Heating the Chicken coop in Winter.. Any suggestions

[Hokum Coco]

What is the best way to heat the chicken coop with a portable heater, Electric no gas. What is best radiant, Wall.. ext... I don't want propane or gas, Any suggestions on what will keep the chickens warm in the winter? now winter is far a for me but I want to stay on the Bright side!

Just a warning make sure you have a safety chain to hold the heat lamps securely if your first attachment fails. You would not be the first to burn down your coop with that same sort of set up. Be very diligent of fire which ever method you may decide on. Extra corn also provides heat.

Without extra light my egg production is down somewhat not enough to matter in my household.

 

[ChickenLana]

Well, you've convinced me! I'm in South Carolina and was worried about winter. Bahahaha!!!!! I lived in upstate NY so now I know how silly it must sound. There will be no heat in my coop. I'm too concerned about safety and now I know my girls will be fine. Thank you!

 

[lillihen77]

my guy at the feed store , his family has owned for 50plus years and he's worked in for 40 looked at me like I had 3 heads when I asked him about a heater for the coop.


  And then he told me it would mess up their molt and throw them all off.He said food is heat and to supplement them with corn.

   I live in southern new england and it gets well below freezing for extended periods in the winter .

Did no heat source work for you? Just supplement in with corn and other food?

 

[BigRedRoo]

Ive gone with no heat for two years now and Im in central ontario canada. I dont even change thier food much.

 

[Hokum Coco]

, Any suggestions on what will keep the chickens warm in the winter? now winter is far a for me but I want to stay on the Bright side!

I am subject to -40º weather l live in Canada think North Pole. I have been keeping chickens and birds for decades.

Your best practice I find is to not be too concerned about winterizing or heating your coop to help your birds combat the cold.

Predator proofing "ABSOLUTELY".

Your efforts should be spent in winterizing your birds and letting them acclimatize to their surroundings.
This is done by feeding them whole corn if available or cracked corn as an added supplement in a separate feeder.

The extra nourishment is more then adequate to bring them through the
"COLDEST" winter.

Do keep an eye open for birds that may not be adapting well to the new menu and may be at the lower end of the pecking order they can sometimes run into problems and may need extra TLC.

That being said in a perfect world the flock will flourish and do just fine .

I do not add any extra heat or lighting.
Egg production does slack off but I have more than enough eggs for the table all winter long (24 hens).

Some people may disagree with my method but it has worked well for me and I am not about to change.

I look at it in the same light as winterizing your car.

You really do

"NOT"


have to winterize your car if you can keep it in a controlled environment at all times otherwise you are in for

"MAJOR" problems.

When it comes to lighting if you find you are short on eggs it does apparently help. I personally do not bother in my operation eggs are sold only to neighbours when they are available (if the sign is out I have eggs). Eggs in my operation have a tendency to crack and freeze during the winter months (we do not discard them and are fine but use them in house not for sale) the more eggs you produce during these months the more eggs will fall into this category.

I have roughly 24 Golden Comet hens the longest I ever been out of eggs can be measured in hours >12<24. You will find that the egg supply in any hen is a finite resource the quicker you milk the eggs out of a hen the faster it will be spent and end up in your stew pot.

On average one hen produces somewhere between 600 to 700 eggs in its life time. Lighting only effect the speed of delivery of the eggs which at the end of the day would amount to less than a year in the hens life is my guess

If you do decide extra lighting is necessary have your light on a timer to lengthen the day "MAKE SURE IT IS SECURED BY 2 MEANS OF SUPPORT" one being a "SAFETY CHAIN" in case one fails especially if it is an incandescent bulb or heat lamp.

I personally raise hens as a hobby; and for their manure to enrich my vegetable garden any thing else the hens provide is merely a bonus.

Here is one BONUS NOW not many people can enjoy seeing in their back yard on a regular basis.



Nest boxes
In my nest boxes I fold a feed bag to fit (nest boxes are 1 ft³). When a bag gets soiled; fold a new one; pop out the soiled; pop in the new. Feed bags are a nylon mesh bag.
Frozen poop just peels off in below freezing temperatures and just flakes off in summer when left out in the sun to bake and dry.

I have 65 trips around the sun it is the best method I have stumbled upon.

Make sure the twine is removed from the open end of the bag it can get tangled around your birds.

 

[chrisabney]

For the coop, I was thinking about surrounding the space underneath with plastic to block a draft under the floor. Just three sides so that they can still go under it to get out of a draft in the day.
The earths heat should help in the night - by a couple of degrees.


I'm guessing that I'll need to change their litter (Bermuda hay) more often to keep them dry since I closed off half of their ventilation.

I'm not sure what I'll do to keep their water from freezing, though.

 

[urbanchick1950]

After building our 10x10x6 pen to hold the Coop and building a half metal roof half hard ware cloth roof we predator proofed the enclosure and thought that was it. But Ft Worth limits where we can put our coop and so we had to put uner a few trees on the N.E. side which limits direct sun. RAIN and winds from the storms hept them in a draft so we tarp walled 3 sides.on mild nights we leave the gate side open since their coop faces the opposite wall.

We have 2 LED lamps for extra lights and a 60 watt incandescent which gives as little warmth.

The coop has ventilation and there is vent spaces in the pen but no drafts. I use shaving to cover the pen floor and in the coop. I only have two hens and they seem healthy and happy.
But we have an Artic front coming in tonight with temps in the 20s and wind chill in the teens. So I have added a light weight blanket attached to the inside of the gate wall (north side)to make sure no brutal drafts hit their coop. Should I keep the blanket up til this artic front is gone in a couple days?

The thermometer in their pen stays between 40 and 50 degrees with the gate side tarp opened to let them have natural light with the 3 lamps and there is good air flow in their coop.

. Should we add a heat lamp to the pen? There is no safe place in the coop for a heat source.appreciate all your advice.

 

[mobius]

Dear urbanchick!

I lived in Dallas for several years many moons ago. I understand your climate. Now I live in deep NW Montana (as I like to refer to it). Tonight the temps will be -6F.

Heat lamps are hugely dangerous and a source of terrible fires. Please do not use a heat lamp. I am not using a heat lamp.

Today my hens, beyond their regular fermented feed fare, had a little suet and I gave them some cracked corn just before bedtime. This corn or scratch helps them keep warm. When the temp is going below zero, I close their pop door. I also added more pine shavings to their coop floor. The coop is not insulated. It IS vented. That is the most important thing, is to vent so that humidity does not go too high.

I am learning that my chickens need to acclimate. Which they have been doing as temperatures drop and we get snowfall. It was ten F today and they were out and about merrily attending to chicken business, not hiding in the coop.

You are doing a lot of considerate protection for your flock. Don't overdo it and endanger them and your family with a heat lamp.

Ultimately your concerns will be much more the summer heat, but leave that for another day.

 

[mobius]

For the coop, I was thinking about surrounding the space underneath with plastic to block a draft under the floor. Just three sides so that they can still go under it to get out of a draft in the day.
The earths heat should help in the night - by a couple of degrees.


I'm guessing that I'll need to change their litter (Bermuda hay) more often to keep them dry since I closed off half of their ventilation.

I'm not sure what I'll do to keep their water from freezing, though.

First,

!!

Second, it would help to know where you live. My new motto is YCMV: Your Chickens May Vary. And they do vary a lot by climate!

Third, I am about to do the same as you and block off the area directly under the coop, as they seem to like to cuddle under there on very cold days. I might even repurpose empty feed bags for this, stapled on just for the winter.

Fourth, here is my waterer:



In this waterer, which I made and it holds four gallons of water, for the winter only I have a 250 watt stock tank heater made by K & H that sits on the bottom inside the bucket and is plugged in. When the water temp falls below freezing, the heater turns on til it is 40 degrees. And then shuts off.

Other folks have many ingenious approaches to keeping water from freezing which you can find on an easy search of these forums!

 

[lucylola]

I am new at this. Never thought I would get attached to a chicken but I am. I have four , 2 silkies, 1 frizzle and 1 frizzle naked neck. My little bitty 8 month old silkie just hatched 6 eggs. They look like tiny fluffy egg yolks with 2 sticks for legs. So cute. I am using a red heat lamp to help keep them warm but mom does a pretty good job. It makes me alittle nervous about a fire hazard or to much heat. I have it at one corner of a 4 foot box with screen on front about 1 foot up. Seems to work. Temp here gets in 30s. Not always sunny Calif.!