i finally had to give in and get a heat lamp for the chickens!!!

[EweSheep]

Quote:

 

[arabianequine]

I have used heat lamps last year and this year. I clamp it above the nesting boxes and the cord is tied to the beam it is clamped to also so if it gets knocked down it will just hang in mid air but still high enough out of the way. No problems so far here. Our power has went out 2 times this year so far and just for a few hours each time. I think the heat makes them lay better through out the winter. They do all seem to like it better.....they are on the nesting boxes and in them more.

 

[MandyH]

It has been 17 degrees here for like 3 days and my birds get no heat. I burned down a hatching house full of chicks and incubators last year when a chicken flew up and knocked a heat lamp loose. I only do heat lamps for tiny chicks now and I use about 4 cords to attach the dang thing so it CANNOT come loose unless we had an earthquake. That one little heat lamp cost me about $8000.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

I have lost two adults to freezing to death this week at 20*. If you think you need heat then do it. Chickens can freeze to death in Ga.


I lost 1 newly hatched chicks in my brooder this week at 30* so I turned on the backup heater to bring it up to almost 50*. Most could handle the 30*s ok at less than a week old using a heated roost.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
I am so sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing this- I didn't realize they could die at 20 degrees.

I have been turning on light bulbs (100 watts) in all the coops when it goes in the 20's (infrequently), but I have discovered the cutoff for my girls. I tried a few nights ago to turn on the light bulbs when it was 34, because it was supposed to go to 30 degrees that night. I just thought with the dampness in the air and the fog we get in the mornings it would be a good idea.

The girls acted QUITE annoyed with their sounds they were making and rustling around that the lights got turned on. Usually they are happy when they go on- when it is in the 20's. But 34- no way do they want to sleep with that light on!

So for me, 20's is the cutoff unless we are getting some high winds. Their coops are right on a hilltop. Brrrr. That ventilation REALLY works well on a hilltop.

 

[dandelionheart]

Quote:
Ditto. My girls are happy and hurry to get their warm oatmeal and treats in the am. We do have an enclosed area they can get in (that has their nesting boxes in it), but they still choose to roost out in the covered run with the two windy sides tarped.

If they were huddled in the enclosed area and sluggish in the morning I would consider getting something... but they are fine.

 

[chiclet]

I added a ceramic heater to the coop wall this past weekend. It is screwed to the wall, close to the bottom of the coop. There is nothing for the girls to peck at, and it's okay if they lean against it.
It's in the low 20's and upper teens in VA at night. I only turn the heater on when the girls go in the coop; about 6 pm. During the day, the temps in the mid 30's, and they seem ok. Sometimes i'll find them huddled together in a protected corner. I figure if they're really cold during the day, they would go back in their coop, and then i might even turn it on for them during the day. In the morning, the temp. in the coop reads about 50'. They're all lined up in front of the heater. i think they're pretty happy to have it, and it makes me feel better, inside my warm house.

 

[Katy]

A firefighter's warning about the dangers of heating.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=420995

 

[woodmort]

Quote:
Sorry, but if your adult chickens froze to death at 20 degrees then there was something other than cold that was wrong with them. You just put 2 and 2 together and got 22. Healthy chickens should be able to handle subzero temperatures if they've been allowed to accumulate to them--20 above should be beach weather to them.

For all of you using ceramic and 250w heat bulb heaters. Been nice knowing you, I'll say goodbye now since many of you will be gone from BYC once your coop burns to the ground.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
You might want to read the warning about ceramic heaters in this firefighter's warning thread.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=420995

ETA: I guess she's talking about the ceramic heat emitter bulbs so I don't know if that applies to the type of ceramic heater you're using or not.