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Thank you, I agree Canada is different than Texas.@ Joan I see your point my northern climate is naturally more harsh coupled with cold and your climate does not offer the same transition for the birds to naturally acclimatize.
Canada is different than Texas.
Very true, those areas that get cold say down to 0f, then few days later 40f, then 50f, then back to 10-20f, that may be hard on the birds too.Thank you, I agree Canada is different than Texas.
Hey, Rooster!Very true, those areas that get cold say down to 0f, then few days later 40f, then 50f, then back to 10-20f, that may be hard on the birds too.
My part of Canada directly north of Texas just along side of ND and Minn, is where I am located, a very cold climate in winter, even colder than Minneapolis, much colder than Chicago.
It is around 30f, with a very cold west wind of about 30 mph, most of my chickens, Barred Rocks,Bantams, are all out in the run, it is covered in tarps and sheet ply, but they have no trouble with it. They can go back into the coop if they wanted to.
A topic that can be debated forever.
I live in Winnipeg, where it doesn't generally get WARMER than -30 for all of January. Unless you have a large number of chickens to keep the space warm, you simply HAVE to heat your water at a minimum. A tub of warm water at -30 or -40 will be frozen within half an hour. Unless you change your water 3 or 4 times a day, your birds are going to be hurting for water.
Also, at such cold temps, the moisture from their breath will freeze to the inside of the coop and cause frost and water damage, not to mention making for a very damp condition inside the coop, whcih could lead to respiratory problems.
So, for me, I HAVE to heat the coop.
I tried a 250-watt lamp, and a 250-watt infrared lamp, and found that neither one threw enough heat at -10C (about the coldest its gotten here so far) to keep the water thawed unless it was inches from the waterer, which was too much of a fire hazard.
So, I've installed a small electric forced-air space-heater (1500 watts) attached to a thermostat that will come on any time the temp goes below 4 degrees. It seems to be working great so far.
We will still let them out into their run most days, untill they tell us that it's just too cold to do so, so they should still be acclimatized to extreme cold in case the power ever go out.
It's been -10C (10 degrees F) a couple of times, and they continue to go outside and do the same chicken stuff they did in the middle of summer, so the cold isn't bothering them too much, Though they're not pleased that someone turned off the constant supply of bug they got used to over the summer!
I am right in your neighborhood and have window opened a slight bit in the coop no heat on, no heat lamps and water is not frozen, coop temp is around 35-40f, even at -6c, which is the lowest I have recorded.A topic that can be debated forever.
I live in Winnipeg, where it doesn't generally get WARMER than -30 for all of January. Unless you have a large number of chickens to keep the space warm, you simply HAVE to heat your water at a minimum. A tub of warm water at -30 or -40 will be frozen within half an hour. Unless you change your water 3 or 4 times a day, your birds are going to be hurting for water.
Also, at such cold temps, the moisture from their breath will freeze to the inside of the coop and cause frost and water damage, not to mention making for a very damp condition inside the coop, whcih could lead to respiratory problems.
So, for me, I HAVE to heat the coop.
I tried a 250-watt lamp, and a 250-watt infrared lamp, and found that neither one threw enough heat at -10C (about the coldest its gotten here so far) to keep the water thawed unless it was inches from the waterer, which was too much of a fire hazard.
So, I've installed a small electric forced-air space-heater (1500 watts) attached to a thermostat that will come on any time the temp goes below 4 degrees. It seems to be working great so far.
We will still let them out into their run most days, untill they tell us that it's just too cold to do so, so they should still be acclimatized to extreme cold in case the power ever go out.
It's been -10C (10 degrees F) a couple of times, and they continue to go outside and do the same chicken stuff they did in the middle of summer, so the cold isn't bothering them too much, Though they're not pleased that someone turned off the constant supply of bug they got used to over the summer!