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I live in northern Indiana and I was wonderin if a heat tape for water pipes would keep my coop warm enough for my chickens.
First,
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I live in East Central Illinois, so your average wintertime temperatures are only about 5 degrees colder than us. Heat tape will keep your pipes from freezing, but won't affect the heat that you do not need in your coop. I don't know how your coop is constructed, but if it is wood, and
if you have sufficient ventilation you will prevent the accumulation of humidity, which is the cause of frozen combs, frozen feet, and bad health for your chickens, you won't have a problem. Although I cheated last winter, and put my seven RIR hens inside a horse stall in my barn, I am building their coop right now. Here they are, in my wooden barn, without any windows, in a 12 x 16 stall, but with plenty of ventilation.
(My gelding next door let me know that he didn't like 'em there.
) My birds were dry and happy on bedding which rested on top of rubber stall mats on a cement floor. I put their water in a small, deep rubber feeding bowl. When the water froze, it was easy to break out the ice and refill. I also had a lamp on for them during the day, as you can see in the above picture. Believe me, I keep the doors open in my barn during the winter, and last winter I had two horses in the barn contributing to the humidity. All barn residents were dry, happy and healthy.
For my new chicken coop I am tearing about an old wooden playhouse, 7 ft x 8 ft, replacing any rotten wood, and rebuilding it. I love the design because there is a lot of open window space. Some dingbat moved this building from somewhere else decades ago and placed it on a cement slab, where the rain could do a number on it's base.
You need to read this article about open-front chicken houses and ventilation.
http://www.nortoncreekpress.com/fresh-air-poultry-houses2.html
