I've made it two winters now with no frostbite. And believe me - it's cold here. I do, however, run heat 24/7 but only to keep the coop around 15F. It's been as cold as -5 inside. Yep - we're ALL pretty happy when spring rolls around.
Speckled is right: moisture + heat is going to get you every time. It seems so illogical to cut holes in the side of your coop for ventilation when you're working so hard to keep it WARM. But it works. And if you live where it gets only moderately cold, or only for a short period of time, then I don't think that heat is necessary at all. Even with a small flock.
I owe everything to Patandchickens. When I was a young padwan learner, she stressed over and over again that we were going to have to open the coop up. It just seemed so backwards to cut holes - BIG HOLES - in the coop when I was paying $ for electricity to heat it up. I thought my DH was going to KILL me. But he buckled and we sawed into his beautiful coop. And she was right - voila - adequate ventilation, no smell and no frostbite. Worked like a dream.
Speckled is right: moisture + heat is going to get you every time. It seems so illogical to cut holes in the side of your coop for ventilation when you're working so hard to keep it WARM. But it works. And if you live where it gets only moderately cold, or only for a short period of time, then I don't think that heat is necessary at all. Even with a small flock.
I owe everything to Patandchickens. When I was a young padwan learner, she stressed over and over again that we were going to have to open the coop up. It just seemed so backwards to cut holes - BIG HOLES - in the coop when I was paying $ for electricity to heat it up. I thought my DH was going to KILL me. But he buckled and we sawed into his beautiful coop. And she was right - voila - adequate ventilation, no smell and no frostbite. Worked like a dream.
