Hey Lamp/Too Cold

[Valormitch]

Hi all,

I live in a Chicago suburb. My chickens have a nice coop but no heat for winter. Our winters can get to -20. At what temperature should I turn a heat lamp on for the coop?

Thank you!

 

[azygous]

Have you been through a winter with chickens yet? It can be a challenge for you and them. There are a vast number of positions taken on whether or not to heat coops. So, you will not get a definitive answer to your question. Therefore, I advise you to be prepared to make this decision from your own perspective and the needs of your chickens as you see it.

That said, I will give you my position. But you must take each one of the responses to your thread, including mine, in the context of where each one lives and their individual climate considerations. One size does not fit all.

I heat my coops. I live in an arid climate. Low humidity. The winters can be harsh, though. I have well ventilated coops, but I have experienced frost bite in my flock when the coops dipped below freezing when I did not heat them. So, I have a flat wall, Cozy Coop Heater in my smaller coop and a stand alone oil-filled electric heater in the larger coop. They're set to only keep the coops above freezing to prevent frostbite, not necessarily to keep them warm and toasty. And also to keep the poop from freezing to the poop boards since it makes cleaning the coops in the morning a frustrating task.

I also hang a heat lamp in the run on days that are unpleasantly below freezing so the much older chickens in my flock can be a bit more comfortable.

However, heat lamps in coops are very dangerous. I've had chickens squabble in the coop during roosting time and end up nearly breaking the heat lamp. I've had chickens burn their head feathers on the heat lamp, as well. In close quarters, they should be strictly avoided.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I suggest you read this article from someone who experiences truly cold weather. It seems that -20 Fahrenheit is sort of a cut-off when things change. The exact temperature where it changes will depend a bit on the details, but -20F (-29C) is getting cold.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/

Any time you use any heat source there is danger. Any time you use electricity there is danger. So be careful. I use a heat lamp in my outdoor brooder, but I threw away that clamp. I consider the clamp a danger. You need to use wire or chain to hold it in place, not string or plastic that can burn or melt. If you can secure the heat lamp so it cannot fall or be knocked down you have increased the safety tremendously.

 

[Boise-girls]

You might also factor in your coop's sun exposure - similar to gardening micro-climates. I can grow plants on the southern side of my house that would never survive on the northern side. I'm assuming similar dynamics would apply for a coop.

 

[Mrs. K]

Don't worry about warm, worry about dry. Dry birds are warm birds.

However, this depends a lot on the size and shape of your coop, and the number of birds you have. You really need to look at your coop when the birds are roosted. It will also depend on the manure build up in your coop.

Things that trigger moisture and damp birds:

• small coops tend to have the birds very close to the walls and ceiling when roosting. Think of being in a car with a bunch of people and no heater on. It almost immediately fogs up on the windows of the car. So you really need to have the heads of birds on the roost, be at least 12 inches below the roof. Otherwise their breath collects there, and dampness rains down on them.
• Ventilation - this seems so counter intuitive to the idea of warm, but to keep birds dry, that moisture has to escape. What works best - is openings on the far side of the prevailing wind at the top of the wall. The roosts need to be below this, the heads of chickens need to be below this, and then the warm wet air will rise above the chickens and exit the coop.
• Bedding and manure. Manure clumps holds a lot of moisture. Now if that is frozen solid in an arid country, it is not a problem until you get a chinook, it thaws, releasing moisture into the air, and that is the night I will get frost bite. I use deep hay as bedding, once a week, I sprinkle it lavishly with scratch. A couple of hours later, it will look like fresh bedding. The manure clumps are are scratched apart, the hay is turned over, and it is much drier in there.

The best advice - is look at them roosted up. In North America - they tend to be roosted up for 14 hours or more, in the long dark nights. They need to be dry when they do this.
Lowering the roosts in the winter, can really help.

But as to any advice - it really depends on the shape and size of your coop. My own birds have come through -35 degrees F. That is cold. It was pretty still that night, and it was only one night. I do not worry about -20 degrees.

BE VERY aware of FIRE. Small spaces, dried wood, bedding and heat are prime fire ingredients.

Mrs K