Heater or no heater?

[SaraJean0989]

F

Ok thank you!

 

[jreardon1918]

No heaters here. Clear plastic to keep snow out. Stock tank heater to keep the water liquid. this year we have been fairly mild with just a few days approaching 0F. Here in SE Mass no heat needed. I think for all but the most extreme cold, heat is not needed. YMMV(Your Mileage May Vary).

Edited to correct fat finger input.

 

[Noreaster Egger]

I use a Premier 1 Prima heat lamp with a ceramic heat emitter when it gets below 0F and when I feel it’s a little too damp. We hold moisture a little too well on my property. It’s just enough heat in the coop to radiate around and drop the relative humidity. I’m not too worried about the cold itself.

 

[Wendy Case]

I use a Premier 1 Prima heat lamp with a ceramic heat emitter when it gets below 0F and when I feel it’s a little too damp. We hold moisture a little too well on my property. It’s just enough heat in the coop to radiate around and drop the relative humidity. I’m not too worried about the cold itself.

I never thought of using my ceramic heat emmiter to bring down the humidity! I'm not bothered about the cold either, but the humidity has been horrible on the still air and very cold days. I've been using a fan to keep the air circulating. Hmm!
I've never even used the heat emitter. I'll give it a try.

 

[FlyWheel]

Humidity is more important that heat. A dry down coat (or sleeping bag) will keep you warm even in some of the most extreme environments, and a chicken will grow it's own as thick as it feels it needs to* A wet down coat or bag, not so much.

*My birds are easily twice as big in the winter as they are the rest of the year.

 

[Wendy Case]

Humidity is more important that heat. A dry down coat (or sleeping bag) will keep you warm even in some of the most extreme environments, and a chicken will grow it's own as thick as it feels it needs to* A wet down coat or bag, not so much.

*My birds are easily twice as big in the winter as they are the rest of the year.

Thank you FlyWheel! Mine will be Northeast Oregon Tough ol birds this coming winter!!!!
The humidity is way down today, and tomorrow the gusts are 23mph (Approx) so I know they'll be good then too. I've set the ceramic heat emitter ready to go as soon as that humidity begins to rise again. Great to be armed with info!

 

[perchie.girl]

Thank you FlyWheel! Mine will be Northeast Oregon Tough ol birds this coming winter!!!!
The humidity is way down today, and tomorrow the gusts are 23mph (Approx) so I know they'll be good then too. I've set the ceramic heat emitter ready to go as soon as that humidity begins to rise again. Great to be armed with info!

Humidity comes from what the birds exude.... Droppings and respiration.... IN a closed system that will build up and cause issues... Not to mention ammonia. This is the reason for ventilation.

Sort of like when you sit and "have a conversation" in the car.... even on mild days the windows will mist up .....

Chickens create alot of BTUs just by being chickens... as someone said as long as they can hunker down and cover their feet with their feathers they are mostly good to go.

One of the problems with Giving your birds heat aside from fire is it makes them becoming dependant on it during the winter. And heaven forbid the power goes out... That means they dont get that ramp up time to get ready for the cold... Putting on fat....etc.

IN the garage I suspect ventilation isnt going to be a problem.... But seriously consider next year the idea of creating a space for them where they can live year round with out supplemental heat...

I dont have a coop perse... But When cold weather comes around I drop tarp walls on the chainlink to keep out wind ... and stack a few hay bales to assist in... The birds love to hop up on them and or cuddle in when they need it.

lots of good advice here....

and my part is opinion... My climate gets cold and VERY windy in the winter.... We do get snow but not on the level others do.... My chain link coops get snow blown in on the floor... When I get up in the morning there are regular trails about.... On the way to water and food.

deb

 

[Wendy Case]

Humidity comes from what the birds exude.... Droppings and respiration.... IN a closed system that will build up and cause issues... Not to mention ammonia. This is the reason for ventilation.

Sort of like when you sit and "have a conversation" in the car.... even on mild days the windows will mist up .....

Chickens create alot of BTUs just by being chickens... as someone said as long as they can hunker down and cover their feet with their feathers they are mostly good to go.

One of the problems with Giving your birds heat aside from fire is it makes them becoming dependant on it during the winter. And heaven forbid the power goes out... That means they dont get that ramp up time to get ready for the cold... Putting on fat....etc.

IN the garage I suspect ventilation isnt going to be a problem.... But seriously consider next year the idea of creating a space for them where they can live year round with out supplemental heat...

I dont have a coop perse... But When cold weather comes around I drop tarp walls on the chainlink to keep out wind ... and stack a few hay bales to assist in... The birds love to hop up on them and or cuddle in when they need it.

lots of good advice here....

and my part is opinion... My climate gets cold and VERY windy in the winter.... We do get snow but not on the level others do.... My chain link coops get snow blown in on the floor... When I get up in the morning there are regular trails about.... On the way to water and food.

deb

Hi Perchie.girl (I'm a fox trotter girl) I TOTALLY get where you're coming from but this isn't about heat for the chickens. Lol
I hastily constructed a coop and run in the fall of last year and can't cut out windows and vents till the warmer more settled weather. I pickup the poop every other day from my flock of five and they share 100sq.ft of coop with a 160sq.ft of enclosed run. My only concern is the roof. We've put a metal apex roof on a repurposed 10x10x6 kennel which gives some relief... Till it snows and I'm taking it a foot deep a foot across and a perfect straight line. I do that straight away so the shavings don't soak up the moisture. My electrical is secure and I'm not worried about that at all.
My concern (Through winter) is trying to eliminate as much as possible the ice formation on the inside of the roof. We will be deconstructing and reconstructing the whole setup come Spring....
The flock roost on 2"x4" steps so they can keep their toes warm.
Hope I've been able to give you an insight into my setup. The flock themselves wouldn't benefit from any heat it would be on the rare occasions the humidity shoots up which is more weather related.

 

[perchie.girl]

Hi Perchie.girl (I'm a fox trotter girl) I TOTALLY get where you're coming from but this isn't about heat for the chickens. Lol
I hastily constructed a coop and run in the fall of last year and can't cut out windows and vents till the warmer more settled weather. I pickup the poop every other day from my flock of five and they share 100sq.ft of coop with a 160sq.ft of enclosed run. My only concern is the roof. We've put a metal apex roof on a repurposed 10x10x6 kennel which gives some relief... Till it snows and I'm taking it a foot deep a foot across and a perfect straight line. I do that straight away so the shavings don't soak up the moisture. My electrical is secure and I'm not worried about that at all.
My concern (Through winter) is trying to eliminate as much as possible the ice formation on the inside of the roof. We will be deconstructing and reconstructing the whole setup come Spring....
The flock roost on 2"x4" steps so they can keep their toes warm.
Hope I've been able to give you an insight into my setup. The flock themselves wouldn't benefit from any heat it would be on the rare occasions the humidity shoots up which is more weather related.

Ventilation will take care of that ice.... Any way you can pop some holes in under the eves?

You may know this But others might not. Snow is an excellent insulator... Mitigating huge temperature dips.... But thats on Top of the roof. LOL.

But since I dont have wood structures for my coops I cant advise you on them. All I know is the best coop I have ever seen is the Woods style....

All those windows in the front are Hardware cloth... Air flows in in volume below and out at top... The roosts are in back.

here is the very old thread about it.... contributed around 2011

Believe it or not they work in the desert as well.... The natural convection of air keeps it cooler inside...

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

Hi Perchie.girl (I'm a fox trotter girl)

Love dem Horses of all kinds.... I have had them for about fifty years now. My girl is at a retirement farm for the time being... While I unravel some health issues...

Pm me if you want I dont want to hijack the OPs thread.

deb