New Hampshire!

[Nutmeg101]

I don't have electricity in my coop. I have a roofed run attached and my chickens always sleep outside, (their choice) so I don't worry about them being cold. I decided not to put a light in after reading all the pros and cons, I want them to live as naturally as possible.

Mine have a run- but the roof is hardware cloth. But I'm happy to heat about the light. What do you use for heating the water? I am thinking the aquarium heater sounds perfect (new to chickens. Just started in May) in the "sea coast" area

 

[piglett]

Mine have a run- but the roof is hardware cloth. But I'm happy to heat about the light. What do you use for heating the water? I am thinking the aquarium heater sounds perfect (new to chickens. Just started in May) in the "sea coast" area

an aquarium heater is made to heat water inside your house
it will never keep water from freezing in an unheated building
we use a bucket heater it keep our 5 gallon bucket with poultry nipples from freezing all winter

 

[piglett]

Who is heating/ lighting coop? Trying to figure out what we want to do. My current plan is not to heat/light but just do a heated water dish of some kind. Curious what others in the same climate do!

adult chickens don't need a heat lamp
infact of the power goes out when it's really cold out (below zero)
you may have losses
the reason being they are not used to cold weather

the key is to have a big enough flock so they can help keep each other warm
even on the coldest night i can put my hand between 2 of my birds when they are on roost
i find it is nice & toasty between them
that is why they roost shoulder to shoulder in cold weather.

 

[Nutmeg101]

adult chickens don't need a heat lamp
infact of the power goes out when it's really cold out (below zero)
you may have losses
the reason being they are not used to cold weather

the key is to have a big enough flock so they can help keep each other warm
even on the coldest night i can put my hand between 2 of my birds when they are on roost
i find it is nice & toasty between them
that is why they roost shoulder to shoulder in cold weather.

I'm not heating. And I don't want to light it either. Just something to keep the water liquid. Looking at posts now about the cookie tins.

 

[deacons]

So happy to find this NH thread! I'm in West Chesterfield (southwest corner of the state, just across the river from Brattleboro).

My girls are loving the fall and can't get enough of playing in the leaves:

 

[chickery-do]

I have a thermostatically control outlet that you plug into you outlet you can find at TSC and you can plug you water heater and your heat lamp in it and they will not run should it get 30* cold or 45* warm. We have a heated dog dish that we found at a yard sale and a red heat lamp. You don't have to heat your coop if you have enough birds in it but if there are only a few than they may need some help.
The lamp is inside a cage so they can not touch it and you can find that at walmart. I would rather be safe instead of sorry and find them sick or froze to death! Especially when you have small birds like silkies that do not have feathers like chickens do. They find it harder in the winter because their feathers do not lay flat. Because they are silkie they tend to blow arnd like hair does in the wind. Making them chill easilyl
I also have a light bulb on a timer to replace the light they lose from daylight savings and shorter days. It helps in making eggs

 

[chicken pickin]

I do not heat my coops. I find they do just fine snuggled together. I have also read heat lamps can potentially cause more harm than good.
A) they could start a fire and you could lose all your birds during the night.
B) If the power goes out and the heat lamp is no longer on the drastic temp change could kill your chickens
C) The heat can cause moisture build up in the coop and cause frost bite.

And I don't use light because I like to allow them to go through their natural cycle and have a rest from laying in the winter rather than tricking their bodies into laying year round.

 

[chicken pickin]

So happy to find this NH thread! I'm in West Chesterfield (southwest corner of the state, just across the river from Brattleboro).

My girls are loving the fall and can't get enough of playing in the leaves:

I Love this picture

And WELCOME to BYC

 

[deacons]

I Love this picture

And WELCOME to BYC

Thanks, chicken pickin. I have 4 golden laced wyandottes that I got as day-olds this spring, and they have just started laying- they're pretty photogenic Although I'm finding them to be a little timid compared to some of the other breeds I have.

I'm so glad I found BYC and this thread. So much to read about.

 

[drakeschicks]

Mine have a run- but the roof is hardware cloth. But I'm happy to heat about the light. What do you use for heating the water? I am thinking the aquarium heater sounds perfect (new to chickens. Just started in May) in the "sea coast" area

I was just going to change out the water bucket a couple times during the day when its really cold. If that doesn't work out maybe a heated dog bowl, I could run an electric cord out to the run.