Heating coop

[21hens-incharge]

So I live in upstate NY and we get cold nights in the winter. Like below 0. So I always heat the coop on cold nights. Even then our bantam roster with huge wattles and a comb gets purple on top. I put Vaseline on sometimes to protect him. He hates it. Anyway.... I’m insulting it his fall but I still need to heat it. I’ve been using heat lamps but they go often and are a pain. I’m terrified of the coop catching fire btw. Any advice on wattages? Because I have not clue on that or what I’ve been buying. Or any other heating ways that are SAFE and effective! Thanks in advance!

What kind of and how much ventilation do you have?
What breed is the little rooster?

We get well below zero here. Even in a solid week of the high being a whopping 3°F with lows at -16°F no frostbite even on the leghorn hens.

Good ventilation will let the moist air rise and exit the coop. It is very important to have good ventilation.
That ventilation will make adding heat moot as that heat will be rolling out the vents not staying in.

 

[RainbowHen]

Wisconsin here. We get below freezing for most of our super long winter. My coop is not insulated and I do not heat it either. Dry bedding and ventilation is your best friend. Only time I have ever heated my coop was for -65 weather and that was because I had young birds.

 

[Cryss]

I’ve tried Vaseline in the past but my rooster just ain’t having it. I gave up. Some breeds have very small wattles and combs. That’s always helpful but I do have big wattles too. You want to avoid frostbite which turns white, then black. Comb tips suffer most. Wattles dipping in drinking bowls are at risk. Nipples on a heated water help that. Ring waterers can be hung up pat height of a chickens back so the don’t hang their wattles down into water. As for combs, number one is a dry coop, no water inside, excellent ventilation, no direct drafts. If they are acclimated well they should be fine. I’ve observed that combs and wattles react to temperatures in much the same way a man reacts. And they lose color so they’re more pink than red. Purple is an oxygen thing, not temperature.

 

[DobieLover]

I'm in Upstate NY.
I don't heat the coop. I too had a WLH with a huge comb. No frostbite with the lowest temp at -23F.
I have a dry, well ventilated coop.

All the light coming in up high is year round open ventilation along with the pop door under the board.

 

[Cryss]

I'm in Upstate NY.
I don't heat the coop. I too had a WLH with a huge comb. No frostbite with the lowest temp at -23F.
I have a dry, well ventilated coop.
View attachment 2371106
All the light coming in up high is year round open ventilation along with the pop door under the board. Vents above both sides.

Love love love your coop! Mine is similar, maybe smaller. Nests are behind me on left so you don’t see them. The pop door is under the poop board behind the ramp.

 

[DobieLover]

Love love love your coop! Mine is similar, maybe smaller. Nests are behind me on left so you don’t see them. The pop door is under the poop board behind the ramp.

Who laid the egg on the poop board!?

 

[Cryss]

Picture disappeared. Here it is

 

[Cryss]

Who laid the egg on the poop board!?

probably my stinker chicken! Frost White Legbar named Kitkit. She thinks she’s an Easter Egger and hides her eggs! I gotta hunt through run and coop every day.

 

[bobbi-j]

Minnesota here. Temps as low as -20s not uncommon. I don’t heat or insulate my coop. I have seen frostbite on my larger combed birds, but not every winter. I no longer get breeds with large combs and wattles. That helped solve that problem. Dry chickens are warm chickens. Think about late fall weather. Forty degrees, cloudy, drizzly, high humidity can be cold. Bone-chilling, actually. That same 40 degrees on a sunny day, low humidity and no breeze can feel pretty good. I know it’s not the same as a chicken coop on a cold day, but think about it. Cold and damp is far colder than cold and dry.

 

[Cryss]

Kitkit is the white one on the right.