oil heater ?

[tennilleromaniuk]

anyone know if an oil heater would work for warming the coop in the winter?
if not, a flat panel heater?

 

[cavemanrich]

Why do you think you need a heater? What is your location? Not your address, just general town, state, province, country.
WISHING YOU BEST...... and

 

[tennilleromaniuk]

I live in Alberta, Canada, in the winter I believe I will forsure need one .

 

[cavemanrich]

First you should check with other chicken peeps and see how they conduct their coops. Yes you are in a freezing cold zone in winter. Your coop needs good ventilation regardless of heat or no heat. That being said, much of the heat will just escape. It is a tricky condition when heating a coop. Heat will make your chickens dependent on that warmth. It will also make them less cold weather hardy as a result of heat. If you loose your ability to provide it continuously, you answer that end yourself.
If you were able to provide minimal electric heat during extreme cold. I think that would be better option. JMO.
Check into cold weather hardy breeds. There are some hardy breeds.
Let me know how other chicken keepers handle/deal with the cold near you.
WISHING YOU BEST.....

 

[jthornton]

Add your location to your profile so it's always there.

If you live in the southern part that is similar to Maine and a Woods coop will be fine without any heat.

JT

 

[aart]

I live in Alberta, Canada, in the winter I believe I will forsure need one .

@Alaskan can help out.....and maybe @BantyChooks too.
The live where it's really cold.

 

[Alaskan]

anyone know if an oil heater would work for warming the coop in the winter?
if not, a flat panel heater?

where the outside temperatures stay way below -20 F for prolonged periods (not just a short dip) some heat might be nice.

I have heard of coops where they pipe the warm air from their garage into the coop... or put the coop right up against the house. One of those flat panel heaters I think is the safest way to go, one that is rated for outside cold weather use.

However, the most important thing is to make sure that they have about 10 hours of light so they can eat for 10 hours (so a light on a timer is great), and never let their feed run out!!!

I don't go below -20F... So I don't heat.

 

[Alaskan]

do remember that if you go with a heater... an oil filled one or a flat panel... you HAVE TO do more coop cleaning. At least once a week clean off all of the dust since that is a huge fire hazzard.

 

[Little Jerry Seinfeld]

I don't heat my chicken houses as it only gets to 15 here, however I often use oil radiators to heat parts of my house, and I can tell you a HUGE drawback is that they really spike the electric bill skyhigh. They use a lot of electricity.
Also if you insulate with different things that can really help retain heat too, in the winter I cover a certain area on 3 sudes, where they sleep, with that tin-bubble wrap stuff made for water heaters.( It's the same stuff people make houses for feral cats with.)

 

[cridjynx]

A well built coop with climate appropriate birds should not require heat. We have Ameraucanas and Wyandottes. No heat in our coop. See the attached photo for average temps of where we live vs. Calgary.