I caved on the heat lamp

[Katejc]

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

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

 

[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]

I’m boiling the water to add to the waterers to melt the ice and bring the temp up enough to get it across the field without freezing... it’s about ten minutes of walking, and with this wind and -5 temp, if I start with the near frozen water I have (3 degrees Celsius) it’s starting to ice up by the time I get it to them... I can get away with 15-20minutes in the roosting box before it freezes up completely at the bottoms and I have to melt it. All my gloves are soaking wet from using Tupperware containers to water, which works a bit better but is harder to accomplish, and they try to step in it!

This seems as good a place as any to say it... I detest winter! Just half-jogged 3km through calf deep snow in yoga pants, a long sleeve shirt, and gum boots to get back to my cats and chickens, because a Big Douglas fir came down across our road, FML! Also trying to convince DH and FIL that now is not the time to play with chainsaws and tractors... in the dark and snow.

If you’re heating, it’s also important to have a back up if the power goes out. Generator or wood stove, or something... it’s the sudden changes

 

[aart]

I think we are going to have to get a heated waterer.

Definitely!

 

[vantain]

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.

I have one of these, and it doesn't do anything to change the temperature in the coop. I only have it because I thought a chicken might be smart enough to realize it's there on the wall, and is warm, and might stand there to warm up a bit if cold. Nope...they totally ignore it.

Unless you actually put your hand on it, you can't feel the warmth on a really cold day.

That said, I still use mine, though I'm sure it only gives me peace of mind, but is doing nothing for the hens.

 

[vantain]

I think we are going to have to get a heated waterer

I have one of these, and this is my second winter with it.
http://www.farminnovators.com/HB-60P Sell Sheet.pdf
Last winter, we had many days well below zero, with a few nights at -35F. The water never froze, and the nipples continued to work flawlessly. This winter, it's doing just as well. Last night was -9, and everyone is still drinking.

 

[Katejc]

I have one of these, and this is my second winter with it.
http://www.farminnovators.com/HB-60P Sell Sheet.pdf
Last winter, we had many days well below zero, with a few nights at -35F. The water never froze, and the nipples continued to work flawlessly. This winter, it's doing just as well. Last night was -9, and everyone is still drinking.

Also, no cleaning out shavings and poop twice a day!

 

[gtaus]

I have one of these, and it doesn't do anything to change the temperature in the coop. I only have it because I thought a chicken might be smart enough to realize it's there on the wall, and is warm, and might stand there to warm up a bit if cold. Nope...they totally ignore it.

Unless you actually put your hand on it, you can't feel the warmth on a really cold day.

That said, I still use mine, though I'm sure it only gives me peace of mind, but is doing nothing for the hens.

A radiant heater is not meant to heat and raise the temperature in the coop. It is only meant to heat a chicken standing directly in front of it. If your chickens are not standing in front of the heater, they probably don't need the extra heat. Chickens have down feathers and can puff themselves up and trap air in their feathers to keep warm. It might be really cold for us humans outside, but chickens are not people.

But, like I said, I have not used my Cozy Coop heater yet and don't plan on using it until/if it gets down to about -35F at night. If it gets that cold this winter, and my girls don't use the extra heat, that will be OK with me as long as they don't freeze to death. Last winter we had almost a 2 week stretch of extremely cold -45F at night with daytime temp hoovering around -30F. Lots of chicken owners around here lost chickens due to that extreme weather. Our local farm store sold out on all their Cozy Coop heaters after that. I did not have chickens last year, but I was really watching what people were doing to cope with that cold spell with their chickens. Most people had not used any heaters for their chickens, but that extreme cold killed off a lot of chickens around here last winter. Many people were forced to look for supplemental heat options.