heating chicken coop?

[jeb251]

indeed and X2, dont heat your coops, you are making your birds week, do they have heat in the wild, and yes there are still wild chickens. If they dont make it through the cold, you dont want them in the gene pool

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[6chickens in St. Charles]

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I have to admit I went last year and the year before with no heat. This year, our Silkie hen is more feathered than she's ever been. The birds do not want the heat. They're not like us.

I do worry about them, though, and spend many hours checking on them, feeling under their wingies and planning to brush vaseline on their combs if they look too frozen. But never had to. The birds have always been happy. Still, I look them over and hold them to check for weight, injury, color, activity...

I also do a stool sample at the end of summer, to check for obvious parasites. Also, never had ova or parasites. Haven't had mites for a few years, too. But I sure wouldn't PLAN to overwinter without extra support if the chickens didn't pass a basic health exam.

 

[quintinp]

I bought a water heater base, and I don't really use it that often, because it doesn't get that cold in my coop. The lowest temperatures we get are in the teens. I heard about other people using claypot heaters, could I use the metal water heater base to keep there combs from getting blackened this year.