggled with the question. Many concerned friends, coworkers, family members have asked what I am going to do with my chickens this winter. Let me tell you, winter finally arrived full force. We've had wind. We've had snow. We've had several days/nights in a row where it never got above freezing. It even recently was hovering around zero degrees F a few nights this past week. The reality ended up being that all that worrying was for nothing. My chickens didn't care. My coop has neither heat nor insulation and my chickens came out in the morning with the temperature barely above zero F and ate their breakfast and drank some water and scratched around. Sometimes they stood on one leg. Sometimes they hopped around on dirt patches or perches trying to avoid snow. They went back in their coop and hung out inside (their own choice) until a few hours later when it had warmed up more. They survived. They really don't seem to mind the cold, they are cautious of the snow, and they don't particularly like when it's windy regardless of temperature. So I've learned a few things. A wind break is more important than a heater. If I shovel/clear a little path down to dirt for them to walk from the door to the food and water they are happier. That's it. Easy. So I don't think I will be adding heat to my coop this winter.

 

[azygous]

What are your lowest average temps?

My temps skate around 0F and 10F some nights, and when it gets that cold, I turn on oil-filled electric heaters in my coops set to the lowest setting to keep the temp in the coops riding just above freezing. (Good ventilation) When the temps are 20F and above, no heat.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

I had leghorns and an Andalusian pullet that were fine over the winter. Just watch large combed birds.

 

[Mrs. K]

People worry about warm, but what they should worry about is DRY. Dry chickens are warm chickens, wet, damp chickens are cold chickens. When people worry about warm, they tend to close up the coop, trying to keep the warm inside, what happens is they trap the moisture which makes their birds damp and cold.

Move the roosts away from the wall and ceiling, so their breath does not condense on them. Keep the bedding dry and deep. Keep the water out of the coop. Good ventilation will allow the warm moist air to leave the coop. The warmth will be trapped next to the bird. Any bird protected from the predominant wind will be warm if their basic food needs are being met.

Last winter we were down to 33 below zero, as in so cold, your nose nearly froze shut on going outside. My girls did fine.

Mrs K

 

[Henlife]

People worry about warm, but what they should worry about is DRY. Dry chickens are warm chickens, wet, damp chickens are cold chickens. When people worry about warm, they tend to close up the coop, trying to keep the warm inside, what happens is they trap the moisture which makes their birds damp and cold.

Move the roosts away from the wall and ceiling, so their breath does not condense on them. Keep the bedding dry and deep. Keep the water out of the coop. Good ventilation will allow the warm moist air to leave the coop. The warmth will be trapped next to the bird. Any bird protected from the predominant wind will be warm if their basic food needs are being met.

Last winter we were down to 33 below zero, as in so cold, your nose nearly froze shut on going outside. My girls did fine.

Mrs K

Thank you for your advice!! We just put up wind blockers