North to Alaska!

[akchickenman]

Does anyone in AK add supplemental light to their coops in the dead of winter (Nov-Jan timeframe)? I dont plan on heating my coop other than the water to stop it from freezing (going to use a submersible aquarium heater for that) but with very minimal daylight and chickens not seeing well in the dark, do you do anything to keep them up and about? Or do you just let them sleep their days away? I have heard that a lot of people close their pop doors and add corn for the chickens to scratch around for and create heat in the coop, but dont know how this would work in the pitch dark. Or have I been misled that chickens cant see in the dark?

 

[Alaskan]

Does anyone in AK add supplemental light to their coops in the dead of winter (Nov-Jan timeframe)? I dont plan on heating my coop other than the water to stop it from freezing (going to use a submersible aquarium heater for that) but with very minimal daylight and chickens not seeing well in the dark, do you do anything to keep them up and about? Or do you just let them sleep their days away? I have heard that a lot of people close their pop doors and add corn for the chickens to scratch around for and create heat in the coop, but dont know how this would work in the pitch dark. Or have I been misled that chickens cant see in the dark?

Chickens are blind in the dark.

Big windows on the south side are great.

Lots of ventilation is great... Anchorage doesn't get too cold.

However, you will want close to 8 square feet of snow free space per chicken. That can be coop + covered and partially walled run.

Once you get close to zero and then below....light is VERY helpful, or the girls do not have enough time to eat enough to stay warm. Food = warmth. When it gets cold, I think you really need 10 hours of daylight for the girls to stay healthy.

If you want eggs, most breeds need at least 14 hours of light.

As for the water staying thawed...most aquarium heaters 1) keep the water warm, and 2) break if run dry.

It would cost way less in terms of electricity to get something like a birdbath heater that only runs just enough to thaw the water (but not warm it), only runs when needed, and doesn't break if you run it dry.

Like this one:

Found in most feed stores.

Good luck!

 

[akchickenman]

Thanks for the advice on the birdbath heater!

My planned coop (https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/sunnychickens-dutch-hen-house-chicken-coop modified to make bigger and more ventilation holes) will have just over 10 sq/ft per bird of covered coop/run.

What do you use for light? Just a regular 40 watt lightbulb or something like that? I worry about coop fires.

 

[Alaskan]

Yes..worry about coop fires! there are several every winter in Alaska.

I use regular lightbulbs.

I have tried using Christmas lights...(the cool ones), but the ones I got weren't quite bright enough.

 

[smcholland]

i didnt add any supplemental lighting to my coop... at first and my first winter I stopped getting eggs, but the next winter (this winter) I had two heat lamps in my coop that were over the roosting poles and nesting boxes and so far and now that its march it probably wont stop but I'm getting eggs still, only about half of what I get in the summer but its nice to still be getting eggs! also I don't heat my water the coop is usually above freezing I never have to worry about it!.

 

[smcholland]

Well im glad i found this thread! ive lived in Alaska my entire life (southeast mostly) and I have helped with many many peoples chickens.
only having my own just recently 2 years ago. anc actually one of my chicken coops is a 20 foot bayliner that I have tied up to my sailboat that I live on.
I have a big pen and coop on shore as well I have 19 ducks, some barred rocks, silver laced wyndottes, easter eggers, jersey black giants, salmon faverolles, road island reds, and 19 ayam cemanis. I am currently looking to get some seramas this spring, been talking to some great people about getting some serama chcikens shipped up here this coming spring! I'm excited, has anyone here had seramas? I know one of the breeders I talk to in Michigan knows a doctor in Alaska that has or had seramas. but no clue where looking forward to hearing from ya!

 

[akchickenman]

Yes..worry about coop fires!

there are several every winter in Alaska.

I use regular lightbulbs.

I have tried using Christmas lights...(the cool ones), but the ones I got weren't quite bright enough.

Any special tricks for preventing fires that you might be able to share?

 

[smcholland]

make sure your chickens cant jump on lights, so they cant sit on them, hang on them or hit them with their wings,
if your using heat lamps that clamp on to something I still tie them up with wire or I screw the base down so they cant move.
I have had one light fall and burn a hole in a plastic water jug I have in my coop, but I was lucky it was full of water so when it melted through
the water killed any fire and the light thank goodness! that was the only time I didn't screw or tie it up and I will definatly not be doing that again hahah

 

[Alaskan]

Any special tricks for preventing fires that you might be able to share?

Don't use a heat lamp. Even when they are fastened up three different ways, the bulb can shatter, the shards are hot, and can cause a fire.

I have used heat lamps for years for chicks...and I have had at least three bulbs shatter. I am now switching over to a flat panel heater for the chicks.
Heat lamps are very risky, and are riskier in the coop since there will always be dust in the coop, as well as flammable bedding, etc.

If you are where is gets truly cold, below -20 for long periods, you might want to heat...but there are safer ways. Better choices are panel heaters, or oil filled enclosed plug in heaters.

But you REALLY need to keep an eye on all of it. Plugs slightly pulled out can also start fires when dust sifts into the crack.

 

[smcholland]

I don't use heat lamps on my chicks they do not need that much heat. I just use a regular incandescent light bulb.
and I never heated my coop until I got ayam cemanis, originally I was told that they do not handle the cold very well, so
I didn't want to take a chance.
and I have only had one heat lamp bulb explode but the glass defiantly burned nothing. if you buy a heat lamp it comes with a guard on the front.
I wrap and tie mesh wire to it so that if that happens glass goes nowhere but in the mesh cage.
ANYTHING plugged in in a coop can cause a fire, if there is a plug anywhere in the coop it can cause a fire no matter what you have plugged in
even if its just a tv to keep them from being bored hahaha
a plug gets moist because of spilled water it sparks and melts down catching hay any anything else on fire? its all about how much care you take and preventative measures.

there really is no wrong or right way although there are many people that will tell you what you are doing is wrong how do they know? do they live in your area or you live in theirs? different things work differently for different people.
I have never seen or heard of a coop burning down in or around the town I live in (except once but that was a garbage fire gone crazy) and I know of at least 20 people in town that use heating lamps on their chickens but mostly they do the same mesh around the guard (its a small town )

If you plug something in make your plugs high or covered so they cant be reached by chickens! there is a lady in town that was having issues with her heater she has being unplugged so she reached in the plug in box and found a pile of eggs haha one of her girls was getting the lid up getting in there laying eggs and leaving all while unplugging her heater, she was originally just reaching in and plugging it back in but the third time she looked in there and saw the eggs, needless to say she has a latch on it now