NO Heat!

[Alaskan]

Thanks so much for the picture link! And I greatly appreciate you taking the time to walk me through all of the points about it.

That is awesome!

If I build another coop, I will definitely use that design!

And don't sell yourself short.....you are a fantastic builder if you can make stuff tight. I have yet to live in a tight house, though the one I am in right now isn't really bad, it isn't completely tight either.

 

[Bullitt]

Chickens have been raised on this continent for over a hundred years without heat.

You are right. Chickens have been kept in North America without heat for more than 400 years.

 

[Bullitt]

I was curious so I started doing some searching.

Christopher Columbus brought chickens to the Caribbean on his second voyage in September 1493. I think he arrived in 1494. So we can say chickens have been in North America for more than 500 years. There were already chickens in South America from trade with Polynesians who brought chickens in canoes. So Polynesians landed before Columbua. Also, the Viking Leif Ericson and his crew landed in what is now Newfoundland, Canada in about the year 1000, which is almost 500 years before Columbus. They built a camp and spent a winter there. Vikings from Iceland and Scandinavia lived in Greenland (not part of North America but considered part of the "New World") for about 450 years before a mini ice age starved them out in the mid-1400s. Vikings kept chickens and geese, but I do not think that any of them were left behind. So because the Vikings left before Columbus arrived, Columbus gets the credit. Columbus never set foot on the mainland of North America, and starting with his first voyage he took Native Americans as slaves back to Spain. Columbus did not do anything to celebrate. He wasn't even the first European in North America. It is clear we should not celebrate Columbus Day.

The colonists of Jamestown, Virginia brought chickens in 1607.

And the pilgrims in Massachusetts landed in 1620 with chickens. "They probably brought goats, pigs and chickens on Mayflower in 1620. Cows and sheep came a few years later."

Chickens always seem to be the first livestock to arrive.

If you look around the world, once animals like goats and pigs are released, they go wild and are very difficult to eradicate. Chickens go wild also, but I do not think they are as difficult to eradicate.

Here is a picture of a Viking house on Greenland.

 

[chynasparks]

Great history lesson and so true however, we have the means to provide added comforts for our farm animals. Heating, insulation are here for us to use if we can afford to do so. Here in texas near Houston heating is not an issue. People in Fargo, they might want to heat and insulate. Key words being, can, want. If I had the money I'd haves coop with an area of running water in a separated area inside the coop, a ceiling fan to help out in hot weather. Those items would make me feel better about my peeps. But I don't have any of that and yet my peeps live.

 

[jalen911]

Thank you for this post. As a newbie to chickens and living in Minnesnowta, where it gets bitter, I have stressed about the cold to the point where it has kept me up some nights. I don't want the chickens to freeze, but it sounds like I'm overly worried.

 

[Nicole01]

I heat my coop. Not for my chickens, but for me.. I use a radiator heater on the lowest setting and it keeps my coop between 55-60F. If the heater breaks, my husband will buy a new one.

I sit with my chickens durning the day. I'm disabled with a neck injury and my chickens are my therapy. I bring a chair in the coop and will sit with them as long as I can comfortably hold my neck pretty much everyday. The other benefits are the water never freezes and I'm comfortable cleaning the coop. We cover the run with plastic, so they have plenty space all winter.

 

[Bullitt]

If I had the money I'd haves coop with an area of running water in a separated area inside the coop, a ceiling fan to help out in hot weather. Those items would make me feel better about my peeps. But I don't have any of that and yet my peeps live.

Would you buy them a marble fountain?

A fountain, an electric fan, and the electricity to run them would be expensive. You really want to pamper your chickens.

jalen911and Nicole01, I am glad I do not have to spend winters in Minnesota.