How do you heat your coops

[Chaneys Ranch]

Lots of awesome advice!
Anyone else house ducks/geese with the chickens?
If so, what if any heat do you provide for them?
We have a huge shed they all overnight in, and free range during the day.
They also have a very large enclosed run, all chain link fenced.
Looking into stock tank warmers as an option.

 

[americanvalkyrie]

Lots of awesome advice!
Anyone else house ducks/geese with the chickens?
If so, what if any heat do you provide for them?
We have a huge shed they all overnight in, and free range during the day.
They also have a very large enclosed run, all chain link fenced.
Looking into stock tank warmers as an option.

This will be my first year housing ducks with chickens. I'm not at ALL worried about the heat factor with ducks. They have a super duper fatty layer to insulate them. I am going to check out heated dog bowls, though. Last year we used a poultry fount heater with a standard double wall chicken waterer, but the ducks need something a bit deeper. Maybe even a large rubber bucket with a stock tank warmer.

 

[sck279]

I have several type of chickens and the only ones I worry about are my Japanese Bantams. Their coops are in my 36x48 barn and I use old curtains to drape over their coops at night to help them stay warm. I also occasionally use a standard utility lamp with 75 watt bulb near the coops (6 on one wall) if it is really cold- below 20 degrees. Otherwise the rest stay outside and are quite content. I give all warm (NOT HOT) water from the house twice a day to make sure they don't get dehydrated.

 

[aoxa]

  I noticed that too.
Did I forget to mention, that in the middle of the coldest weather we had here last winter, I had a Silkie go broody right next to the window.  The dumb thing kept going back every day for about 2-weeks to an empty spot in the corner by the window!

I had a cochin do the exact same thing!

I was looking at our average lows to compare, and it is almost right on. Your average for January is a bit colder than ours. Mid January - February is usually the worst for the windchill.

Today I woke up to 64 degrees F. Yesterday it was 40F. This is our first year in our new house, and it is heated by wood. I don't know how much I will like that. To get up in that cold and start a fire.. Brr.. I am not good with cold, but my chickens definitely are!

 

[aoxa]

What type of chicken is that on the bottom pic? She is just gorgeous!

Mottled Houdans

Very good dual purpose breed believe it or not.

 

[aoxa]

EpicBlueAcres. I'm pretty sure its a Houdan. Looks like mine, with a better comb.
We have a mini flock of them here. The larger combs are desireable, but we just have a little hobby flock so anything is Ok.


As far as Heating, I'm all for not heating.
Lived in Michigan and didnt know anyone who used heat. The chickens lived well, but like everyone in winter they spent less time outside.
Keep the air circulating by having a good air escape route and a small enterance. The natural heat chickens put out will take care of them.

Where I live now the thing I worry about is Heat.
There's no place for humidity and heat to go here, which is a bigger problem than cold to a chicken. You cant really take off your coat in the summer if you're a chicken, but you can find a nice place to hunker down and warm up in the winter.

Good luck to both sides, but I think just keeping them safe and out of the wind is best.

I think you mean crest, not comb? They shouldn't have much of a comb at all. Yours are beautiful as well. I didn't know you had that many now. I thought you just had a pair!

 

[aoxa]

Lots of awesome advice! Anyone else house ducks/geese with the chickens? If so, what if any heat do you provide for them? We have a huge shed they all overnight in, and free range during the day. They also have a very large enclosed run, all chain link fenced. Looking into stock tank warmers as an option.

I over-wintered ducks with my chickens so far. This is my first year with the geese, and by the looks of them - they will have no issues with the cold. Only thing I will say - they make a mess of the bedding if the water is in there. The water all froze, and I slipped inside the coop a few times - and was covered in straw with poo mixed in. I am going to create something to catch the water that they spill. The ducks are the issue here, not the geese. My geese are very clean in comparison.

Here is my flock last February. They stayed almost exclusively in the barn from January - March. You can see that they've already mixed in straw with their morning oatmeal

Not going out.. Just thinking about it.

I was surprised enough to take a picture. Someone must have been daring that day!

 

[bruceha2000]

I guess my girls have some decorum lol, I have never seen poop on the roosts. we changed out the carpeting only to be sure there was no mites, but again we have never seen one. I just shovel all the coop out onto a shower curtain, then dump it into the compost. scoop poop off boards daily and then add more litter. but again Im over excessive I think LOL.

You change the shavings on the floor DAILY? Those are some expensive eggs. Might want to go with the "sand on the floor and use a cat litter scoop" method.

My 12 poop everywhere. Including the roosts and, until I switched them from bottom hinge/ramps to side hinge, the chicken door from the coop to the inside run and the inside run to the outside run. The coop door is glass so they can see out, but not so well through poop.

As for mites, I've read here that Diatomaceous Earth (FOOD GRADE!) is good for getting rid of them (or keeping them out). I found some at the local Co-op. Might be something to add to your OCCASIONAL tasks, sprinkle it on the carpet. I'm sure mites can hide in there really well. I guess I wouldn't bother with the litter on the floor if you are changing it daily unless you know your coop has mites.

Over excessive? Well, compared to most, yes.

Bruce

 

[aoxa]

You change the shavings on the floor DAILY? Those are some expensive eggs. Might want to go with the "sand on the floor and use a cat litter scoop" method.

My 12 poop everywhere. Including the roosts and, until I switched them from bottom hinge/ramps to side hinge, the chicken door from the coop to the inside run and the inside run to the outside run. The coop door is glass so they can see out, but not so well through poop.

As for mites, I've read here that Diatomaceous Earth (FOOD GRADE!) is good for getting rid of them (or keeping them out). I found some at the local Co-op. Might be something to add to your OCCASIONAL tasks, sprinkle it on the carpet. I'm sure mites can hide in there really well. I guess I wouldn't bother with the litter on the floor if you are changing it daily unless you know your coop has mites.

Over excessive? Well, compared to most, yes.

Bruce

DE really doesn't get rid of mites. It helps dry out the dampness, which just about it. I use sevin in their dust baths. That stuff will kill any external parasites FAST.

But my chickens are like yours, poop everywhere. In the summer, they drink a lot of water to stay cool.. Therefore their poop can be runny - and they projectile poop all over the walls

 

[bruceha2000]

A 60 degree week in January is not unheard of in Kansas City and we painted our Coop a relatively dark color for heat trapping in the winter as well.

You don't REALLY mean "as low as 60 degrees" right? You must mean something a lot lower. 60 degrees is short sleeve shirt weather.

Bruce