Hello, glad to be a new member to this forum. From the looks of it, there appears to be a great deal of knowledge here. My wife and I are fairly new to this geographical location, only having lived here now since 2012. What we now know for certain is that it gets ridiculously cold during the winter! Having never raised chickens, we nonetheless decided upon and acquired 15 Orpington Chicks (all hens) to raise as layers. We've kept them inside in a small pen, near a wood stove, and a heat lamp, and are happy and healthy. We gave four of them away, and have 11 left. Four more pullets will be given away in the next couple of weeks, leaving us seven to raise. They are now 7 weeks old and ready to move into a coop, which is of my own design. I am putting the final touches on it now, but I have some concerns about keeping them warm in their coop. I took measures to insulate the nesting box and a couple of walls and floor. Outside temps at night here recently have dropped as low as -30 to -40F. I bought an electric radiant panel heater for inside the coop, and I hope some of you may have some suggestions on how I should install it, and transitioning my pullets from inside into the coop? The coop is made primarily of 1/2" plywood, two feet above ground (4X4 legs) and approximately 4'(W)X6'(L)X4'(H), with a long divided nesting box (x4) extended out from one side. The 4' long nesting box can be removed for entry into and cleaning the coop. I can attach a pic, once I figure out how to. Any suggestions would be appreciated. There's not much info out there on caring for and raising chickens in a sub-arctic climate.
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