How warm do chickens like their coop?

[Shelbyrayl]

I have a chicken coop that is about 6x4. It is getting cold so I placed a heat lamp in the coop. I went in there about 30 min later and the coop was like an oven. I'm planning on putting a smaller light in but I was just wondering...does a chicken produce better because it is warm or because of the light? How warm do chickens like their coop to be? Should I even heat my coop...my 7 chickens are full grown.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

I live in NC where it does get down in the teens for periods of time during the winter. My 8x8 coop has no heat and only had plastic on the windows last year. My hens did fine and kept laying except for 1 month in the dead of winter when they went into a molt.

 

[gritsar]

If your chickens are full grown I don't think they need the addtional heat. My coop is insulated and I don't intend to heat it unless we get a spell of days that are in the 30s or below.

 

[FreeRangeGirl]

Hey there!

Hen's lay best when the temperature is between 45 and 80 degrees. I do know that they also don't lay as well in the winter, and may even stop, becuase they are so affected by the lack of light. They need about 14 hours a day of daylight.

I'm not sure about a heat lamp at night because they also need it dark. Hopefully someone else can answer that for both of us!



Hope this helps!

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
If you don't intend to give your chickens extra light in the wintertime for egg production, but you feel it's necessary to offer a heat lamp you can either get a red heat lamp bulb or a ceramic heating element (sold in the reptile dept of larger pet stores) to provide just the heat without adding light.

 

[Akane]

Light would be the biggest factor and then stress caused by extreme temps would also have an impact.

Teens? 30s? That is not that cold. It gets to -20F here in the winter and very few people have a heated coop. They will be just fine and probably would be fine without a heat lamp if that's all your winter temps got to. That's not even cold. Heck I'd only be wearing one coat and a tshirt in that weather instead of the 4 layers I have on in the winter here.

 

[Mahonri]

My girls survived 116 this summer and we rarely get below 40 in the winter so I think I'm fine.

I do have the brooder lamp in the coop still so if the weather man ever says it's going to be down in the 30s, I may go plug it in a night or too.

 

[Jennym]

I bought a flat panel heater that turns on at 35 degrees and will shut off automatically at 45. I bought a thermosatically controlled outlet for this. Plus I keep a night light on 24/7 for just enough light in their coop.
It gets way too cold here in Connecticut. Brrrr

 

[Rustywreck]

What about more extreme cold temps? In the winter here we get a couple get cold spells where it can be -30 degrees for a week. Temps around -10 are common.

The hen house I built this summer is 8x8x7(h). It has insulated 2x6 walls and ceiling, insulated steel door and insulated windows.

Will my 14 hens be warn enough, or will they need extra heat?

The hen house is wired for electricity, but is not hooked up yet. Heck, I don't have electricity in my house but I may give in and get hooked up this fall.

 

[OHMYCHICKIES]

I just put an temperature controlled outlet. If the temp falls under 35 degrees the 100W red light turns on and goes off at 45 degrees. I have some young ones that huddle underneath it. The temp doesn't drop till about 3 o'clock in the morning, so the light isn't on all the time.