Heater for a coop ideas

[rosemarythyme]

because all four of my roosters have frostbite. One is so severe I believe I may have to cull him; It's down halfway into the meaty part of his comb.
(Yes, my coop is ventilated up high, no drafts, temps have been down to -16-F)

You shouldn't need to cull him just for that. He will likely lose most of the comb once the tissue dies and falls off but that's nature's way of dubbing large combed birds.

He'll probably lose some of his wattles too since you can see damage there.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

poor guy. I don't' think you need to cull him! hopefully he makes a good recovery. are you able to move them to a garage or something closer to a few degrees below freezing for this cold snap? so the tissue doesn't keep getting damaged?

Unfortunately, no. It's not bad tonight or tomorrow night, but Friday and Saturday will be brutal again. I think all I can do is to stuff some material into the small air gaps above his head, where he likes to perch. Hmmm.... I have a chick brooder plate not in use, so maybe I can mount it on the wall next to his perch. Thanks for getting me to think harder what to do.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

You shouldn't need to cull him just for that. He will likely lose most of the comb once the tissue dies and falls off but that's nature's way of dubbing large combed birds.

He'll probably lose some of his wattles too since you can see damage there.

I just thought if he loses so much, he'd likely be infected. That's a lot of tissue.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I just thought if he loses so much, he'd likely be infected. That's a lot of tissue.

@aart has a good article showing the progression of frostbite, so you can see how much comb and wattles they can lose and still recover: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/frostbite-in-sw-michigan.74597/

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Hmmm.... I have a chick brooder plate not in use, so maybe I can mount it on the wall next to his perch.

The chick brooder plate did NOT work at all. Apparently (an earlier observation I had forgotten), it does not operate when ambient temperature is below about 40-deg-F. No help at all. I checked those "small" air gaps above his head, and discovered they weren't small at all. I could put my hand into them, and there was a strong breeze coming in. Well, duh. I stuffed those with scraps of feed bags.

Next, a few days ago, I ordered a greenhouse heater and it arrived yesterday:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bio-Green-Greenhouse-Heater-110-V-With-manual-Thermostat-Palma/556284846
without the separate thermostat. Tested indoors first, seemed to get warm but not hot, and a gentle fan to force the air across the very sturdy-looking coils. I had to cut a circle of hardware cloth and wired that to the back of it, to keep straw, feathers and such from getting into it. I put a wire dog kennel into the little coop, put a concrete patio block inside, and secured the heater to that block. Locked the gate and secured the power cord. Placed a scrap of plywood on top to keep the birds from pooping on it. Set the dial to the highest setting, then crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

This morning, with 1-deg-F outside, it was 33-degrees in that coop - and ZERO condensation on the windows. The fan and heat helped to remove humidity as well. Far better results than a heat lamp.

The little heater isn't designed to HEAT a space, just circulates and warms the air to keep things above freezing. That's what I needed, it worked, and I'm sold on it. It's risky, I know, but properly secured and kept clean of dust and dander, it should be safe to use in extreme situations.

George is looking a little better, though there will be permanent damage. In the big coop (warmed by 2 heat lamps), two of the roosters' frostbite has worsened and one of them looks better than before. Goldie will keep his comb, but lose most of his wattles.

(Please excuse my hijacking this thread; I only post the info so others looking for "heater for a coop ideas" can benefit from my experience.)

(edited to add: We have an on-demand generator, so if there's a power outage, we will not lose power. If you do not have a backup power source, do NOT use additional heat in the coop - no heater, no lamps, nothing! If you happen to lose power in the midst of an arctic blast, the sudden drop in temperature could be lethal to your chickens.)