How to keep chickens warm in the winter

[aart]

It just started snowing today in Michigan, and since winter is starting, How can I keep my chickens warm safely? I heard the coop can burn down if using heaters for the chickens. Are there any safe ways to heat up the coop and keep them warm? I keep my chickens coop in the garage

Is the garage attached to the house?

No need for heating a coop in Central Michigan(thank you for adding your location!).
You might want a heated waterer tho.
Oh, and.... Welcome to BYC! @chickennuggt

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC.

As others have said, chickens tolerate cold very well. Our job is to keep them dry and out of the wind. They keep themselves warm with their built-in down parkas.

Have you read this article yet? https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/

This is the diagram @black_cat mentioned. It's from an article on cattle barns, but the principle is the same:

 

[NatJ]

It just started snowing today in Michigan, and since winter is starting, How can I keep my chickens warm safely?

The temperature inside the coop is what matters, no matter how cold the outside gets.

If you have a water source iside their coop, and the water does not freeze, the chickens do not need extra heat.

If the water does freeze, put a thermometer in the coop and see how cold it is really getting before you make a final decision about adding heat. (Yes, you might buy a heat source but not use it, depending on how things work out.)

At any given point, if the chickens have been fine but the outdoor temperature is predicted to get 10 degrees cooler, the chickens will probably still be fine. (That's an estimate to help with the times when you're trying to decide about the "really cold" night that is coming up soon.)

I keep my chickens coop in the garage

Do you know how cold the inside of your garage gets in the winter?
If you have been able to store water, or cans of food, or any other liquid without it freezing in the winter, then the chickens should be fine too.

(I keep mentioning water freezing because it is something fairly easy to notice, even if you don't have a thermometer handy.)

 

[21hens-incharge]

Going back through looking for info on coop size I see you have a prefab.

There is NO safe way to add heat to a small prefab coop.
They are also poorly designed and lack ventilation.
That may be a better thing to look at doing.

Since the coop is IN the garage it raises the question for me of whether they have access to the outdoors. Outside they have fresh air and sunshine....even in winter.

 

[Farmgirl1878]

Chickens are tiny blast furnaces wrapped in a down coat. If your coop is dry and draft free and they have an outdoor space that is out of the wind, they should be fine no matter how cold it gets. Besides, if your flock gets used to having heat and then the power goes out, they could then die from the cold. My girls are going thru a particularly bad molt right now, so I do have a flat panel heater on inside the coop, but they don’t seem to use it.

In terms of heaters, especially for chicklets, I always recommend a flat panel heater. The bulbs and space heaters are especially dangerous in dusty areas inhabited by flying creatures. Flat panel heaters are inexpensive and readily available. Here’s what I have in the coop: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LX9K1JI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1p

Pics of your set up will help. Here’s what we do:

 

[saysfaa]

Dust is very combustible and chickens generate a LOT of dust. Besides the dust being in contact with hot surfaces, It also gums up fans (as some heaters have) and air vents (as some heaters have) - both are also fire risks.

A thick layer of bedding will keep them off the cold concrete (if your garage has a concrete floor). And I'd fence them off any metal they might roost on or perch on. Otherwise, they are better off without the heat even if there wasn't the fire risk.

 

[3KillerBs]

Chickens are tiny blast furnaces wrapped in a down coat.

That is a marvelous image.

 

[Sally PB]

It just started snowing today in Michigan, and since winter is starting, How can I keep my chickens warm safely? I heard the coop can burn down if using heaters for the chickens. Are there any safe ways to heat up the coop and keep them warm? I keep my chickens coop in the garage

First, welcome to BYC!

Second, I also live in Michigan. Last year was a fairly mild winter, but my chickens had NO problems. The coop is out doors, with plenty of ventilation. I don't have water in the coop, to help keep the humidity down. As has been said, dry chickens are warm chickens.

Their run has a roof over half of it, and a well-supported tarp over the other half. About half of the run is wrapped with clear shower curtains; the north and west sides, since those are the prevailing wind directions.

What direction does your garage opening face? Do you leave the door open for air and light? Ventilation is one of the most important things to consider when keeping chickens.

 

[chickennuggt]

This.

Chickens wear a down coat year round. They need a dry, draft free, well ventilated coop.
As long as they are healthy, well feathered birds heat does more harm than good. Trying to keep a coop warm means closing vents and trapping moisture.
If the power goes out or the heat source fails they are plunged into conditions they are not acclimated for.

We get low temps of -16 pretty much every year here. I do not add heat and have only had 2 cases of minor frostbite in all my 20(ish) years keeping birds. Both cases were on leghorns and only one bird lost a couple tips on her comb.

Thanks for the advice I didn't know heat can be bad for them

 

[chickennuggt]

First, welcome to BYC!

Second, I also live in Michigan. Last year was a fairly mild winter, but my chickens had NO problems. The coop is out doors, with plenty of ventilation. I don't have water in the coop, to help keep the humidity down. As has been said, dry chickens are warm chickens.

Their run has a roof over half of it, and a well-supported tarp over the other half. About half of the run is wrapped with clear shower curtains; the north and west sides, since those are the prevailing wind directions.

What direction does your garage opening face? Do you leave the door open for air and light? Ventilation is one of the most important things to consider when keeping chickens.

The garage door is right by the coop and no the door doesn't stay open