Looking for suggestions for Solar Powered Heat Lamps

[B2daBlizzo]

I bought a solar starter kit on Amazon. Connected a battery and inverter. In the corner of the coop I have a stack of bricks with a car battery heat pad that is used in cold climates to warm car batteries and oil pans. Pad is connected to thermostatic controller so it only comes on when temp approaches freezing. The pad is sandwiched between the bricks and they put out of a long lasting radiant warmth. I put my water fount on the stack of bricks to keep the water from freezing. Initial set up might cost you $200 but it's a nice way to keep the coop warm and water from freezing.

 

[LaraG]

I was interested in heat for the broiler chicks I will be bringing home this spring. Don't want them in the house again this year! ( my baby laying hens can be though!) Lol wanted a safe economic way to keep them warm in the shed that they would eventually end up in anyway. No moving them from place to place this year. Solar options for that?

 

[cmurphy78612]

I am looking for solar powered heat lamps for my chickens as well. Did you ever find any? or have any suggestions?

 

[MeepBeep]

The blunt reality is that it's not feasible or economical to use solar to make electricity to make heat for coop,you simply can't make enough electricity to accomplish much unless you spend thousands of dollars and have a huge array of panels...

There are some passive solar heat collectors that can work decent during the daylight hours, but they obviously have the same drawback as all solar in that there is only a few hours of 'good' solar light each day in most areas of the world, meaning they only work for a few hours each day...

 

[rottlady]

stumbled across this thread and have not yet read all the replies but wonder in the meantime- to save me time did anyone come up with a way to solar heat a small coop to save the combs on birds like Cream legbars in sub zero NH winters?

 

[aart]

stumbled across this thread and have not yet read all the replies but wonder in the meantime- to save me time did anyone come up with a way to solar heat a small coop to save the combs on birds like Cream legbars in sub zero NH winters?

Just read the post above yours...

......and heating a coop is not necessarily a good thing for many reasons,
mostly the balance between 'holding heat' and adequate ventilation to expel moisture and ammonia.

 

[rottlady]

yes but almost everyone I know who raises legbars here says heating the coop is needed to save the combs otherwise these huge combs frostbite and fall off. my friend uses a plug in infared barn heater that bolts to wall or hangs from ceiling just to keep the coop above freezing. she is actually placing her legbars this fall because she no longer wants to heat a coop

 

[aart]

yes but almost everyone I know who raises legbars here says heating the coop is needed to save the combs otherwise these huge combs frostbite and fall off. my friend uses a plug in infared barn heater that bolts to wall or hangs from ceiling just to keep the coop above freezing. she is actually placing her legbars this fall because she no longer wants to heat a coop

Yeah, my wellie lost his tips......doesn't really matter as I don't show.

 

[rottlady]

frost bite loss of a comb is painful, can cause an infection and makes them ugly so I would like to avoid that but have no power to the bird enclosure. In fact as of this weekend we won't have power anything

 

[junebuggena]

Ventilation is more important and better for frostbite prevention than heat is. If your coop has enough ventilation, frostbite generally will not occur, even in very cold temperatures. And if you have enough ventilation in your coop, any heat source won't be very effective due to the air exchange. That warmth will be dispersed before the chickens can derive any benefit from it. If your coop is closed up to the point of actually holding in heat from a supplemental heat source, you don't have enough ventilation.