keeping chickens warm in the winter

[kittypaul]

i live in a really cold place and i have tried doing heat lamps but they are super unsafe. we almost had our coop burn down and now im looking for other options that are safe, reliable and work well in really really cold temps. it gets about -20 here in and i was wondering what yall use.

i have a few ideas but idk if you guys would suggest using something else or if you guys have any bad experiences with them.
the first one is a ceramic heat lamp it looks like this. any comments ?

 

[mamajos]

I’m in Minnesota, and the coldest it got here was -26°F, last year. I don’t use any heat in my coop.

edited for spelling

 

[CKfarm22]

i live in a really cold place and i have tried doing heat lamps but they are super unsafe. we almost had our coop burn down and now im looking for other options that are safe, reliable and work well in really really cold temps. it gets about -20 here in and i was wondering what yall use.

i have a few ideas but idk if you guys would suggest using something else or if you guys have any bad experiences with them.
the first one is a ceramic heat lamp it looks like this. any comments ?View attachment 2805596

I’m new to chickens, this year will be our first year with them in the winter. We’re trying a heated floor mat for the coop.

 

[Callender Girl]

I USED to worry about the cold. L:ast winter, it got down to double digits below zero more than once. I don't have heat in any of my coops, and there were no problems with any of the chickens.

As long as they are out of drafts and have plenty of ventilation, they will likely be okay. They use their feathers to insulate themselves, sleep close together on the roosts and get lots of wood shavings on the floor.

When I start to panic, I remember that little sparrows clinging to tree branches in frigid, windy Iowa manage to survive winter with no heat OR real shelter.

My biggest concern in winter is making sure everyone has drinking water, not ice-filled waterers.

 

[Acre4Me]

-20F is more of a concern if it is sustained for long periods, like days upon days. But that would be the temp overnight, not constant.

dry and draft free are the keys to comfort for chickens. So, you want ventilation, but you want the roosts to not be in the breezy area.

we have an elevated coop (dry), and upper ventilation. During worst months of Jan/Feb we block the Northern large ventilation so they aren’t getting frigid wind directly on them. During a winter storm, but only if needed. They have 6 ft of roof over south ventilation, and 30’ of roof over northern ventilation, so it’s possible we could keep it open. If you have air gaps between the wood at the roost area, you may want to cover those during the cold months. For example, some people construct coops with rough lumber, so there are gaps between the boards. Not a big deal in warmer weather, but to keep roost area draft free, might want to cover or block wind in that area.

 

[SueT]

i live in a really cold place and i have tried doing heat lamps but they are super unsafe. we almost had our coop burn down and now im looking for other options that are safe, reliable and work well in really really cold temps. it gets about -20 here in and i was wondering what yall use.

i have a few ideas but idk if you guys would suggest using something else or if you guys have any bad experiences with them.
the first one is a ceramic heat lamp it looks like this. any comments ?View attachment 2805596

I use one of those ceramic heat emitter bulbs in my brooder and love it for brooding chicks. I love these because they put out heat but no light. However chicks have to stay right under it to be warm. As with a mother hen, it is not warm when they leave the small warmed area it creates. It will not warm a coop. It puts out no more heat than a light bulb of the same wattage.
RE chickens and cold, they can usually keep themselves warm, without supplemental heat just like the wild birds can. It got down to -20 here this past winter during the Polar Vortex, and our chickens survived with only a couple of them getting frostbite on combs or wattles.

 

[3KillerBs]

Here is BYC's definitive article on cold weather chicken-keeping:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/

 

[21hens-incharge]

i live in a really cold place and i have tried doing heat lamps but they are super unsafe. we almost had our coop burn down and now im looking for other options that are safe, reliable and work well in really really cold temps. it gets about -20 here in and i was wondering what yall use.

i have a few ideas but idk if you guys would suggest using something else or if you guys have any bad experiences with them.
the first one is a ceramic heat lamp it looks like this. any comments ?View attachment 2805596

Can you add pics of your set up please?
We can help with suggestions for weatherproofing it.

 

[aart]

heat lamps but they are super unsafe.

These emitters are just about as unsafe,
they get crazy hot and will ignite shavings if they touch them.

However chicks have to stay right under it to be warm.

Exactly, the emitters don't form a very large circle of warmth.

 

[Tre3hugger]

Those ceramic emitters become a lot safer with a thermostat added. This way the bulb only turns on when needed, then turns off when target temp is reached. You could use the emitter to keep temps above freezing without it reaching flammable temperatures.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/slredirec...9545565&id=2706950779650874&widgetName=sp_atf