Heating the Chicken coop in Winter.. Any suggestions

[ChickenCanoe]

Just reporting on chickens and cold. I have 50 chicks under a week old in a homemade hover brooder with a 150W and a 250W heat lamp in an unheated building. It was 27 degrees outside and 37 inside 2 nights ago, they are all doing fine.

My roosters have huge combs and wattles. I was a believer in rubber feed bowls with a bird bath heater in them for winter. I just realized that was contributing to the rooster's wattle frostbite.
I'll continue to use them for hens but I'm moving all the roos to their own building for the winter with a heated waterer that they can't dip their wattles in and provide them heat below 30.

 

[jailbirdjulie]

I live in Utah and we are having unusually cold weather right now for December! It got down to 5 degrees last night. I went and bought a heated water container for my hens today. I also bought a red heat lamp for them. Should I have the heat lamp on 24/7 though or just at night? Also the top of the coop has wire mesh should I leave that uncovered or cover it? I want them to have enough ventilation. This morning I left them in the coop all day and thought maybe I would come home to a blood bath but I think they huddled in the coop together to keep warm today. I don't want to heat the coop all the time but it's supposed to be bitter cold here for the next week or so. Any advice would be appreciated. I was thinking about putting the heat lamp on a timer and having it come on around 5:30pm and go off about 8:00am.

 

[Hokum Coco]

I have been around the sun 63 times.
I live in Canada (Indian for COLD).
I do not heat my coop.
Feed extra corn for extra cold.
Works for me.
Lost birds to heat never to cold.
Do what you think is best.

 

[MBCityFarmer]

Please be careful about using a heat lamp as a heat source. Last spring I began raising three lovely Easter Eggers. I was so concerned about their warmth that I moved their coop into our barn and clamped a heat lamp on a nearby post to help them stay warm. At 3AM I woke up to a strange sound and looked out my bedroom window to the entire barn engulfed in massive flames. I ran outside and tried to put the fire out with an extinguisher but it was too late. Everything was lost and I was so upset. I was unbelievably careful it the lamp and knew that if, improperly used, it could cause a fire. The bulb likely burst and started a fire. I'm reading this thread trying to find alternative ways to heat my coop when I try again this year but wanted to warn people to think twice when using a heat lamp. This year I plan on using corn and if it gets really cold...possibly the snuggle safe option.

 

[Mitch93]

Hey Everyone. I live in Trenton, Ontario. It is about and hour and a half east of Toronto. I have six hens in a 4ft by 6ft coop. This will be my first winter with them. I was just wondering if I am going to need a heat lamp in my coop. The coop is not insulated, and it can get down to minus -30 degrees Celsius in the winter. I would love any feedback.

 

[mtchickengal]

Hi. This will be my first winter with chickens, too. I have a 4'X4'X3' coop. The enclosed run is much bigger, and I let them run my back yard all day. I close them in the run/coop area at night. I live in central Montana. Sometimes it can be -20-35 for a week or 2 4-5 times in a winter. I have been doing some research on to heat or not to heat the coop. I have some crazy ideas, but I will do some research on things I have read here. Thanks all the cold weather experienced chicken people for giving your thoughts!

I do know that I will put clear plastic around much of my run, as it is super windy here....sometimes 60 below with the wind chill. I did just put tin on my coop roof & run area to keep the enclosed run area snow free. I will use a waterer warmer of some sort. I currently have 2 roosters & 13 hens. I have a little shelter built in the yard to protect the feeder(there will be 1 in the run area, too.) I will supplement with corn, scratch & other seeds before bed. I am using the deep bedding method. I am considering mounting a light to shine on the door, but under the covered run. The inside of my coop is just too small to put a light in safely. I was planning on making my coop bigger, but the husband says they will be colder with more space....so.... Oh, and I am just nutty enough to shovel in the yard if necessary so they have more minimally snowy space to roam.

One of my friends suggested using heat tape that would radiate heat starting at 35 F. I am trying to think how to mount that safely. What do people think?

 

[21hens-incharge]

Hello mtchickengal

Personally with that many chickens and that size of coop you would not have room to safely put any heat source IMO. You should not need any added heat with that many chickens in that size space but you would need lots of ventilation.

I have 8 hens in an 8x8x8 coop and if I do not get to cleaning it twice a week the moisture and smell build up fast. I have a 2' x 4' window and a 2' x 2' window the 2' x 2' stays open even in the winter. ( does not allow air directly onto roosts ) I have a wall built about 2 foot out from the window that stops about a foot above the window top or rather 8 inches from the ceiling and is open at the bottom as well. It allows air in and out while blocking all but a howling wind.

(Building a new coop that will be 8 x 14 x 8 and have 10 windows as well as vents.) I am in Colorado by the way.



If folks want to heat their coops more safely and without spending 300 bucks on ceramic coop heaters consider a sealed oil space heater. I found some at a thrift store for 12 dollars each. They are like this one.

http://www.amazon.com/Kenmore-72085...d=1411042063&sr=8-15&keywords=oil+room+heater

Seems so much safer to me than the hot heat lamps.

Dh wants me to put them in the coop but I am thinking I will not.

 

[JackE]

Hi. This will be my first winter with chickens, too. I have a 4'X4'X3' coop. The enclosed run is much bigger, and I let them run my back yard all day. I close them in the run/coop area at night. I live in central Montana. Sometimes it can be -20-35 for a week or 2 4-5 times in a winter. I have been doing some research on to heat or not to heat the coop. I have some crazy ideas, but I will do some research on things I have read here. Thanks all the cold weather experienced chicken people for giving your thoughts!

I do know that I will put clear plastic around much of my run, as it is super windy here....sometimes 60 below with the wind chill. I did just put tin on my coop roof & run area to keep the enclosed run area snow free. I will use a waterer warmer of some sort. I currently have 2 roosters & 13 hens. I have a little shelter built in the yard to protect the feeder(there will be 1 in the run area, too.) I will supplement with corn, scratch & other seeds before bed. I am using the deep bedding method. I am considering mounting a light to shine on the door, but under the covered run. The inside of my coop is just too small to put a light in safely. I was planning on making my coop bigger, but the husband says they will be colder with more space....so.... Oh, and I am just nutty enough to shovel in the yard if necessary so they have more minimally snowy space to roam.

One of my friends suggested using heat tape that would radiate heat starting at 35 F. I am trying to think how to mount that safely. What do people think?

If I were you, I would seriously reconsider expanding that coop. 4X4' is not big enough for 15 standard size chickens. With your cold weather, your birds may prefer to stay in the coop more. With that number of birds, in that small space, humidity/moisture is going to be a BIG problem. I don't think you could practically have enough ventilation, for the # of birds, in that small space. I would DOUBLE the size of the coop for them. The chickens will be a lot more comfortable. It's a myth, that a bigger coop leads to chilly chickens, BIGGER is better. Ventilate well, and forget about adding any heat. Except for the water fount warmer.
And you're not the only nut, I've shoveled snow for my spoiled birds too. Expand the coop NOW, before winter sets in.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If I were you, I would seriously reconsider expanding that coop. 4X4' is not big enough for 15 standard size chickens. With your cold weather, your birds may prefer to stay in the coop more. With that number of birds, in that small space, humidity/moisture is going to be a BIG problem. I don't think you could practically have enough ventilation, for the # of birds, in that small space. I would DOUBLE the size of the coop for them. The chickens will be a lot more comfortable. It's a myth, that a bigger coop leads to chilly chickens, BIGGER is better. Ventilate well, and forget about adding any heat. Except for the water fount warmer.
And you're not the only nut, I've shoveled snow for my spoiled birds too. Expand the coop NOW, before winter sets in.

I couldn't have said it better.

Even in Montana, they need about 1 sq. ft. of ventilation per bird. That's bigger than one entire wall.
At temps well below zero F., preventing drafts is imperative but otherwise not. It gets below zero here (-16 last winter) and I have 2 open walls in 5 of the units. I put up a wind screen but don't block the openings when it's really cold.
I have a friend with a nice coop and predator proof run and roosts in both. Her birds choose to sleep in the run all winter and there's no windbreak.
They're outdoor animals that we house to keep predators and rain at bay.

 

[woodmort]

Please be careful about using a heat lamp as a heat source. Last spring I began raising three lovely Easter Eggers. I was so concerned about their warmth that I moved their coop into our barn and clamped a heat lamp on a nearby post to help them stay warm. At 3AM I woke up to a strange sound and looked out my bedroom window to the entire barn engulfed in massive flames. I ran outside and tried to put the fire out with an extinguisher but it was too late. Everything was lost and I was so upset. I was unbelievably careful it the lamp and knew that if, improperly used, it could cause a fire. The bulb likely burst and started a fire. I'm reading this thread trying to find alternative ways to heat my coop when I try again this year but wanted to warn people to think twice when using a heat lamp. This year I plan on using corn and if it gets really cold...possibly the snuggle safe option.