how warm is to warm in the winter?

[chicken delighted]

my wonderful husband, a creative,maintanceman.

Has decided that he will make our coop with a outside wood heater with blower and regulator to controll heat , for our 110+ chickens.our coop being 24x45. YES! i think this is wonderful but part of me is a little worried that it will be to warm i think that 35-40 is warm enough for chickens in the winter

. We are using heat lamps and i think we own part of the company by now so to keep the bill down and wood is free he has decide this is the way to go. any one have any suggestion on the temp i would be grateful.

 

[toofarout]

I'm surprised you need to add any heat at all, but..... If you are going to add heat, I think anything above freezing is much too warm for adding heat, so I am agreeing with you on the temps. Just warm enough to keep the water thawed. I use a silicone oil pad heater sandwiched in-between two large concrete pavers and set the waterer on top of that. I couldn't possibly keep my barn/coop above freezing and it can get very cold in there. Next year I hope to arrange things in order to have more bird bodies generating heat. That might help.
It's zero Farenheit right now and my birds are outside in the covered run, scratching around looking for those scratch grains and BOS, they look happy.
BTW, that is awesome of your husband to do that!

 

[SteveBaz]

Quote:

Here is a man that lives in Alaska speaking. Chickens have there own built in down system and is geared for cold weather. They just grow more down feathers per square inch and have a more dense down base if they are cold. You see feathers coming off birds in the winter and you say how can that be in the middle of winter well they shed larger feathers for smaller quills that will occupy that very same area with warmer feathers.

 

[teach1rusl]

IMO, you don't want drastic temperature differences if they're going to be allowed outside each day. So I wouldn't think you'd want your chickens to spend the night in 50 or 60 degree temps and then go out in the morning to 10 degree temps...you see what I mean? Of course I don't know what the temps. are in your area. I'm happy if my coops stay in the 30s overnight (never had frozen water), and our winter nights only hit single digits every now and then...mostly teens/low 20s.

 

[TDM]

I'm assuming you are in the egg business, and if your wood is basically free then I think you guys are on the right track. Warmer chickens will eat less food needed to maintain warmth. You can also brood chicks without the problems associated with unheated barns in the winter.