Heater or heat panel -10

[Debbie292d]

I completely agree with you. Chickens are not built to handle the cold. I live in the Montreal area and have a backyard flock of 6 chickens and have installed 2 radiant heat panels in the coop next to the perching bars. It enables the chickens to huddle close to the panels when they need the extra heat. Even the University of Minnesota Extension who have studied poultry care extensively, state that a chicken stresses from the cold below 35 degrees F and that below that temp, supplemental heat should be provided. The heating panels don’t prevent my chickens from doing their chicken thing and going out in the chicken run (covered in tarps) to eat, drink and scratch around. It just makes it that they are more comfortable (and I’m also less stressed!). My chickens are happy and thriving and I plan on keeping it that way!

That said, there is a member from Alaska who wrote this article. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/

They do not heat, and explain they live in a "warmer" part of Alaska where it doesn't get below -20F, and that their chickens are admittedly looking cold at -10. They also suggest heating panels for those who wish to.

 

[Appalachickens]

Wow, this discussion got heated (ahem). Full disclosure, I'm a novice chicken-keeper although I did grow up on a farm raising pigs and cattle. My brothers had a couple of ducks but I didn't take care of them. (Fun story: one of the dogs grabbed a duck by the neck and ran off into the woods with it. We all yelled at the dog when it returned but ten minutes later the duck waddled back home, completely unharmed, like it was returning from a social event.) Anyway, since I've just had my 12 chickens since spring, anything I say is prefaced with a huge "this is what seems to be working so far for me." I have a coop fully open on the south side, and it's dry and well-ventilated. There is no supplemental heat. I live in the northern part of the south, up in the mountains, so it does get cold. I tried to pick breeds that could tolerate both heat and cold. We've had a colder than normal December, with lows in the 20's and a little snow. They don't appear stressed and are still laying like crazy. And even on the coldest days, they are clamoring to be released from the run to forage. The only adaptation I plan at this time is putting a submersible heater in one of their waters.

All that is to say, location matters, your coop set up matters, your breeds matter. There is not a one-size-fits-all situation and in fact, not everyone on here thinks of them as pets like they would their dogs. Chickens are also livestock. I love the little loonies, but I'm pragmatic. I'll for sure treat them humanely and if we hit a terrible cold snap, I might put up a windbreak, but I am not "cruel" because I don't have a heater or invite them into my home. Around these parts, plenty of people have their chickens in open air coops or even pens with a tarp covering one end. I don't know anyone here who heats their coop. I'm planning a second totally free-range game-based flock and they will have to learn to live outside and in the trees, in all kinds of weather.

 

[Ted Brown]

he is somewhat "anti-heat" for chickens. That being said, he mentioned that he "may even buy a radiant heater to experiment with."

I am not anti heat, I am anti folks who make absolute statements without evidence and those who misstate my posts.

 

[LuciferRoo]

I will just add my completely none scientific opinion.
Chickens have feathers which are a layer of insulation.
Chickens don't wear boots or hats. Those body parts are exposed to the cold.
Chickens originate in warm climates. I know there are English breeds, European and American breeds that come from cold climates but their predecessors come from places which are warm.

Just following simple logic, chickens can survive in colder climates, but there is a difference between thriving and surviving.

Humans could also survive in an unheated house in the winter. I doubt many of us would want to.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

@IowaCHKN an insulated coop might be a happy medium. There are obviously lots of opinions on this but when it comes to chicken-keeping there is no one-size fits all to the majority of issues that pop up. You have to do what works for you and that might be a process of trial and error. I let my chickens choose where they sleep and I have a few that choose to sleep in trees. Tonight’s low is supposed to be 33° but no one has told this chicken she isn’t thriving. You can tell by the frozen poop stalagmite that she has been sleeping here for quite a while in lower temps than this

 

[IowaCHKN]

@IowaCHKN an insulated coop might be a happy medium. There are obviously lots of opinions on this but when it comes to chicken-keeping there is no one-size fits all to the majority of issues that pop up. You have to do what works for you and that might be a process of trial and error. I let my chickens choose where they sleep and I have a few that choose to sleep in trees. Tonight’s low is supposed to be 33° but no one has told this chicken she isn’t thriving. You can tell by the frozen poop stalagmite that she has been sleeping here for quite a while in lower temps than this

View attachment 4268917

Yes. I did insulate the walls and and ceiling. Overhang ridges are vented as well as peak. We had another -15 day and temp in henhouse was down to low single digits. Again. Im not trying to heat it. Just seeing what others have done for those REALLY low rare times. And opinions on actually heat or if a radiant heat panelcwill suffice for rare occasion. I think end of day it what each owner want/think is best for their own situation.

 

[Ponypoor]

This isn't FB, so here, we can state our opinions or experiences on subjects like this, unless we wish to provide proof to back up what we're asserting.

For our silkies, even frizzled and molting (skin exposed), we've kept our coops at 40°F for a decade—using an oil-filled radiant heater in the smaller coop and a non-digital electric heater installed in a wall of the large one. Four growout pens have Cozy Coop radiant heaters. It was -11F with -35F wind chills two days ago, and it will get much worse before winter is over.

Everyone was fine. Proof of that is they lay all winter, although about half as much.

If we had just a day or two of below 32°F in our insulated, dry, draft-free coops, I wouldn't worry. It's when it goes on for several days/weeks, it's common sense that it would wear on the chickens constantly having to keep themselves warm. A little supplemental heat makes them more comfortable.

Another very important reason the coops get heated is for me! I'm old, and I refuse to trudge through snow to bring out water twice a day or deal with frozen eggs. If I had to do that, we wouldn't have chickens.

"Another very important reason the coops get heated is for me!"

This statement says it all in my opinion - I have a barn for the horses because I refuse to be outside feeding horses when it's -20C and snowing like a crazy thing. Same deal with the chooks.

After 40 yrs of having horses and dealing with other livestock I know for a fact that extremes in any weather is extremely taxing on not only livestock, but people as well.

I am relatively new to poultry, but it's been my observation that once it gets below -5C in the barn (usually around -20C outside) then the chickens start to stand around and not bother doing 'chicken-y things' like running around, digging through the horses' bedding for goodies, eating and drinking. Best purchase I made were some Sweeter Heaters, and IR lamps, I also have a few IR panels like the Cozy Panel. The chickens will come by and warm up, then once warmed up they are off again causing mayhem in the barn. I want them eating and drinking, not standing around trying to keep warm.

Last winter was a brutal winter here, metres of snow and bitterly cold - both me and the chooks were battling over the use of the IR lamps - I chose those over the heat lamp variety due to the better safety ratings. Any time I would check in on the barn cams I would see the chooks hanging out around those IR lamps to warm up, then off running they would go to see what so-and-so had dug up in the stalls.

When the horses are in the barn overnight they can warm it up a bit, but when it's windy and below -20C overnight 2 old horses (I am down to the 2 old gals now) don't make much of a dent in the warmth factor. The chooks have their own housing at night with is insulated (more to control condensation but it does help preserve warmth) and maintained around +5C at night.

So the big questions is can poultry handle cold temps? Sure, but the bigger questions is will they be happy and productive. I base my opinion of such a subjective subject as 'happy' on the observations of them running and digging and getting into trouble. Like kids if they are quiet then something is up!

One other thing to mention is that beautiful season summer - I have found that my chooks generally handle 'cooler' temps better than warmer temps, esp if it's hot and humid. And yes I also have fans in the barn for both horses and chickens (oh and yep me too!). As I stated in the beginning - extremes of any temperatures are hard on any living organism that is not implicitly adapted to an environment.
Just my observations....

 

[Ponypoor]

I am uncertain whether your response is intended to support @The Bougie Coop assertions or not.

Your response is very specific to a single breed and to personal comfort unlike @The Bougie Coop 's very broad brush statements. As you state on BYC we can "state our opinions or experiences". You have done this and folks can accept or reject for their own usage.

@The Bougie Coop has not done this. Rather, very broad statements are made with very specific allegations that are not supported by even the citations provided above.

BYC is frequented by a community that ranges from neophytes to people with decades of experience. I am concerned that the some in the neophyte group would take @The Bougie Coop statements as fact and act on them.

My apologies to any I might offend.

Everyone has their own experience - I have a mixed flock (silkies, Polish, mutts), the silkies are good in the cold as long as no wind/snow/rain (FYI they do not do well in hot humid), the Polish are good with both cooler and warm weather. Most of the mutts do well in anything from -2C to +22C, any temps outside this range and I start to see stress.

As long as they have any option to warm up/cool down, most organisms can adapt to most environments. It's the extremes I find that are not good - esp if those extremes last longer than a day or two. My suggestion to people is to give their animals the option to get into a warm/cooler place when they need to. Animals are generally not stupid.

Some boreal/arctic climate critters that do NOT do well in heat Enjoy!:

Lynx

Wood Bison

Grouse (aka dumb as a stump 'prairie chicken')

Snowy Owl

 

[Mamilo]

Everyone has their own experience - I have a mixed flock (silkies, Polish, mutts), the silkies are good in the cold as long as no wind/snow/rain (FYI they do not do well in hot humid), the Polish are good with both cooler and warm weather. Most of the mutts do well in anything from -2C to +22C, any temps outside this range and I start to see stress.

As long as they have any option to warm up/cool down, most organisms can adapt to most environments. It's the extremes I find that are not good - esp if those extremes last longer than a day or two. My suggestion to people is to give their animals the option to get into a warm/cooler place when they need to. Animals are generally not stupid.

Some boreal/arctic climate critters that do NOT do well in heat Enjoy!:

Lynx
View attachment 4269210

Wood Bison
View attachment 4269211

Grouse (aka dumb as a stump 'prairie chicken')
View attachment 4269213

Snowy Owl
View attachment 4269212

Beautiful pictures!

 

[Ponypoor]

I have done a quick scan of your first citation (emphasis is mine)

"5. Conclusions​

In conclusion, low vs. normal ambient temperature stimulated feed intake and in-creased body weight and FCR. Eggshell color was intensified in laying hens exposed to low temperature. Low temperature elevated skin surface temperature without affecting rectal temperature. Finally, low temperature did not influence stress responses, as manifested by constant yolk CORT concentrations, but altered MDA, total cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. Taken together, our study indicates that the exposure of laying hens to low temperature disrupted the antioxidant system, especially at an early stage of exposure, and altered lipid metabolism (i.e., total cholesterol and triglyceride) without inducing stress responses. The low-temperature-mediated increase in eggshell color seen in this study warrants further study."

Perhaps you could explain how this supports @The Bougie Coop assertions above?

You need to post what 'low temperature' is. Here is part of that statement you missed in the abstract at the beginning of that study:

"Laying hens reared at low temperature (12 ± 4.5 °C) showed impaired laying performance compared with laying hens reared at normal temperature (24 ± 3 °C)"

This means that hens reared in temps 4.5C above/below 12C (7.5 to 16.5C) showed impaired laying performance. Where-as hens reared in temps 3C above/below 24C (21 to 27C) had a more improved laying performance.

It's an interesting article - and one that I am not surprised with. Any organism can 'survive' and 'live' in any extreme situation, but eventually the stress of just surviving will wear on any organism.

Many studies have been done on all sorts of livestock and us Hoomans, this is why our OHSA has regulations on workers in extreme heat and cold, and even an index for working conditions.

I'd love to see an index for our livestock's 'working conditions' in extremes.

FYI - as an example horses and cattle are plains/steppes animals - they do extremely well in arid hot/dry and cold/dry conditions. They do not do so well in wet damp snowy conditions - but still they do survive here in the snowy damp east of the continent. Life will always find a way....