Lighting/heat

[lisamg11]

My coop is 4×8 4ft height. I want to add a red heat light this winter but am concerned about safety. Would adding the bulb at the ceiling be far enough away from bedding to provide adequate heat but prevent fire?

 

[Blooie]

It's up to you, of course, and you don't give any indication where you are located, but even here in Northern Wyoming I don't use any supplemental heat. They simply don't need it....not even here where we experience extended periods of sub-zero temps, 60mph+ winds, and snow. They have the kind of down and feather coat we pay a small fortune for, and they know how to use it! As long as your coop has lots of ventilation for moist air to get out, and they are dry, they'll be absolutely fine. I leave a couple of windows in their coop open all winter....the windows I have are on all sides except the north, and I close the one where the weather is blowing from. I have operable high vents that are also left open. It's all about ventilation more than heat. Warm, moist air rises. If it rises and hits the cold air above them it condenses and drops down onto the chickens, a sure recipe for frost bite. I also have roosts that are 2x4s with the 4 inch flat side up so they can sit on their feet and protect them.

Too many coop fires are caused every year by heat lamps for me to even want to think about it. I did use one the first time I put my chicks outside, April 1st of last year, but they ignored it for two days so it came out. And our last snowfall wasn't until June 6th that year, so that should tell you something about how adaptable they are to cold. Your coop is small enough that they should be quite comfortable with the body heat they put off, and at 4 feet high there I don't see a way for a heat lamp to be used safely. Dust and dander will accumulate on it, and at that height it would be very easy for them to fly into it.

 

[lisamg11]

Thank you for your reply! First time chicken owner! I live in midwest ohio. It gets below zero here with occasional high winds but probably nothing like you see. I built the coop inside the garage with an access to the run through the wall. The lighting will be poor. Do you think a low watt bulb would create any problems?

 

[lisamg11]

I have 8 chickens! All different breeds but all listed as cold hearty or cold tolerant! I am an animal lover! I just want then to be safe and comfortable!

 

[Blooie]

If they have some light in the daytime, they'll be fine. Is there a window for natural light during the day? Winter time close quarters are tough enough on them - confined too much and they get a little stir crazy with feather pecking, bullying, even egg eating. And the nights are long. So if they have light and some boredom busters during the day, that's all you need. They don't need to see anything at night.....at night they roost and simply sleep, regardless of how many hours long the night might be. That's why most of us who need to check a bird wait until it's dark. We can pick them right up off the roost and they barely stir. They don't eat, they don't drink - all they do is sleep and poop. So no light necessary at night.

We all want the same thing - we want our birds to be comfortable and safe. Lots of folks in the beginning equate them being 'warm' with what we consider comfortable. So using that thought process and to give you a better picture, imagine that you have on lightweight but warm feather and down coat and you're out in the cold. You're pretty comfortable, right? Now, leaving that coat on, go inside a heated room with several other people. Leave the coat on for hours. You're not going to be very comfortable even after just a few minutes. It's the same way for chickens. As long as they have that coat on, even though it's cold, they are perfectly comfortable. But if you put them into close quarters with the body heat from coop-mates plus supplemental heat, plus humidity from their breathing and pooping, how long do you thing they'll be comfortable? In a coop where the height is 4 feet, and knowing heat rises, there is no place for them to get out of the heat and cool off. Overheating kills far more chickens than cold air.

I hope that helps.

 

[lisamg11]

Thank you! It does help a lot. I never thought of it that way! I appreciate your help!