I caved on the heat lamp

[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]

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.

 

[Building Bridges]

Hot water freezes faster! Don’t ask me why. Science.

Somewhere in the cobweb regions of my mind I seem to recall it has something to do with the molecules moving faster in hot water.....bumping into each other and greater space between them and some kind of stuff like that there. Glad I could help with these scientific (and very specific) facts. But you're right....it freezes faster!!

 

[Kris5902]

It’s been an awful fast drop in temps here as well, getting down below -5C all of a sudden from otherwise decently warm normal weather. Though the ice is annoying it should be fine, so long as they have protection from wind, which I’m sure your sunroom is providing just fine. Do they all roost together I would be a little concerned if someone was roosting alone. 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.

 

[Katejc]

I noticed you live in Canada. Are you talking about 0C (32F) in your sunroom? For me, that is not very cold. My chickens are getting along fine in their outdoor coop when the nighttime temps have dropped down to -30C (-22F) this winter. I would think that at 5 months old, your chickens should be able to handle 0C (32F) at night if they huddle together to keep warm.

If you are uncomfortable with the temp in your sunroom, then I won't judge you for adding some heat. They are your birds. I have used heat lamps over straw, but always had 2 means of securing the heat lamp above the straw. Usually, 2 separate chains suspended from the ceiling and/or secured to a beam.

This year I bought a Cozy Coop radiant heater for my chickens, but have not used it yet. It is supposed to be more fire safe than a heat lamp. If I had some chickens in an attached sunroom, I think I would sleep better at night with the Cozy Coop heater instead of the heat lamp.

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I definitely messed up the conversion. We’re at -20 to -25 going to about -30 at bight. Last week we were between 0 to -5 so its been a dramatic drop!

 

[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 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.