Keeping the coop warm in the winter, HOW?

[Mountain Peeps]

That's an amazing coop! My chickens only have an old shed we made into a coop. I'd love to have something like that but I don't have the skill or resources to build one. Or money to even buy one lol. Very nice coop. Love it.

X2!

 

[sueandthe6]

so my coop looks a lot like this one. I am not going bigger this winter so they can heat it better with body heat. I actually have less ventilation cause my guys only have a small entrance hole on one side and solid access door on the back. There is one screened hole at the top on the access door side but its only maybe 3 inches across. I have 7 chickens and they are pretty decent sized but am concerned too about the cold. Two are leg horns with huge combs and I am afraid of frostbite. I wondered about the ceramic bulbs. Do they run the same risk as heat lamps with regard to fires? I wanted to hinge the roof on the side opposite the nest boxes- might have to at least get some extra vents in for the winter. If it is really windy out- will they go in the coop? the only time they are ever in there now is when they go to bed. Do I need to windbreak some of the run as well? Very interested in all if this as I am a worry wart. :-/

 

[MeepBeep]

A lot of people talk about moisture.  There is no moisture in the air in our winters.  It gets so dry it is hard to breathe, even inside the house.  How can moisture be a problem in the winter?

There is generally plenty of moisture in the winter, the reason it's dry in the house is because you heat the house and the heat from the furnace drives out the moisture... Outside even in the winter it's not uncommon to have high humidity, in fact in many areas the average winter humidity is higher then summer...

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/us-outdoor-design-temperature-humidity-d_296.html

But, the concern here is the exhaled air from the chickens, that air is going to be near 100% humidity and will drive the humidity up in the coop very fast if there is no ventilation and then what happens is it will condensate out of the air, and will 'moisten' many surfaces and get on exposed skin, that moist exposed skin can then potentially frostbite even at temps just below freezing...

As to heating the coop, most will agree it's a bad thing for small coops because of fire risk if done improperly, as the coop size increases and/or depending on the breed of birds there might very well be a good reason to heat the coop... Commercial poultry and egg farms in inclement areas heat their buildings, and I'm pretty sure they do it for good reason even though it drives up cost...

I heat my coop, it's 1200 sq/ft and two stories... I heat it to about 40°, I do this for multiple reasons that no one is going to convince me is wrong... One, the building has running water and I'm not going to deal with damage and all the issues due to freezing water pipes... Second, I have peafowl in the building and they are not as cold weather tolerant as chickens... Third, I supplement winter lighting and collect eggs all winter, I don't want frozen eggs... As for my birds not being acclimated, they go out on nice days, and 40° is not much if any warmer then what a small coop will get to with a few birds in it and/or the sun shining on it... There is a huge difference from heating your coop to say 70° vs just above freezing like I do... And lets be truthful, if the heat fails for a short period of time (unlikely to be any length of time as I would have the generator up and running in short so I'm not freezing) it's really no different then when a polar vortex hits and the temps drop suddenly...

 

[mebuff daisy]

Here's a pic of my coop. It has no added heat. Heatlamps are a fire hazard, but they are real good at running up your electric bill. No insulation. None needed, as the chickens already come with perfect insulation of their own. Notice, the front is wide open, at chicken level. And look at where the birds are, right up front, not hiding in a heap, back in the coop. We can get winter temps into the low single digits, and the chickens have no problems at all. Even with the open front, the temp inside is usually 10 higher than the outside, and this coop is not even filled to capacity. It's kinda obvious in the winter, when you don't have enough ventilation. You will see frost forming inside, and the coop will stink of ammonia. If that's the case, you better open up/increase ventilation fast. Or you may end up with frostbit birds, and possible respiratory problems.

Your coop is wonderful,I love it

 

[keakels]

We have the same type of waterer and we have a warmer in there - it is plugged in (we have outlets in the coop.) It works great. In the summer we have a second one outside the coop, but we take it down in winter. I guess the warmer is an aquarium warmer? Anyway, it works great!

 

[RezChamp]

These are really good ideas.  I think I will do both those things.  I will use a 400 watt hair dryer that has a small hose already since we have several of them around and I do not know where to get a "car heater" and I will connect the hair dryer to a thermostatic switch so it comes on when the temp drops below 20.  I can put the hair dryer in the carriage house so it does not get wet. On the lowest heat setting they do not use much more power than a light bulb, but it will push fresh air in which will be a plus.  Maybe I can put the hair dryer in a 5 gallon paint bucket under the coop with a lid on the bucket.  Then the air will not have to travel so far.  I can just run it up through the bottom of the coop.  The noise will also probably keep raccoons and foxes away. 

Losing power is not really an issue.  We lose power frequently, so we have a NG generator that comes on immediately if the power goes out. 

I hope you are talking about temperatures in Centigrade.  We had -50 windchill once, I cannot image -50f ambient temperature.  Hard to believe anything could live in that. 

We had a chicken loose some toes to frostbite one year, so I am not too keen on leaving them with no heat.  Some of her toes turned black and then she pecked them off.  That had to have been from daytime cold becasue we had the coop properly heated with a light designed for that purpose by then.     

A lot of people talk about moisture.  There is no moisture in the air in our winters.  It gets so dry it is hard to breathe, even inside the house.  How can moisture be a problem in the winter? 

We have been attacked by various animals and lost chickens on occasions, but never a chance to defend them with a crossbow.  Other than two hawks and an eagle the first day we had chickens, we never saw their attackers. 

For water we use a floating warmer we got at Tractor Supply Hardware.  It was inexpensive and does not use a noticeable amount of electricity.  (No big jump in our electric bill).  One year we put it in a little kids wading pool because we had a duck too, but the water evaporates very quickly in winter and the warmer thing melted through the bottom of the pool.  Then we put it in an old aluminum laundry tub.  Now we use something smaller becasue we only have four chickens. 

Actually -50 centigrade/Celsius is about 2* warmer than -60*F. I've seen owls and chickadees perish in that kinda cold.
The thermostat idea, yes, been thinking about that because it's a bit of a nuisance constantly running out there to see if it's too hot then unplug the cord or make sure it aint too cold and plug in the cord.
Our air here is also very dry in winter too. But the breath from the chickens and their poop and the water container all contribute to humidity in the coop. So the car heater actually dehumidifies the coop air with warm dry fresh air. Since the vent is at the bottom of the coop all the CO2 and stuff goes out too.
I didn't have very much frost on the old coop this past winter even though I had upwards of 85 chickens,4 guineas and the odd rabbit stay in there. Although It did get a bit on the windows. Although it's not insulated it does have a vapor barrier with plywood interior. Actually did get warmish in there. I don't get ammonia till spring when they start eating greens and bugs, and of course the air is moist, and the grass, and the trees, and the soil,....
My ducks have their own little shelter with the geese. They just need a windbreak and a decent bed of straw. But I have seen geese in snow up to their necks with I'll effects.
The turkeys.....different story. Tough creatures. Kinda stupid I think but tough as an old boot. Before them stray dogs killed all my beautiful Royal Palm them things(turkeys) would roost on the roof of the old coop in the harshest of weather. Didn't seem to bother them either. Right through that -50 week too. Didn't even freeze their feet. ???????!!!!!wow.
And yes, some of our chickens lost the odd toe. But I guess that didn't really matter too much since them dogs killed just about all of them. Didn't eat a darn thing either.
The reason I heat my coop is because I like fresh eggs all winter. The thermostat will be mounted @ about 3 feet(same hieght as the egg boxes)from the floor and set @ 50(+50)*F which is about +10*C.
I'm not too too worried about power outages. Our electrical company is usually on it within the hour. Besides there is always the hot rocks in a 45 gallon drum. Did it before. That's how we would warm our trapping tent in winter. Lasted till the wee hours.......no-one froze to death.

 

[MeepBeep]

The thermostat idea, yes, been thinking about that because it's a bit of a nuisance constantly running out there to see if it's too hot then unplug the cord or make sure it aint too cold and plug in the cord.

If you are just heating water or want the bare minimum heating effect, it's not a full featured item, but hit up a local store for a 'Thermo Cube'...

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-Thermocube-TC3/100210525

 

[BetAnnC]

I don't heat.Got a lage coop.Just tarps to beak the cold wind in NC

 

[BetAnnC]

don't heat.I have 50.I just use tarps to block cold wind in NC.

 

[Heidi T]

I plan on heating my coop. I have the problem of too warm. We are going to have it hooked up to the outside wood boiler. It keeps the house at a balmy 75 all winter even with bad windows. Even with ventilation but no thermostat it will sit at 80 or more. Way too warm! Is their a thermostat that goes from -10 to 0. At that temp I get a few eggs and only a few stink eyes from the Ladies. And yes if the power/boiler goes out I have large dog cages to bring the Ladies inside. Please don't tell Hubby.