Keeping the coop warm in the winter, HOW?

[mlowen]

I have a question I REALLY NEED answering!
Okay, I have one of those hanging bucket waterers with the poultry water sippers in the bottom. Last year I didn't have chickens (luckily) and we had a horrible winter here in Pennsylvania. But now that I do I am freaking out on how I'm gonna keep their water bucket from feezing to the point where they can't drink! Any tips?

I live in Maine. Last winter it got down to -15 in the coop. I did not have any heat nor heated waterers. Lots of ventilation (see "my coop" for what it looks like) and I had one Leghorn get frostbite on one point of her comb. Every morning I brought them warm water in a gallon tea jug in a black rubber Tractor Supply Company bowl. The water stayed liquid enough that they were able to hydrate and be healthy all winter. I also give them fermented feed--that adds to their water intake.
There are lots of really clever methods for keeping waterers from freezing in the winter. Check out the DIY thread and one called something like "my cheap, heated chicken waterer."

 

[mlowen]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/631861/diy-thread-lets-see-your-inventions/1040#post_12038164

The waterer I used. Post 1045, if this link doesn't go right to it.

 

[Kassafrass]

This is our setup. It was converted from a playhouse. We have plexiglas to cover the screened windows. But where should we add ventilation for winter? And we are in NW Indiana (HORRIBLE winter last year), so do i need to do anything else to this to insulate it since we won't be heating it? Thanks!

 

[BooeyBird]

Last year we put pine bedding and a heat lamp in with our chickens, but at the time we were just starting off and only had 3. The coop was very small but well ventilated and still one chicken lost all her toes from frostbite, and one died. They did fine in the cold weather up until it started snowing, and that was the only problem so we just started building a bigger coop that will have better insulation and a run with a roof on it so they can run around without there feet in the snow. We have 6 chickens now, 1 Silkie rooster, 1 EE pullet, 1 Polish hen, 1 Speckled Sussex pullet, 1 mille fleur d'uccle pullet, and one cochin bantam pullet. The coop is going to be about 5' by 4' and about 5 feet tall. Will this be big enough since most of them are bantams? There will also be 5 nesting boxes. This is the floor of the coop:

 

[Mrs. K]

Think dry not warm to prevent frostbite.

Lower your roosts so that there is considerable space above their heads...... and so that they are not close to the wall. Dry air, a space for their breath and poop moisture to escape will prevent frostbite. Good moisture absorbing material on the floor, these will keep your birds more comfortable and healthier. More important than insulation, or heat lamp.

 

[speckledhen]

Think dry not warm to prevent frostbite.

Lower your roosts so that there is considerable space above their heads...... and so that they are not close to the wall. Dry air, a space for their breath and poop moisture to escape will prevent frostbite. Good moisture absorbing material on the floor, these will keep your birds more comfortable and healthier. More important than insulation, or heat lamp.

She's 100% correct. Dry is paramount.

We are in the mountains at about 2000 ft elevation. Last winter we were often hovering close to zero. My aging Delaware rooster is in a well insulated, but also well ventilated and dry coop, but he's been battling severe arthritis in one hock joint. He often has trouble getting up onto the roost. One night, unbeknownst to us, he was sleeping on the floor and the coop is a bit off the ground so air rushes underneath it. He got frostbite in his feet, but NOT his comb, not at all. He ended up losing two toe ends and a couple of toenails. He's fine now, but I dread this winter and his even more advanced age.

I say this to note that birds with old age issues such as arthritic joints will be more prone to frostbite because of the compromised circulation so you may have to think about being sure they have very deep bedding and pay close attention to keeping it super dry. I have one of those black night heat reptile bulbs over Isaac's roost spot just for him, one that does not heat the space, but only spots some extra warmth on him due to his issues. Not one other bird in that side, nor the 12' addition to that coop, had frostbite.

 

[jtn42248]

She's 100% correct. Dry is paramount.

We are in the mountains at about 2000 ft elevation. Last winter we were often hovering close to zero. My aging Delaware rooster is in a well insulated, but also well ventilated and dry coop, but he's been battling severe arthritis in one hock joint. He often has trouble getting up onto the roost. One night, unbeknownst to us, he was sleeping on the floor and the coop is a bit off the ground so air rushes underneath it. He got frostbite in his feet, but NOT his comb, not at all. He ended up losing two toe ends and a couple of toenails. He's fine now, but I dread this winter and his even more advanced age.

I say this to note that birds with old age issues such as arthritic joints will be more prone to frostbite because of the compromised circulation so you may have to think about being sure they have very deep bedding and pay close attention to keeping it super dry. I have one of those black night heat reptile bulbs over Isaac's roost spot just for him, one that does not heat the space, but only spots some extra warmth on him due to his issues. Not one other bird in that side, nor the 12' addition to that coop, had frostbite.

Is the coop high enough off the ground that you might be able to put insulation under the flooring? That might help a little. I have a rooster that was severely attacked by another rooster who has a bad limp now and has trouble getting up and down on the roosts. We have a concrete floor in our coop so for him, and all the others, it is as much bedding as we can safely put in and funny how the hens make little nests in the bedding to sleep rather than getting up on the roosts.

 

[speckledhen]

Is the coop high enough off the ground that you might be able to put insulation under the flooring? That might help a little. I have a rooster that was severely attacked by another rooster who has a bad limp now and has trouble getting up and down on the roosts. We have a concrete floor in our coop so for him, and all the others, it is as much bedding as we can safely put in and funny how the hens make little nests in the bedding to sleep rather than getting up on the roosts.

I have thought about that, and thank you for the suggestion. The coop is higher off the back end and fairly close to the ground at the front due to our slope. Not sure what type of insulation we could put that they wouldn't eat-anything like foam or fiberglass would have to be covered as well because they go underneath. Have also thought about those big rubber horse mats for stalls to put under the shavings for shock absorption as well as added warmth, but not sure I can afford it. Will look into it, though. His side of the coop is 8x8.

 

[bruceha2000]

am new to this so am not too sure what to do, i live in UK and it can get cold here at night, would a heat lamp help? i have a normal chicken coop fits about 10 hens i got 10 in there. i am going to be changing this coop and getting a 6x4 shed so i can walk in and have easy access to the coop.

what would be the best way to keep them warm.


This is my coop.

- That coop isn't big enough for 10 full grown chickens. It MIGHT be big enough for 4 and only if they can be outside all day long. Sadly, too many coops are sold as "4-6" when in reality they are barely big enough for half that many,
- You do not need to heat the coop it doesn't even get cold in the UK

. I don't heat mine, it is 10x12x7 high (converted horse stall in an ancient barn). 10 chickens. The temp outside the coop is the same as the temp outside the barn. It gets to -20F here. The enclosing barn keeps the wind down and is their "indoor run".
- Cold hearty breeds are not a bad idea BUT: I have a Partridge Chantecler - specifically a cold hearty breed. I also have 2 Anconas (Mediterranean, so not bred specifically to be cold tolerant) and 2 Cubalayas, NOT AT ALL a "cold hearty" breed. They ALL DO FINE in the winter. The Cubalayas are about 2/3 the size of the other breeds and in the winter look to be the size of the other breeds in the summer. They fluff, fill the area under their long feathers with air and stay warm. I had to have a 250W heat lamp over their 1 gallon waterer in another stall last winter (long other story) and NOT ONE CHICKEN went near it except to drink. Not even the one that moulted the first week of Feb when it was sub zero F.

You will most likely kill your chickens if you put 10 in that coop and add a heat lamp.

Maybe if you put like an aquarium warmer or bird bath warmer in your bucket.

Could work. I have a stock tank heater AND an aquarium heater in my 5 gallon water source that leads to a saddle nipple pipe built (and insulated) into the bottom of the nest box in the coop. There is a VERY small pump that circulates the water continuously. The stock tank heater works down to a certain temp, then the 40ish(??) degrees F it keeps the water isn't enough to keep the nipples from freezing. I then switch to the aquarium heater.

I don't know what I did to this post, but anyway, I was actually thinking about using a 55 gallon barrel, maybe cut in half and hung by sturdy chains, put 10-20 gallons of water in it at a time and put one of the floating, caged, horse trough water heaters in it, it would float down with the water level and they keep the water 2-3 degrees above freezing, so chances are that the nipples would stay warm enough to not freeze. The way the cages on those water heaters work, they can't bump into the sides or bottom of the container they are in, they're for plastic stock tanks, they also handle being dried out fairly well, so if for some reason you ran out of water or ran low enough the heater was in the air above the water, it wouldn't cause any real damage to it, they hiss a little when first pulled out of the water, but soon stop making noise.

The 2-3 degrees above freezing IN the bucket MAY not be enough to keep the nipples from freezing. There may not be enough heat transfer down the nipples. The one I have has a removable float ring. I took it off and the heater sits on the bottom of the 5 gallon drink cooler. If it doesn't work in a suspended bucket waterer, a SUBMERSIBLE aquarium heater may work better since you can set the temp higher. DO NOT let the water go below the aquarium heater!!

I have chickens and have had them 6 years now. I do not cover mine or use heat lamps in winter as they need ventilation and there feathers will keep them warm as they roost together. Plenty of hay should be enough.
Take care in covering too as red mites like the heat....hence why there can be outbreaks in summer months

Your much better to leave the coop as it was when it came to you, if your overly worried about winter months a small amount of warm porridge oats mixed with layer pellets and warm water will give them a warm start to the day
Or you can give a small amount of chicken mash with warm water.

Happy Chicken keeping. Don't forget to worm every 3 months or so xxxx

+1, except for the "worm every 3 months". Do they have worms? If not, you should not be worming them.

 

[speckledhen]

I will only worm no more than every 6 months and I only started that this year. Before that, it was once a year, BUT mine free range a great deal. Penned birds need more worming than free range birds.