I caved on the heat lamp

[Kris5902]

I had to emergency move almost half my flock into a barn... they were outside in temporary housing... aka my meat tractors, with only a tarp for protection on three sides. It was a sudden cold front. We are at about 6” in places, but it’s unseasonably cold for the west coast.

 

[micstrachan]

That is a fast drop! There are heat sources made for animals that might be safer than a lamp. And some draw so little power you can run them off batteries (thinking it could be brutal if you supplied heat, then lost power.) Good luck!

 

[micstrachan]

I had to emergency move almost half my flock into a barn... they were outside in temporary housing... aka my meat tractors, with only a tarp for protection on three sides. It was a sudden cold front. We are at about 6” in places, but it’s unseasonably cold for the west coast.

Good call!

 

[Kris5902]

Good call!

Not really I lost 5 birds to an owl yesterday morning... now everyone is better secured in the barn safely, but most of my chickens are in tractors with roosting boxes that were literally iced into the fields, no one is coming out, by choice... this is very unusual weather for this area. And what I’m in is closer to normal for the OP, not -20 to -30

 

[AquaDuck]

I'd definitely go with extra heat after such a drop in temp too. Especially since you got silkies, who's more susceptible to cold due to their feathering.
I have a fan heater, and think that works better than a heat lamp since it heats the entire coop, and not just one area.

Oh, and you should get a water heater! They're pretty cheap to buy, and there's also DIY ones. Water is crucial to the birds in cold temps.

 

[gtaus]

It’s no consolation, but I’m now hand watering with warm water all (60ish) of my birds daily. Their water freezes in about 1/2 hour, and no one has left their roosting boxes in several days.

My biggest concern is keeping fresh water available to my birds 24/7. I have had great luck with using the old fashioned 3 gallon metal water founts with the metal heated base. So far, no frozen water even down to -22F at night. I only have to refill the 3 gallon waterer about once every 10 days for my small flock of 10 birds. So I am very happy with the performance of that winter watering combination.

 

[gtaus]

Oh, and you should get a water heater! They're pretty cheap to buy, and there's also DIY ones. Water is crucial to the birds in cold temps.

I am usually a pretty cheap person when I buy things, but when it came to a heated waterer, I was much more concerned about the reliability of the product. My 3 gallon metal waterer and heated base cost me about $70 for the pair, on sale, at our local farm store. I know some people just use a heated dog bowl for much less money, but I don't trust the heated dog bowls for my area and our temps. I am constantly looking for the metal heating bases to go on sale again and I will buy a backup - but maybe I'm just paranoid about having fresh water always available.

 

[AquaDuck]

I am usually a pretty cheap person when I buy things, but when it came to a heated waterer, I was much more concerned about the reliability of the product. My 3 gallon metal waterer and heated base cost me about $70 for the pair, on sale, at our local farm store. I know some people just use a heated dog bowl for much less money, but I don't trust the heated dog bowls for my area and our temps. I am constantly looking for the metal heating bases to go on sale again and I will buy a backup - but maybe I'm just paranoid about having fresh water always available.

I got one of those cheap regular heat plates for plastic waterers in my coop, and it's not very good tbh. I was lucky to find a very effective and solid bowl for the ducks that's meant for small livestock like sheep. It's been effective down to -30C, which is the lowest we get here. It was around 50$ I think, and holds 3 liters. Sometimes you want to go for quality over low prize.

 

[Katejc]

Thanks everyone for the advice and suggestion of products! I think we are going to have to get a heated waterer. Im pretty on top of it but they act like its been weeks everytime I go and change it! Temps are supposed to start gradually rising so I will start raising the lamp up. Good news is they only seem to go under it an night, so even they are telling me they don’t need it!

 

[Kris5902]

Still struggling here with thirsty girls... boiling water now for them. If I had electricity I would have heated waterers for sure. Get a good one, water and electricity don’t mix well so it’s good place to buy the very best you can find IMO