Preparing Your Flock & Coop for WINTER

[CanaDawn]

sad.....thank you for the info....i wont be using a heat source...

I think the takeaway message was "don't use bulbs that release toxic fumes when they get hot" vs "don't use a heat source"

 

[Mrs. K]

To CanaDawn

I do not mean to attack anyone or smear them. This is forum in which many people give advice, and different points of view. If I have offended someone, that was not my intent, and I apologize.

We are all free to take any advice or no advice from here.

Years ago, I did worry about keeping them warm, now with years of experience and advice from others, I have learned to keep them dry.

Mrs K

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

.

 

[Mrs. K]

Last year, I used a large black rubber bucket with the horizontal nipples, on a sunshinny day, this would keep the water open in daytime temperatures of 10+ above 0, F.

When I closed the run up at night, I would dump the water out, and in the morning add warm water. On a cloudy day, though it would begin to freeze up or below 10. At those temperatures I go to black rubber bowls.

I carry water in a milk jug in the morning, as it is easy to carry and does not spill on you which can be miserable in cold weather.

Mrs K

 

[CanaDawn]

,

 

[CanaDawn]

To CanaDawn

I do not mean to attack anyone or smear them. This is forum in which many people give advice, and different points of view. If I have offended someone, that was not my intent, and I apologize.

We are all free to take any advice or no advice from here.

Years ago, I did worry about keeping them warm, now with years of experience and advice from others, I have learned to keep them dry.

Mrs K

no, no, you didn't offend me. I just keep reading "heating is bad" as if that statement is true in all situations, and just as a fact in itself, and as you said it just simply isn't black and white.
Dry certainly makes warm enough easier to accomplish - they still have to be able to stay warm enough though, via feed and housing options meeting their metabolic requirements. Same for mammals - some people get right worked up about horses with snow on their backs, but as long as the horse is dry, and doesn't have other reasons to need help staying warm, they are fine down to very cold temperatures. Dry isn't enough in every situation, though. That's where a bit of finessing and a little less dogmatic approach can work wonders, as well as some research into the various factors involved.

That's why all the advice can be helpful (AND why it can be confusing) - different situations have required different solutions, and we can glean new ideas from what others have tried. No matter what the subject, there's always more that can be learned, as long as one maintains an open yet thoughtful approach to what will and won't improve things!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Now I've seen a lot of cute coops on this site that I wouldn't want to have in the winter, I would just move my coop or birds into the garage.

 

[CanaDawn]

The chicken will move in or out of heat at all sorts of times, like into or out of shade or sunlight, etc. That's not harmful to their health at all. A bird that wouldn't move to regulate her heat would be in big big trouble.
Why would a hen not have a heat lamp at night, should one chose to use a heat lamp? I don't understand that.
I agree that it's stressful to consider what might happen in a power outage situation, but I think my water pipes in my house would suffer before my "non-acclimated" birds.
I get an impression you think "heated" coops must be quite warm, which is not necessarily the case. A coop can be heated and be just above or below freezing, or colder. I haven't measured mine, but water freezes quickly even under the lamp, and I don't heat at or above about -10C at all. My coop IS heated.....I wouldn't want to sit and read in it in shorts, though.

why heat? Well, for me, for instance, I have small birds and not enough of them to generate enough body heat to heat the space, and I live where it gets very very cold for long periods of time. If any of those things were different, I probably wouldn't heat at all, because there would be no need. I don't want to confine them to only the space they could heat, don't want to get more, and am not planning to move, so I provide them with heat so that they can stay alive and comfortable and not require more calories of food intake than is possible for them to consume. I have absolutely NO guilt about going into my house and leaving properly housed livestock outside.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/winter-coop-temperatures
That article does a great job of discussing the hows and whys and whens.

The equation has to be that if your birds can eat enough to produce enough heat and keep themselves at a healthy weight, they don't require additional supplemental heat. If the housing can be changed to meet that requirement, supplemental heat won't be necessary...BUT if they will not be able to metabolically stay warm enough to be comfortable/healthy/alive, then not heating is poor management of their needs.

No, you can't always control things, but if that is a reason to never do something, many MANY things are impossible. I still think providing a blanket statement that "heating is bad" ignores that a LOT of those factors I listed are, in fact, VERY controllable, and shouldn't disuade someone from providing heat if and only if it is necessary for the health of their livestock. (You heat your own home, which carries the same sorts of risk of fire as a properly heated outbuilding...because the risk is deemed controllable and the preference to be able to live with fewer clothes considered higher priority....you do not NEED to be "room temperature" for your health....)

In general, I agree with what I think you're saying, in that people are quick to heat. That includes their own homes (people acclimate to cooler temperatures as well) and their desire to be able to wear shorts in the dead of winter in -30C weather. In general, the equation is met via feed and birds/square foot. But it's a shame to frighten people into believing that "heating is bad" when explaining the factors in deciding how to approach winter weather would make them more able to respond appropriately to all sorts of situations....(if it's not very cold, but it rains a lot, your birds will probably need more food and different run setup than if it's a bit colder, but dry, if you see what I mean re adaptability through education)

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Okay

 

[CanaDawn]

I suspect your blanket assertions are the common denominator then. Alfalfa can certainly be fed to goats, as long as they are not switched suddenly on to it, so I'm really not sure why you stated emphatically that it was the fastest way to kill them...?

support for feeding it: http://alfalfa.ucdavis.edu/IrrigatedAlfalfa/pdfs/UCAlfalfa8303Livestock_free.pdf