Heating coop

[RavalliSurfer]

I built a typical paint can type heater with a 60 Watt bulb, a timer and a dimmer to control the heat. In Montana the temps just this week went from 80°F and is supposed to hit 25°F tonight ... and this is during their molt! I know they like that can heater as they are sitting in a circle around it.

Also, I had a heating pad that fits nicely in a cookie baking sheet pan ... I inverted it and screwed it to the floor of the coop and the hens will sit on it when their feet get cold.

I'm only housing 4 hens -2 Austrolorpes and 2 Auracanas, although one of them is really an Americauna. ... by accident. All are short wattle birds so can winter over without much fear of freezing their nether parts off ... this also is their 2nd winter here above the 46th Parallel.

Last year we had a full week with almost 10° F below 0°F ... and they handled it very well.

When it gets cold, you've gotta tend to the eggs in a timely manner to keep them from being frozen.

Feed them lots of horse sweet feed with molasses and sugars and they can make their own internal heat!

I also feed 30-34% Protein Game Bird feed to help bone and feather growth.

Remember that Scratch to a chicken might just as well be candy corn to a child, since it has no true food value - especially insufficient calories that they need in the colder seasons for homeostasis..

The only part they don't like is snow ... so we keep both the upper (night/sleeping/laying) coop and the lower (day) coop, well filled with fresh, fluffy straw, heated water and lots of food.

 

[SnowKnitty]

I built a typical paint can type heater with a 60 Watt bulb, a timer and a dimmer to control the heat. In Montana the temps just this week went from 80°F and is supposed to hit 25°F tonight ... and this is during their molt! I know they like that can heater as they are sitting in a circle around it.

Also, I had a heating pad that fits nicely in a cookie baking sheet pan ... I inverted it and screwed it to the floor of the coop and the hens will sit on it when their feet get cold.

I'm only housing 4 hens -2 Austrolorpes and 2 Auracanas, although one of them is really an Americauna. ... by accident. All are short wattle birds so can winter over without much fear of freezing their nether parts off ... this also is their 2nd winter here above the 46th Parallel.

Last year we had a full week with almost 10° F below 0°F ... and they handled it very well.

When it gets cold, you've gotta tend to the eggs in a timely manner to keep them from being frozen.

Feed them lots of horse sweet feed with molasses and sugars and they can make their own internal heat!

I also feed 30-34% Protein Game Bird feed to help bone and feather growth.

Remember that Scratch to a chicken might just as well be candy corn to a child, since it has no true food value - especially insufficient calories that they need in the colder seasons for homeostasis..

The only part they don't like is snow ... so we keep both the upper (night/sleeping/laying) coop and the lower (day) coop, well filled with fresh, fluffy straw, heated water and lots of food.

Extra protein is an excellent recommendation during the molt and especially important now. In northern Utah, this year's long, warm fall was our version of being on the French Riviera! Our chickens are half-naked because they are molting but we're supposed to get snow on Sunday. I'm using mealworms to amp up the protein in their diet as they grow feathers for winter. I'll use the Cozy Coop heater to keep the chill off their naked butts.

 

[chickencoop57]

My coop is insulated. I’m hoping these heaters with produce just enough heat to keep it above freezing so my water does not freeze. That is the only reason I’m heating the coop. I have a horizontal nipple watering system and am trying these heaters first to see if they will work.View attachment 2371015

Nice set up!

 

[chickencoop57]

I also have a heat lamp ready to go on those -30F weeks.
I have my heat lamp attached to a locking connector hook that is attached to an eye hook in the ceiling. The heat lamp is on a timer and is never on all night long.

I run two heat lamps, in my 4'x8'x8' coop, even though it dosent get that cold here in south Central Texas. I turn them on, at dark, when the weatherman says its gonna get around 35 degree's but I sometimes forget to turn them off early in the morn, so I like the idea of a timer on your lamp. I'm gonna get one them.

 

[jreardon1918]

I run two heat lamps, in my 4'x8'x8' coop, even though it dosent get that cold here in south Central Texas. I turn them on, at dark, when the weatherman says its gonna get around 35 degree's but I sometimes forget to turn them off early in the morn, so I like the idea of a timer on your lamp. I'm gonna get one them.

I think my house gets colder than this. Another vote for no coop heat.

 

[hsj07]

I keep an electric heater going in my coop(cuts off if moved or falls over). It has a thermostat. I live in North Carolina where it may be 40 this morning and 80 by lunch time(I have a ceiling fan and window fan for the heat). I will probably use this all winter long. Am I wrong in doing this.

 

[aart]

I keep an electric heater going in my coop(cuts off if moved or falls over). It has a thermostat. I live in North Carolina where it may be 40 this morning and 80 by lunch time. I will probably use this all winter long. Am I wrong in doing this.

You do not need heat in NC.

 

[jreardon1918]

I keep an electric heater going in my coop(cuts off if moved or falls over). It has a thermostat. I live in North Carolina where it may be 40 this morning and 80 by lunch time. I will probably use this all winter long. Am I wrong in doing this.

No heat needed.

 

[chickencoop57]

I keep an electric heater going in my coop(cuts off if moved or falls over). It has a thermostat. I live in North Carolina where it may be 40 this morning and 80 by lunch time(I have a ceiling fan and window fan for the heat). I will probably use this all winter long. Am I wrong in doing this.

Your fine. I'm sure your winters will be colder. Just strap that to the wall or something to keep it from falling over.

 

[bobbi-j]

I keep an electric heater going in my coop(cuts off if moved or falls over). It has a thermostat. I live in North Carolina where it may be 40 this morning and 80 by lunch time(I have a ceiling fan and window fan for the heat). I will probably use this all winter long. Am I wrong in doing this.

I wouldn’t say “wrong”, but your chickens will be fine (probably better off) if you don’t use heat.