Hello, I live in Arizona. This is my second year of having chickens.

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DobieLover said:
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.

Why would fully feathered adult hens need a heat plate?
I would get a large cardboard box, lay it on its side with the top flap hanging down, bed it with thick dry bedding and put the heat plate in there with the legs up as high as possible so the chicks can fit under it. The box will help to trap the heat. The box or the area it is in will somehow need to be secured so the hens can't access it and the chicks can't get out.
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We have had nighttime temperatures down to 23 degrees this winter. The large suspended heat plate comes on at 35 degrees and then shuts off when the temperature gets back up to 45 degrees. It gives me confidence the adult hens will be comfortable in freezing temperatures. I think they are happy hens. They did not stop laying this winter and there are no lights in the coop.
 
AHay said:
We have had nighttime temperatures down to 23 degrees this winter. The large suspended heat plate comes on at 35 degrees and then shuts off when the temperature gets back up to 45 degrees. It gives me confidence the adult hens will be comfortable in freezing temperatures. I think they are happy hens. They did not stop laying this winter and there are no lights in the coop.
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They don't need the heat source.
If they laid during the winter, they are pullets, not yet hens. Next winter they will take a break after their molt.
What is your back up power source if the grid goes down? If the power goes out and they are suddenly plunged into cold temperatures they've not acclimated to, the stress could kill them. 23 is not that cold to a properly acclimated chicken in a draft free, highly ventilated coop with draft free roosting. It's cold to YOU. Not a bird with a high metabolism that slowly digests a crop full of food all night and can trap all that heat in a very well insulated down coat.
How much ventilation is in the coop to remove moist stale air?
 

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