How do you keep your chickens warm?

[SycolinWoodsChickens]

My chickens just snuggle up to get warm. It went from 40 degrees to 10 degrees at night here this week and they are all fine. I'd be more concerned about burning my coop down then the chickens being cold for a few hours.

BTW, we only brood with ceramic heat lamps like you use in a terrarium. They don't seem to get as hot as brooder bulbs and they seem safer. They cost a little more and we use 2 in the brooder but I don't stress as much about a fire.

 

[moetrout]

I see that you are in Florida. You shouldn't need to worry about keeping them warm with supplemental heat until the next ice age comes. You are good to go for the next millenium!

 

[chickenhead1]

I have no problem bekieving that the chickens can keep themselves warm. However, my birds' waterer freezes. I have a clamp on light fixture that I bracketed to a 2x4 with the cord exiting directly above and out of the coop. Other than having to get a bigger tank and putting a heater in it, or a heat pad, how can I keep the water from freezing? The upside to having the light on is that my hens are still laying well past their typical shutdown time.

 

[Chic-n-farmer]

how many birds?

1 gallon heated dog water bowl $15

Heated waterer base that goes under your plastic or metal waterer $35 and up

Stick a bird bath deicer in a bucket with a nipple water system $50

 

[chickenhead1]

5 layers right now. I'm brooding 29 more so I'll have to upgrade anyway for water capacity. Thanks for the input, much appreciated.

 

[Chic-n-farmer]

Quote:
If you go to this section https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=12 you can find more discussion on the subject. We are here to help.

I really like the bucket/nipple waterer and will be switching to that as I don't see many complaints about it and it is easy to use.

Good luck.

Chic

 

[JackE]

Quote:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=107951


I built one of these for under $5. I powered it with a 40W bulb. It has worked great for me.
Jack

 

[chickenhead1]

okay, I found some holiday cookie tins (actually stole them from the head hen). She thought i was crazy, until she went to feed this morning and the water was NOT frozen! Thanks for the help ya'll.

 

[humpbacks1962]

A heat lamp in FLORIDA??

No wonder the staff in Disney gave us weird looks when we walked in with shorts and Tevas early in the morning, in Dec...

 

[Jackiekim]

When does a chick reach adulthood? I've been getting some conflicting answers with regards to this. I have seven weeks old chickens (Five of them in good sized coop). Here - in San Diego - we have been averaging 40 in the night. I think they should be ok, but I've also been told they should stay in brooder without additional heat for a bit longer. Thinking of putting gallon jugs of hot water into coop at night to help keep them warm (to start off with at least). I ordered a heater, but now that I'm hearing about fires, a bit more hesitant.