Heated perches?

[ErieSpurs]

I agree with everyone that a heated perch is unnecessary. I live near Lake Erie and we get some cold blasts from up north. I do get a good amount of wet snow, sleet, and freezing rain as well.

I have Polish Bantams that have no problems. My Guineas walk around in the snow and it doesn't phase them. Domestic Guineas aren't much different than their wild counterparts from Africa. The only time my Guineas stay in the coop is when it is snowing heavily, but when the snow stops they walk right on top the foot of snow. You would think that being a heat-loving bird they would not be adapted to the cold, but they don't seem to be bothered and I've never had a problem with frostbite.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Ya know it takes a sorry person to make fun of someone for wanting to take extra care of there pets.

No one said it was needed. I don't need to let my dogs sleep in the house in the winter. There dogs they can handle it. But you can tell they appreciate it when they pile up around the heater. Yes chickens can live in temps about -20 if the wind ain't blowing but so can I. Don't mean I don't like my warm house. If I had the money to heat my chicken coops you bet I would. Not because they need it but because they deserve it. Any animals that crowds under a heat lamp if provided is cold I don't care what they can survive.

How much ya want to bet that chickens just like people get use to the hot weather of the south an cant handle the cold as good as the same bird in the north. I've lost a few birds over the years that I have no doubt in my mind froze to death. Sorta hard to get use to the cold when its in the 70s most of the time an then a random night drops down to 0. I think it would help to heat the coop or at least the roosts on those nights. You better believe my dogs will take there place by the heater on those nights.

 

[MIKE555444]

Quote:
A very respectable post

 

[Wildsky]

Quote:
There is also the issue of power outages, if the chickens were used to getting warmed up and suddenly the power went out and the temp fell fast and hard... there would probably be a lot more deaths than if they were used to that cold, and wern't subjected to the sudden change.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

I know here in the Mnts of north Georgia nothing has time to get ready for cold. Its sudden already. We will have a tropical front push us up in the 80s or 90s for weeks then have a front out of the arctic come in an push us down in the single digits in a matter of a few hours. Those are the nights I wish I had heat in the coop. If I had heat in there I could stop some of the sudden change nature throws at us. I lose a lot of first year birds an an occasional older one on those nights. Its not unheard of here to go to sleep at the end of a 100 degree day an wake up to a snow drift over the house. Lot of livestock dead that morning. A heated coop/barn would have been nice then. Would have saved way more money in livestock than the heater would have cost.

 

[SarasotaClucker]

This was never about Florida chickens... I remember chickens with black frozen combs in New Jersey and saw a video about chickens in Minneapolis with no toes because they lost them to frostbite. It was just an idea that I thought might appeal to someone who was trying to keep chickens far from the tropical climes their ancestors probably foraged in.

 

[roxfrant]

I live in Minnesota and tonight's low is -15 degrees F and that does not include wind chill. We have already hit a low temperature of -29 degrees F this year and no matter how much heat a chicken gives off, they cannot produce enough to stay warm in those kind of temperatures. A heated perch, or any rigged heated perch options, are almost necessary here.

 

[flyin-lowe]

We have already had a couple days and nights with wind chills at -30 and the ladies are fine. You are 60 to 80 degrees warmer then that in Florida, they will be fine. The fire hazard is not worth the risk.

 

[duncan5]

Im going to try this heated cable idea under my outside perches. I believe I remember hearing about this years ago when I was a bird keeper at a zoo in Boston. The heating cable dosen't seem to be getting that hot, the heat lamp inside the night house seems much hotter. I will check it threwout the day.