Keeping 'em warm in the wintertime questions.

[kraftykrow]

My girls haven't arrived yet, getting 3 barred rocks that are already old enough to know FOR SURE they are girls (have had really bad luck with getting roosters out of 'hens'). BUT anyway, I had some questions about keeping them warm in the winter...

Heat lamps worry me, it even worried me leaving on in my house while I wasn't home for the "hens" I was raising. I'm afraid they will start a fire when I'm not home. Plus the only outside outlet I have is over 100 feet away and tends to flip the breaker if you use extension cords. Part of the reason I chose Barred Rocks as my first hens was because they are winter hardy. I figured since they've been around a lot time before electric they'd be ok as long as they have lots of bedding to snuggle in... but I'm not experienced. I know there are heat plates too, but idk if those would be fire dangerous too. Any advice would help.

 

[Kessel23]

A coop with good ventilation, no drafts, and good roosts will allow almost every breed to make it through the winter with few problems. I had Egyptian fayoumis get through without a problem and we had several weeks of temps in negative double digits. I also had bantam mixed breeds and silkies make it through fine. Along with 2 juvenile naked necks.

 

[SueT]

Is it winter there now? Or are you talking about when they're adult chickens? Adult chickens, like the wild birds, do fine in most winter climates. They don't need heat. They have down jackets.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Where are you located? That could help us know what kind of cold you are talking about. If you modify your profile to show that, the information would always be available. It comes in handy for many different things.

In general, your job is not to keep the area they are in warm, it is to allow them to keep themselves warm. They are wearing a down coat, remember. You normally do that by giving them areas out of direct wind and by having adequate ventilation.

If you can tell us a bit about your coop, photos often help, and your climate we may be able to offer specific suggestions or see problem areas, but if you have a decent coop you don't need to provide any supplemental heat to your grown chickens any more than you need to create warm places for the bird that overwinter.

 

[kraftykrow]

It's the start of spring here, I'm in Indiana. They will be adults by winter. Typically our weather can be 20 degrees one day and 70 the next. Winter seems to come later and later each year. We didn't even have snow until late Dec. The lowest temps. seem to get around here is in the 20s but wind chill can drop it lower. I know their vents need to be open during the day still and the way the coop is the vents are level with the bottom of the coop about and it's pretty open.

 

[kraftykrow]

Where are you located? That could help us know what kind of cold you are talking about. If you modify your profile to show that, the information would always be available. It comes in handy for many different things.

In general, your job is not to keep the area they are in warm, it is to allow them to keep themselves warm. They are wearing a down coat, remember. You normally do that by giving them areas out of direct wind and by having adequate ventilation.

If you can tell us a bit about your coop, photos often help, and your climate we may be able to offer specific suggestions or see problem areas, but if you have a decent coop you don't need to provide any supplemental heat to your grown chickens any more than you need to create warm places for the bird that overwinter.

I'll try to provide photos tomorrow, I'm using a work computer on my lunch right now so won't be able to mess with it today. I answered a few of those questions in the post that should be above this one.

 

[rosemarythyme]

If the lowest is 20 degrees or so during day, they'll be completely fine with no added heat, vents open. Wind chill is really only a factor if you either have an open air coop or in the run, if winds are blowing hard through there during the day.

 

[Mrs. K]

Do not think warm, instead think DRY. A dry chicken is a warm one, and a damp chicken is cold. This is where it gets so counterintuitive. You need to OPEN up the coop, to let the moisture out, where the tendency is to think keep the coop closed tight to keep the warmth in.

What you trap is moisture, from their breath, and their poop. Warm air rises and condenses the water back on them when it contacts the cooler ceiling and walls. Think of being in a car with the heat turned off and a couple of people in the winter time... fogs up almost immediately. That is what you want to avoid. How do you avoid it, open the ventilation up.

Mrs K

 

[21hens-incharge]

It's the start of spring here, I'm in Indiana. They will be adults by winter. Typically our weather can be 20 degrees one day and 70 the next. Winter seems to come later and later each year. We didn't even have snow until late Dec. The lowest temps. seem to get around here is in the 20s but wind chill can drop it lower. I know their vents need to be open during the day still and the way the coop is the vents are level with the bottom of the coop about and it's pretty open.

I agree with dry and lots of ventilation.

Your post says the vents are at floor level.
There should be vents up high as warm moist air rises.

If it helps...... My birds have no added heat in an 8x14' coop with open soffits. I have kept them that way for years with no frostbite issues in temps down to negative 16°F.
There is 28 square feet of ventilation in that coop.

 

[Alaskan]

If the lowest is 20 degrees or so during day, they'll be completely fine with no added heat, vents open. Wind chill is really only a factor if you either have an open air coop or in the run, if winds are blowing hard through there during the day.

Yep, times 2.

You might want to put a wind block up in the run... but you will not need heat.