Heating in the interior of Alaska

[Musher81]

I'm new to having chickens in Fairbanks, AK and am looking for some advice on whether to heat the coop, what temperatures to heat it at, and what heat source to use. I had chickens in Minnesota and they did quite well with no external heat source, but it's not unusual for us to get weeks of -40F here. I have six Rhode Island Reds born this spring in a very well insulated (with vents) coop that is 8x8x8. Do I need to have a heat source? What temperature should it kick on and off at? I found a plug that will do on at 0 and off at 10, that's the lowest temps I could find. What's the best and safest to use? Do I continue to give them the option to go outside through the small door all winter, thus leaving the coop open to colder coming in through it? I want the ladies to be as prepared as possible for cold weather and possible power outages, while also making sure they are comfortable. They will have a normal light on in the coop during the day, but it doesn't produce heat. Also, anything special they should get in their diet to help?

 

[cavemanrich]

I tagged @Alaskan and you may get some advice from someone living in your area.
Many peeps feed cracked corn during winter. It is a carbohydrate that produces calories to keep chicken warm. It is not good for egg production. Eggs need PROTEIN. Your egg production may drop off if you do decide to give additional corn. Its a trade off I guess.
I have read enough posts with peeps on both sides of the argument. Feed additional corn,,,,,,,, just feed chicken feed with appropriate amount of protein(18%+-) I'm not a chicken dietitian so have no expert advice. I do give mine additional scratch, which does have a good percentage of corn. My chickens do live long lives.. I only keep them as pets.. Egg production is not my main goal.. I also am not in such cold climate as you are.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and

 

[PouleChick]

Wow no idea - I can't even imagine such low temps! Welcome to BYC

 

[The Phantom]

I'm new to having chickens in Fairbanks, AK and am looking for some advice on whether to heat the coop, what temperatures to heat it at, and what heat source to use. I had chickens in Minnesota and they did quite well with no external heat source, but it's not unusual for us to get weeks of -40F here. I have six Rhode Island Reds born this spring in a very well insulated (with vents) coop that is 8x8x8. Do I need to have a heat source? What temperature should it kick on and off at? I found a plug that will do on at 0 and off at 10, that's the lowest temps I could find. What's the best and safest to use? Do I continue to give them the option to go outside through the small door all winter, thus leaving the coop open to colder coming in through it? I want the ladies to be as prepared as possible for cold weather and possible power outages, while also making sure they are comfortable. They will have a normal light on in the coop during the day, but it doesn't produce heat. Also, anything special they should get in their diet to help?

My parents have friends in Fairbanks and they go hunting each year. Do you by chance know Al Barrete? (I think that's how his last name is spelled)
When a cold snap hits here in WI I give my hens extra cracked corn. 10F is kinda cold in the coop I like closer to 25F. Maybe a solar powered heat source? You could also put tons of straw everywhere in the coop to make it cozy. You could also get heat panels or heated roosting bars. A heated roosting bar would be really nice! Here are some links!
https://www.amazon.com/Cozy-Product...pID=519IxsmGTWL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

https://www.amazon.com/Pet-Products...pID=41BQIJkTQ4L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

 

[Alaskan]

At those temps you do need to provide heat. A good rule of thumb is if you have prolonged spells under -20F... and yeah... some heat would be nice.

As to how to do it...

Depends on how much money you want to spend.

Achem, seriously though:

Entire coop warmth:

Some people attach the coop to the wall of the house, or the well house (if you have one, and if it is heated), or to the garage. Any shared wall will increase the coop warmth without costing you money.

I have heard of people running a duct with a bathroom fan to move warm garage air to the coop if the 2 buildings don't connect but aren't too far apart. (But obviously then you can no longer run the car in the garage).

You can also use a flat panel heater or other space heaters. All of those though need lots of safety checks and regular cleaning for poultry dust. People keep saying how safe the flat panel heaters are... but those need to be checked too. One person found the panel heater was scorching the wall it was hung on.. they are not supposed to do that.

Never use the heat bulbs in the coop. One gust of cold air on the bulb and the hot bulb will break.

Spot heating:
If you don't want the coop sharing a wall and don't want to heat the entire coop.......

You can put a heat tape on the perch, thin carpet or other easy to remove flooring over the tape, and tada, nice warm toes. Perches need to be the wide side of a 2x4, so about 3 and a half inches of flat. Those toes must stay flat and covered.

Some find the perch thing too much of a bother... and just go to a sleeping box. Think giant nestbox that they can all sit and snuggle together in. This also can have a heat tape floor, or you can use those heat mats for warming seedlings. Put a linoleum tile or other easy clean surface on top, and then clean wood chips/ saw dust to snuggle in.

Some use the engine black heater.. and put it between 2 cinderblocks tiles as a warming station.. and also as a way to keep water thawed.

All of that "chicken in floor heating " can also be used in the nest boxes to keep eggs from cracking.

Water:

You must make sure that they do not ever step in the water. Ever. (When you get much below zero) use whatever waterer you and they like.. but no wet chickens. Chickens can manage water being brought out 3 times a day, if you are having trouble keeping it thawed. Just bring the water out in the morning, after work, and just before the chickens are ready to go to bed.

Feed:

Up the feed to the 20% layer feed. And give them fat. Corn and scratch and barley are just filler... those can be great boredom busters during the long winter... but look at scratch as only a boredom buster.

Freezing chickens need fat. Give them your leftover bacon fat and olive oil and whatnot. Mix the fat with the feed and or a little scratch and take it out to them. Freezer burnt salmon is also great.. if you let it harden up a little first you have just made a suet feeder that will take them a bit to eat so also serve as a great boredom buster.

Light:

I am glad you have a light in the coop. They will not eat if it is dark. So they will starve to death with feed infront of them, if you don't give them light.

I like 10 hours of light. That is long enough for pleanty of time to eat, short enough so that the light is not forcing them to lay when it is horrid cold.

Realize that the colder they are the more they must eat. They will eat a crazy amount more of feed as the temps drop. They must have feed out as long as they have light... never let them run out. And it will surprise you how much more they eat. So actually... the money you spend on heating the coop or the floor etc. will reduce the feed bill.

Your other questions:

I think the plug you found, on at 0 and off at 10 sounds perfect. Rah. Use that. Except for whatever you decide for the waterer. Obviously water will need heat above 10F.

As to the pop door... close it every night. Open it every morning... until you get close to -40F or it is super windy (super windy even at 10 above can be miserable), then don't let them out. If you have a roofed run with a windbreak would make me more likely to leave the pop door open more often verses a fully open to everything run...

Power outages:

Depends on where you are... some areas are more problematic than others.

It also depends on what you have at your place....

You don't want to bring chickens used to -20F into your home.... but maybe you have a barely heated well house or outbuilding? For emergency chicken quarters? All you would need would be 1 big dog crate and a feeder and waterer to attach to the crate.

I can't imagine a hot water bottle lasting more than a few minutes.. but maybe you could set up the coop to run off of batteries in an emergency... but of course the batteries need to sit someplace warm...

Think it through... and plan now, so whatever you need you have on hand when you need it.

Random advice:

Be careful what you listen to. It is easy to have chickens not just get frostbite, but have the entire leg pop open from the entire leg freezing. It can be BAD.

I am a livestock type of chicken owner, I don't coddle them, I don't think they are people too. But I want them well cared for, I don't want them to ever be in pain, and I don't want them dying unless I decide I want to eat them.

Fairbanks is too cold to keep chickens without heat, if anyone tells you differently, I bet their chickens are missing legs.

Combs:

Ignore those people that tell you to rub stuff on the combs.. I think that must be helpful for those folks where winters are barely freezing.

It doesn't help where it is frigid cold.

You said you had Rhode Island Reds. You will probably loose some combs. Don't panic, and don't stress about it. Do try to make sure their wattles are not getting wet when they drink, because frozen wattles can be more bothersome than frozen combs. ( they tend to swell more)

If their combs stand straight up, they will probably loose all of the comb tips. Just keep an eye on it. Do NOT doctor it (no rubbing, no ointments). It will work itself out. Do keep a close eye on it though, especially when the dead part finally falls off, since at times that can cause a drop or too of blood. Chickens can turn cannibal quick. It will probably be fine, but watch. If the comb is big enough to flop over the comb actually stays warmer and is less likely to freeze.

Take home message.... don't stress about a bit of comb loss, or even wattle loss, just keep an eye on them. But do everything that you can to keep the bird healthy and those legs and feet healthy!

Ok....WAY too long of a post for me to check for typos. I hope that helped... if you have other questions, just ask.

@cavemanrich thanks for tagging me

 

[Alaskan]

Maybe a solar powered heat source

From what sun?

 

[Alaskan]

Oh... bedding and cleaning.

I find wood dust/ shavings the warmest and the easiest to clean out. Also, you can get them for free at most saw mills if you bag it yourself... nominal cost if they bag it. Most sawmills only run spruce and birch, and both are great for chickens.

But... no matter what you use, you have to clean OFTEN. Just a bit too much poo and it turns into concrete that you can NOT get out! No way will it thaw for 4 more months.... and then all you can do is watch the poo mountain grow!

Trust me... swinging a pickaxe in an 8x8 coop just isn't effective.

 

[PouleChick]

fascinating!

Weirdly when I was an exchange student in Denmark I knew a girl from Fairbanks - she was lovley - we called her eskimo. I should look her up and come visit! Maybe when it isn't -40f

 

[aart]

Ok....WAY too long of a post for me to check for typos. I hope that helped... if you have other questions, just ask.

@cavemanrich thanks for tagging me

Oh, good you don't mind being tagged.....was glad Rich did it this time.

That's a great write up, you should make it an article so we can link it.

 

[The Phantom]

At those temps you do need to provide heat. A good rule of thumb is if you have prolonged spells under -20F... and yeah... some heat would be nice.

As to how to do it...

Depends on how much money you want to spend.

Achem, seriously though:

Entire coop warmth:

Some people attach the coop to the wall of the house, or the well house (if you have one, and if it is heated), or to the garage. Any shared wall will increase the coop warmth without costing you money.

I have heard of people running a duct with a bathroom fan to move warm garage air to the coop if the 2 buildings don't connect but aren't too far apart. (But obviously then you can no longer run the car in the garage).

You can also use a flat panel heater or other space heaters. All of those though need lots of safety checks and regular cleaning for poultry dust. People keep saying how safe the flat panel heaters are... but those need to be checked too. One person found the panel heater was scorching the wall it was hung on.. they are not supposed to do that.

Never use the heat bulbs in the coop. One gust of cold air on the bulb and the hot bulb will break.

Spot heating:
If you don't want the coop sharing a wall and don't want to heat the entire coop.......

You can put a heat tape on the perch, thin carpet or other easy to remove flooring over the tape, and tada, nice warm toes. Perches need to be the wide side of a 2x4, so about 3 and a half inches of flat. Those toes must stay flat and covered.

Some find the perch thing too much of a bother... and just go to a sleeping box. Think giant nestbox that they can all sit and snuggle together in. This also can have a heat tape floor, or you can use those heat mats for warming seedlings. Put a linoleum tile or other easy clean surface on top, and then clean wood chips/ saw dust to snuggle in.

Some use the engine black heater.. and put it between 2 cinderblocks tiles as a warming station.. and also as a way to keep water thawed.

All of that "chicken in floor heating " can also be used in the nest boxes to keep eggs from cracking.

Water:

You must make sure that they do not ever step in the water. Ever. (When you get much below zero) use whatever waterer you and they like.. but no wet chickens. Chickens can manage water being brought out 3 times a day, if you are having trouble keeping it thawed. Just bring the water out in the morning, after work, and just before the chickens are ready to go to bed.

Feed:

Up the feed to the 20% layer feed. And give them fat. Corn and scratch and barley are just filler... those can be great boredom busters during the long winter... but look at scratch as only a boredom buster.

Freezing chickens need fat. Give them your leftover bacon fat and olive oil and whatnot. Mix the fat with the feed and or a little scratch and take it out to them. Freezer burnt salmon is also great.. if you let it harden up a little first you have just made a suet feeder that will take them a bit to eat so also serve as a great boredom buster.

Light:

I am glad you have a light in the coop. They will not eat if it is dark. So they will starve to death with feed infront of them, if you don't give them light.

I like 10 hours of light. That is long enough for pleanty of time to eat, short enough so that the light is not forcing them to lay when it is horrid cold.

Realize that the colder they are the more they must eat. They will eat a crazy amount more of feed as the temps drop. They must have feed out as long as they have light... never let them run out. And it will surprise you how much more they eat. So actually... the money you spend on heating the coop or the floor etc. will reduce the feed bill.

Your other questions:

I think the plug you found, on at 0 and off at 10 sounds perfect. Rah. Use that. Except for whatever you decide for the waterer. Obviously water will need heat above 10F.

As to the pop door... close it every night. Open it every morning... until you get close to -40F or it is super windy (super windy even at 10 above can be miserable), then don't let them out. If you have a roofed run with a windbreak would make me more likely to leave the pop door open more often verses a fully open to everything run...

Power outages:

Depends on where you are... some areas are more problematic than others.

It also depends on what you have at your place....

You don't want to bring chickens used to -20F into your home.... but maybe you have a barely heated well house or outbuilding? For emergency chicken quarters? All you would need would be 1 big dog crate and a feeder and waterer to attach to the crate.

I can't imagine a hot water bottle lasting more than a few minutes.. but maybe you could set up the coop to run off of batteries in an emergency... but of course the batteries need to sit someplace warm...

Think it through... and plan now, so whatever you need you have on hand when you need it.

Random advice:

Be careful what you listen to. It is easy to have chickens not just get frostbite, but have the entire leg pop open from the entire leg freezing. It can be BAD.

I am a livestock type of chicken owner, I don't coddle them, I don't think they are people too. But I want them well cared for, I don't want them to ever be in pain, and I don't want them dying unless I decide I want to eat them.

Fairbanks is too cold to keep chickens without heat, if anyone tells you differently, I bet their chickens are missing legs.

Combs:

Ignore those people that tell you to rub stuff on the combs.. I think that must be helpful for those folks where winters are barely freezing.

It doesn't help where it is frigid cold.

You said you had Rhode Island Reds. You will probably loose some combs. Don't panic, and don't stress about it. Do try to make sure their wattles are not getting wet when they drink, because frozen wattles can be more bothersome than frozen combs. ( they tend to swell more)

If their combs stand straight up, they will probably loose all of the comb tips. Just keep an eye on it. Do NOT doctor it (no rubbing, no ointments). It will work itself out. Do keep a close eye on it though, especially when the dead part finally falls off, since at times that can cause a drop or too of blood. Chickens can turn cannibal quick. It will probably be fine, but watch. If the comb is big enough to flop over the comb actually stays warmer and is less likely to freeze.

Take home message.... don't stress about a bit of comb loss, or even wattle loss, just keep an eye on them. But do everything that you can to keep the bird healthy and those legs and feet healthy!

Ok....WAY too long of a post for me to check for typos. I hope that helped... if you have other questions, just ask.

@cavemanrich thanks for tagging me

From what sun?

Oh yeah.... Forgot about that!