Heating a coop in the winter?

[team_realtree]

Is it necessary to heat a chicken coop in the winter? I live in southern Canada and without wind or winters get about -20 to -25 celcius. Fareheit that is -4 to -13. I am thinking of insulating the coop with roxul or plain fiberglass insulation. If it is necessary I cant get electricity out to where it will be. What can I DO!!

 

[patandchickens]

Assuming your breeds are chosen intelligently and your coop well-managed, you do not need heat. Although, it is not a bad thing to have it available as an option (i.e. have a properly wired electric outlet in the coop) in case a problem should develop for whatever reason. You will want electric in the coop anyhow, if at all possible, because it is ever so much easier and more pleasant to have a heated waterer or heated waterer base than to have to bring out fresh water multiple times per day. You *can* just bring out water over and over -- put it in a large insulated container and it'll stay thawed longer -- but it's a big pain in the butt.

You do not even strictly speaking need insulation, but whereas I would recommend NOT heating the coop, I would recommend that you DO insulate the coop or at least leave the walls open so they're easy to insulate when materials/time become available. There is no down-side to insulating (if properly installed) and it will make your chickens comfier and your management task easier.

Do not plan on shutting the coop up tight for the winter btw -- you need good ventilation all winter long, or you'll get humid air which leads to frostbite.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[team_realtree]

thanks for the information! Do you have a reccomendation of a breed that can take harsh winters?

 

[team_realtree]

thanks for the information! Do you have a reccomendation of a breed that can take harsh winters?

 

[team_realtree]

thanks for the information! Do you have a reccomendation of a breed that can take harsh winters?

 

[happyhensny]

Any of the heavy breeds are good. I have Orpingtons, Wyandottes, RIR, sex links, etc. Our coop is about 100 ft from the nearest "outlet" - DH made a lead cord out of a 150 ft roll of outdoor wire, put on the plug ends and viola, a really big lead cord. No, I do not use heat and it does get in the negative temps here quite a bit but a light bulb (compact flourescent) to add hours of daylight to get eggs is a plus.

 

[team_realtree]

so given the fact that I will have to deal with cold weather bantams would not be a good decision?

 

[dlundblad]

Quote:
I wouldnt say that. I had a few silkies and some old English game hens. They did pretty well. They stayed inside most of the time, but they did come out for a few minutes along with the bigger birds.

 

[LeghornLisa]

I have 4 bantams and 2 standard chicks....I insulated and will use a heat lamp if need be. I am in New England where it gets cold but not as cold as Canada I'm sure.

 

[All about the EGG]

We have five sex links in a 4x4 uninsulated/unheated coop. They seemed fine.

Dont worry about the cold, worry about the wind...thats the killer!