Ratchnick
Crowing
I think the change in temp is more dangerous then the actual tempriture in most situations. If It has been 20F as your low then you get a freak storm and its -20 the next day i think that is more dangerous then if -20 is your normal low temp. This is the problem with heaters is if your bird is chilled it will sit under the heater instead of grow more down. That's fine and im sure more comfy for the bird but when you get that freak storm and you get a big drop in temp and the power goes out (from wind or snow ect) then you just created a perfect storm.
The only time i would think about heat would be if the weather droped suddenly 30 degrees colder then the coldest it had been all winter.
Additionally i read a study where they took different breeds of ducks and stuck a temp probe down their throat and measured their body temp while IN A DEEP FREEZER! As awfull as that sounds they got some good data that suggests larger ducks deal with cold better then small ducks. If you have light or bantam breeds you might think about heat maybe at some point but the medium and larger breeds were essentially unphased.
Lastly remember calories are actually a unit of heat. In highschool chemistry i had to do an experiment where you burn a frito chip and measure how many degrees it would heat a volume of water and then run the math to determine the calorie content of the chip.
The point is make sure they get plenty to eat and they may eat substantialy more food in cold weather.
The only time i would think about heat would be if the weather droped suddenly 30 degrees colder then the coldest it had been all winter.
Additionally i read a study where they took different breeds of ducks and stuck a temp probe down their throat and measured their body temp while IN A DEEP FREEZER! As awfull as that sounds they got some good data that suggests larger ducks deal with cold better then small ducks. If you have light or bantam breeds you might think about heat maybe at some point but the medium and larger breeds were essentially unphased.
Lastly remember calories are actually a unit of heat. In highschool chemistry i had to do an experiment where you burn a frito chip and measure how many degrees it would heat a volume of water and then run the math to determine the calorie content of the chip.
The point is make sure they get plenty to eat and they may eat substantialy more food in cold weather.
