Here's a few ideas for fighting cold weather --
Get a BLACK tarp that will cover the roof of your building. The black will absorb the most solar heat possible. You could paint it, but then you have to fight the excess heat come summer.
Wrap the OUTSIDE of your building and run with Heavy plastic to cut the drafts. Make sure to anchor the plastic at the bottom with dirt, bricks, etc. If you use clear plastic, it will still let in the light, and allow solar heating, but cut the drafts.
If you have the space, surround your coop / nusery with bales of straw/hay. At least on the windward side, if you can't do the entire building. This will insulate as well as cut drafts.
When you hang a heat lamp, create a roosting area ABOVE the lamp(s) for the bigger birds. Heat rises, and while the smaller birds will be snuggling Under the Lamp, the bigger ones can share the wealth. I have a nusery cage about 3 feet square (3' x 3' x 3'), with a piece of plywood over the top. Our heat lamp is secured at about half-height. The babies snuggle underneath, and several of the grown hens roost up on the plywood every night.
Just make sure that your Heat Lamp isn't too close to the plywood as to Overheat it, and possibly start smoldering.
You all have seen those heavy strips of plastic that cover doors in some freezer / cold-rooms ? We'll be hanging some on our coop doors this coming weekend. We'll leave it about 12 inches off the ground at first, until the birds get used to it, and then gradually lower it until by mid-January it will be at the ground. (We have a converted metal storage shed, without doors, and need to be able to enclose the heated area, and still have free travel for the birds)
Several people, in previous posts, have stated that as long as the coop was completely draft-free, their birds managed the winter months just fine with no heat (One person in Wyoming, and another in Canada come to mind. sorry, cant remember their names).
While I was researching this problem, and possible solutions, I learned that if you have more than a dozen chickens roosting in the same area, they will keep each other warm in even the most extreme cold.
You would think that living in the South, we wouldn't really have "Winter Issues", but suprisingly, it gets down to Zero, and below here at night, and can stay below Freezing in the daytime for extended periods as well.
Get a BLACK tarp that will cover the roof of your building. The black will absorb the most solar heat possible. You could paint it, but then you have to fight the excess heat come summer.
Wrap the OUTSIDE of your building and run with Heavy plastic to cut the drafts. Make sure to anchor the plastic at the bottom with dirt, bricks, etc. If you use clear plastic, it will still let in the light, and allow solar heating, but cut the drafts.
If you have the space, surround your coop / nusery with bales of straw/hay. At least on the windward side, if you can't do the entire building. This will insulate as well as cut drafts.
When you hang a heat lamp, create a roosting area ABOVE the lamp(s) for the bigger birds. Heat rises, and while the smaller birds will be snuggling Under the Lamp, the bigger ones can share the wealth. I have a nusery cage about 3 feet square (3' x 3' x 3'), with a piece of plywood over the top. Our heat lamp is secured at about half-height. The babies snuggle underneath, and several of the grown hens roost up on the plywood every night.
Just make sure that your Heat Lamp isn't too close to the plywood as to Overheat it, and possibly start smoldering.
You all have seen those heavy strips of plastic that cover doors in some freezer / cold-rooms ? We'll be hanging some on our coop doors this coming weekend. We'll leave it about 12 inches off the ground at first, until the birds get used to it, and then gradually lower it until by mid-January it will be at the ground. (We have a converted metal storage shed, without doors, and need to be able to enclose the heated area, and still have free travel for the birds)
Several people, in previous posts, have stated that as long as the coop was completely draft-free, their birds managed the winter months just fine with no heat (One person in Wyoming, and another in Canada come to mind. sorry, cant remember their names).
While I was researching this problem, and possible solutions, I learned that if you have more than a dozen chickens roosting in the same area, they will keep each other warm in even the most extreme cold.
You would think that living in the South, we wouldn't really have "Winter Issues", but suprisingly, it gets down to Zero, and below here at night, and can stay below Freezing in the daytime for extended periods as well.
