I know there has been many posts about heating the coop with a heat lamp, I've done the search. I don't think I need to do a full 250 watt heat lamp, I was thinking more on the lines of a 75 watt flood lamp since the coop is fairly small and air tight. On cold nights, like last night, the water bowl is frozen solid. I was thinking of starting with the 75, and could always go up if need be. We use a 40 watt bulb on a timer now (comes on just before dusk and stays on for about 3 hours) to give enough "daylight" for eggs, and it works fine, we get eggs every day. My worry is, if I use a light all night now for heat, will it mess with the egg production?
It may actually help with the egg production at first, but your chickens will 'burn out' and slow down laying earlier than normal.
If I use a red heat type light, would I need to use the regular light bulb for the first few hours for the "daylight" effect?
With the red light you will still need the regular bulb to simulate daylight hours, and yes, they will sleep fine with the red light on. You mention your coop is small and "airtight"? I hope you have some means of allowing air movement..? I wired my heat lamp through a dimmer switch, so I can vary the intensity of the heat. It is used mainly as a way to prevent the waterer from freezing. I clamp mount it directly above the waterer, and depending on the temps adjust the degree of heat accordingly. I still have a regular bulb on a timer switch, for light stimulation.
As Bill says, you do need to have ventilation of some sort, even in (especially!) a small coop. Also bear in mind that freezing temps will not bother them, you simply need to change out the water in the morning, and during day if necessary, or get a heated waterer. If you still feel that you need to add a heat lamp, you can get smaller wattage (75-100) red or black bulbs in the reptile section of a pet store. These should not keep them awake after they are used to them. Be careful if your coop is REALLY small that they can get away from the bulb if needed, like don't put it right on the roost. They can burn their combs. You will still need to add white light during the day for egg production. Trying to juggle both lights can get to be a pain....You would probably be better off just having a heated waterer of some sort, then add white light. Oh and
