How do you heat your coops

[Rooster Rules]

Okay, now it is clear. Got any pics of the actual venting. I am thinking of adding a vent up high as you have done too. Right now , my pop door is down low on the floor, litter board partition keeps the cool air from going right across the floor, this the north side facing into attached and cover run, the window is on the southside, it is up high almost to the ceiling of the coop. i want to put a vent, maybe 2 up on the ceiling level on the south side, and keep the window closed....stay warm frost brother

 

[Rooster Rules]

It is still about a -20 windchill, ambient outdoor temp is -20c or -4f, my thermometer is out a bit. I opened the pop door to the run, most of the flock came out, the bantam cochin Xs seem the toughest, the OEG bantams, want to stay in the coop.
Inside the coop it is pretty dry temp about 32f, maybe a little less. I do have on a heat lamp today, my little oil rad heater is off right now.
Am I being mean allowing these chix to go outside for a 1/2 hour or so?...............

 

[ten chicks]

The debate on whether to heat/not heat coop is based on how many birds you have and what breed of bird. If you have several birds in a coop,they probably will be fine,but if you have a small flock of bantams(mine are silkies)they may require heat. To all against heating coops,you probably have several birds and do not experience the cold and wind chills i have in Manitoba. I can guarantee my birds would be dead if my coop was not heated.

Yes,wind chill does matter,anyone that thinks differently probably has not experienced a -45 wind chill. I come from a family of plumbers(father,husband,brothers)so i know what a sever wind chill does to pipes. I have a heated crawlspace under house,my cats love to dig under the snow/skirting/insulation to get into crawlspace(it is all sand and heated)if temp are -39 C no problem with the small opening they have created,but if it is -40 or colder with WIND CHILL,pipes freeze and/or pump. Last night we had to thaw out a piece on our pump that had frozen due to wind chill. If my coop was not heated,not only would i have been dealing with frozen pipes,but frozen dead birds as well. The point is to all that repeatedly claim wind chill is not a factor,think again,it can be deadly to any animal this is a fact.

So stop with the repeated saying that heating a coop is not necessary and harm will come to your birds if you do. Some birds will die without heat. Just b/c it is not how you do things,does not make it wrong.

 

[Rooster Rules]

The above poster, has some valid info on this region, ND, Minnesota, and Montana,Saskatchewan, and Alberta fit into the mix.
Certain breeds, bantams, etc, would find it tough to survive this cold. All of my grandparents kept chickens up here in unheated uninsulated cops, but it was hard on the birds in this kinda cold weather.
Here is my flock at 0700 houirs this AM.
Windchill has not effect on a lot of inanimate things, but causes a lot of discomfort on living breathing creatures.
An open air coop would be hard on the birds at this temp

 

[Hokum Coco]

@ Tenchicks Murphy's Law says that at some point your chickens will experience -45º wind chill. My advice to you would be to feed extra corn through the winter (can not speak for silkies) but I am sure most of your flock will surprise you. Wishing you nothing but the best buddy. I personally have never heated my coop and am subject to -40º cold snaps and have never lost a bird to cold. I have been around the sun 63 times. I am not here to say your methods are wrong or mine are right.

As I said I just get cold snaps lasting a few days or so @-40º. However climate similar to Saskatchewan Canada where the average daily winter temperature is -22º C lately has made me question my own beliefs.

I know if I was raising birds in Saskatchewan and I noticed my flock in distress due to cold I would not hesitate to provide them with heat. One has to take a daily inventory on ones birds to gauge their over all health and well being. One has to pay due dilligence when you are responsible for your flock.

I consider myself somewhat of an expert in my own area. That being said you can not be closed minded to others who are dealing with different challenges.

 

[Gargoyle]

The debate on whether to heat/not heat coop is based on how many birds you have and what breed of bird.
<snip>
So stop with the repeated saying that heating a coop is not necessary and harm will come to your birds if you do. Some birds will die without heat. Just b/c it is not how you do things,does not make it wrong.

I agree completely. For example, my situation with 5 birds and a coop that gives them 15 to 20 cubic feet per bird is very different from that of someone with 25 birds and 8 or 10 cu. ft. per bird. In the later case, the body warmth of all their chickens will warm the coop; in my case much less so.

Am I being mean allowing these chix to go outside for a 1/2 hour or so?...............

Not at all. Give them a choice, they'll go out when they want, come in when they want.

Mine have free choice all day, and they come and go. If it's above 15 degrees they'll stay outside all day. If it's below 5 degrees they'll go inside for an hour, then come outside for an hour, then back inside.. they make their own decision. I have a ceramic emitter bulb (as I showed in a photo a page or two ago), it's on a timer, double bolted to the ceiling, basically raises the temp inside the coop by 4 to 8 degrees, just enough to take off a bit of chill. Inside they are also out of the wind. All their food and water is outside. When it was below zero yesterday morning they still came out for a while, then went inside for a half hour before coming out again.

When it hit -8 f overnight the heated dog dish did start to freeze up, although not completely.

Windchill has not effect on a lot of inanimate things, but causes a lot of discomfort on living breathing creatures.

I'm not a physicist, but I expect moving air has a different effect on inanimate things than does static air. Anyone able to confirm that?

 

[ten chicks]

@ Tenchicks Murphy's Law says that at some point your chickens will experience -45º wind chill. My advice to you would be to feed extra corn through the winter (can not speak for silkies) but I am sure most of your flock will surprise you. Wishing you nothing but the best buddy. I personally have never heated my coop and am subject to -40º cold snaps and have never lost a bird to cold. I have been around the sun 63 times.

Murphy's Law also states"If there are two or more ways to do something,one of those ways will result in catastrophe". In my case the catastrophe would be dead birds from not heating my coop. Murphy's first corollary states"Left to fend for themselves,things tend to go from bad to worse". Lol

 

[Hokum Coco]

Murphy's Law also states"If there are two or more ways to do something,one of those ways will result in catastrophe". In my case the catastrophe would be dead birds from not heating my coop. Murphy's first corollary states"Left to fend for themselves,things tend to go from bad to worse". Lol

I am well aware of Murphy's law and have experienced them all first hand despite what facts say about Canadians. Keep doing what you are doing buddy (maybe chuck in a bit of corn just to please me on those really cold snaps).

 

[Rooster Rules]

I am well aware of Murphy's law and have experienced them all first hand despite what facts say about Canadians. Keep doing what you are doing buddy (maybe chuck in a bit of corn just to please me on those really cold snaps).

Where in New Brunswick do you ever have the kinda cold you get in Manitoba or Sask, please inform me. What maybe -22c for lows, your cold is nothing like it is here. Now having said this, I do not live where you live, but work with several people who have lived in New Brunswick or were raised there, none of them have ever said it was anywhere near as drastic as Manitoba.
What your doing, must be working, and I am not trying to criticize you, but your "blanket statement", is not a 1 size fits all.
You keep talking about corn, great I use it too, diet is important with more calories to promote more body heat and well being.
Breeds of birds, amount of birds, size of birds may also come into play etc.
Please explain where in NB you get -40, not that your -20 with Atlantic humidity, may be worse?

Here is a a link to Environment Canadas weather for New Brunswick, sure wished I had December temps like this
http://weather.gc.ca/forecast/canada/index_e.html?id=NB

 

[wowmanacat]

I use a heat lamp in my coop area. See my coops is a part of my husbands shop and all it is is metal walls. I have had a problem with my chickens, mainly my roosters comb getting frost bite already this year.