Heating the Chicken coop in Winter.. Any suggestions

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I agree that unnatural heat is mostly never necessary.

I live in Alaska, and we've had a mild winter -- in the 40's during the day (unbelievable) and the lowest at night has been -14F. I have a 75-watt red floodlamp, the kind used for outdoor lighting, plugged into a timer. I only turn it on from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. when I see on the weather report that it will be less than 5 degrees or below zero on any given night.

The girls are always up running around in the morning, even when it's 5 degrees, and all eggs are laid before noon, everyday. I have 10 red/black sex links, and one broke her back and is crippled, and on cold nights I will put her on a special roost near the floodlamp, as she tends to roost alone close to the ground in a cold spot, which doesn't help her condition. I have a galvanized waterer (it's a pretty big one), and I dump 2 gallons of lukewarm water in every other day, and they never run out. I have it on the galvanized water heater stand that I retrofitted with a car block heater pad secured with thermo adhesive (the pads that come with the waterers always wear out in one season), and the water is never frozen. If I'll be gone for a a few days, I fill it up to the top, and it's seems fine when I get home. I have had nights in the past where it's been -35F, but not with this flock. And they all survived, and seemed fine. The main thing: heat galavanized metal waterers. If the chicken or rooster gets its comb or waddle wet while drinking and shakes it off near the tank, if it's too cold, the comb will stick to the tank and it's a bloody mess after that, not to mention the pain to the chicken.
 
P.S., I also give them about 2 cups of mixed grains/scratch daily, along with 16% layer pellets that are always available, and other treats in the late afternoon sometimes for carbo loading (instead of scratch). I only give them that much scratch in the winter. They forage in the summer, and they get little snacks here & there.
 
There are solar coop heaters available too now as well as heated coop mats and bulbs.
These can be found at www.shopthecoop.com
If you can insulate your coop, this will help as well. The frozen water/eggs is an issue,
and having a coop heated my make your chickens lay more eggs, not have frozen combs, etc.!
 
Hi from Ga. You might become a snowbird and move to Florida for the winter.
gig.gif
 
Even though I live in Florida believe it or not we do have freezing days and nights here.

Frost is a problem - ventilation is the answer. Make sure that the coop is ventilated so it isn't humid and the chickens will be fine. Chickens are equipped for cold weather with the fine underfeathers that swell and fluff in cold locking in body temp and act like a nice feather bed. Their feet are not protected so make sure their roosts are wide enough so when they sit on the roost they cover their footsies with feathers.

Drafts are a problem so keep the ventilation protected so cold winds don't blow through the coop. Ever wear just a sweater on a blustery day and the wind cut right through it? Drafts rob the feathers from holding in the warm air pockets.

On the coldest of days / nights I put a 5 gal bucket with lid, filled with hot water from the tap and place the lid on the bucket and the bucket in the coop. Lid keeps in the steam so I don't create a humidity problem ( frost) it just slowly cools and radiates heat. I keep the water inside near the heat source. Water doesn't freeze and the chickens have a place to be warm. It is also not going to catch the coop on fire like some electrical heaters. I learned this from that Rocket Guy on this forum and it works Brilliantly! Got to love Low tech!
Sometimes you can ask your local baker for frosting buckets which sometimes they will give you for free.

Caroline
 
Haven't read the other suggestions or naysaying...lol. If you choose to use a heating device, I like the radiator looking oil filled heaters. They're contained, therefore pretty daggone safe, and they have different settings, so you can run them at a really low setting. If you go the heater route, then you might look into something called a Thermocube. They have them at different ranges, and only turn on your device when the temp falls below a certain level. They have one that comes on at 10F, one at 20F, and another that comes on at 35F.
 
Quote:
What about the exhaust? Chickens like all birds are very sensitive to respiratory toxins (think canary in coal mine sensitive).
 

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