Oil-filled radiator for the coop?

[jen1]

I just bought an oil filled radiator for the guinea hen coop. The coop is off the ground by about 8-10 inches but shares one part of a wall with a barn the houses a horse and 6 donkeys (coop is roughly 5x6 with a metal, pitched roof). That part of the wall is about 3ft. x 4 ft. and is just hardware cloth (we have 2 windows in the coop but they are plexi-glassed in right now). The barn doors stay open all winter (well, we close 1 to cut down on wind and snow during cold snaps and storms) so I am concerned about the radiator running all night. Does that hurt the heater if it is on constantly? I like the brick paver idea and will build a cage to cover the heater this weekend. I have a light but am not comfortable using it so will not.

 

[lyssafulmerz]

Oil radiator sounds good, but I don't think my coop is big enough to put it in and not worry about it being too close to the walls, but that 250w red bulb is making me dig in my pockets to pay electric bill,(went up $50) in the month that I have been using it!

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Coops don't need to be heated. It's simply a waste of energy if the birds are well fed and dry

 

[Peplers chicks]

I agree on this one, chickens survived all the years without intervene of mankind, the only chicks that need heating is Ross(braai chicks) cause they do not have a change to build up a immune system, since they grows high speed.
If the coop is well closed like I read here, the body heat of the chickens will ensure enough heat

 

[GingerTreacle]

I'm going to try an oil filled radiator with pavers on top tonight, thank you. Perhaps in S Africa and N Carolina you don't get just how bad the old can be? We have cold warnings tonight and all four of my cold hardy Plimoth Rocks have already got frost bite on their combs. I use Vaseline on them and ride different styles hats and balaclavas but my girls are just not into clothing and went a bit bonkers until they got them off! My coop is well ventilated and deep littered. What more can I do? Because of the large amount of dust from the "dust free" wood shavings (!) I think a radiator would be safest, if off the floor. Thank you for this discussion I have been feeling so bad for my girls as they are still laying 3-4 eggs a day.

 

[JackE]

I'm going to try an oil filled radiator with pavers on top tonight, thank you. Perhaps in S Africa and N Carolina you don't get just how bad the old can be? We have cold warnings tonight and all four of my cold hardy Plimoth Rocks have already got frost bite on their combs. I use Vaseline on them and ride different styles hats and balaclavas but my girls are just not into clothing and went a bit bonkers until they got them off! My coop is well ventilated and deep littered. What more can I do? Because of the large amount of dust from the "dust free" wood shavings (!) I think a radiator would be safest, if off the floor. Thank you for this discussion I have been feeling so bad for my girls as they are still laying 3-4 eggs a day.

Where you at, and how cold is cold there? I get temps into the low single digits here. I have some (4) BRs, with some fairly large combs. The same birds you have. They are kept in an open-air coop, and none of them, in 3 winters, have suffered any frostbite at all. I don't put anything on their combs. How many chickens do you have, in how big a coop, with how much ventilation? Could be, (not saying it is), too many birds in too small a space, with too little ventilation, or some kind of combination of the three.

 

[pdirt]

I'm going to try an oil filled radiator with pavers on top tonight, thank you. Perhaps in S Africa and N Carolina you don't get just how bad the old can be? We have cold warnings tonight and all four of my cold hardy Plimoth Rocks have already got frost bite on their combs. I use Vaseline on them and ride different styles hats and balaclavas but my girls are just not into clothing and went a bit bonkers until they got them off! My coop is well ventilated and deep littered. What more can I do? Because of the large amount of dust from the "dust free" wood shavings (!) I think a radiator would be safest, if off the floor. Thank you for this discussion I have been feeling so bad for my girls as they are still laying 3-4 eggs a day.

There are folks up in the cold of Alaska that don't turn on any heat for their chickens until it hits -20F. Someone posted a study recently that suggested the coldest a chicken could survive was -47F.

Chickens have down coats. They don't need extra heat unless it gets at least -20F. Some folks don't even heat when it is that cold.

Adding a heat source can increase humidity, which can increase the chance of frostbite. Increased humidity can also tamper with the effectiveness of their down insulation. It seems counter-intuitive, because we humans would die in such temps, but these chickens are well suited for it.

This assumes you have enough ventilation and cold-hardy birds. Most large fowl (common chicken breeds) are very cold tolerant.

 

[azygous]

I use the type of electric heaters this thread talks about. The main reason I use them in my coops is to keep it just barely above freezing. Why? For me. So the poop doesn't freeze to the poop boards, making cleanup in the morning longer and harder.

I only turn them on when I expect temps down toward single digits, and then only on the lowest setting.

The humidity where I live is almost non-existent. I might rethink things if I had to deal with much higher humidity.

 

[julie42a]

I just put an oil filled radiator in my coop yesterday because the temps dropped to -10 after being in the 40's for a week. I'd been using a 250W red bulb on cold nights, but it didn't add much heat and the light seemed to make them cranky. Right now I'm happy with it, but it does get dusty so that worries me a little bit.

 

[RonP]

I have over 17 square feet (2448 square inches) of draft free ventilation for 11 birds in my coop.

Humidity is the same inside and out.

Temps do drop below 0 at times.

No signs of frostbite ever.

I heat only my waterer, and my nest boxes, when temperatures dictate it necessary.