red 250 watt bulb

[PepsNick]

Hello. Since you don't need it that much, but I can see you're 700ft, then I'd go with a 200 white bulb. 250 is a little much, and red bulbs can actually cause chickens to age TWICE as fast and die earlier. Also can give them higher chances of getting some diseases... not sure of any in specific.

 

[grandmaof5]

We get many days of -20 C (hmm... is that about -5 F, I think) for weeks on end, and a couple of weeks that it hovers around -40 (Celsius and Fahrenheit), and I won't be heating my tiny (4'x7') coop, other than what the 3 girls provide themselves. I do have an energy efficient lightbulb so I can see early in the mornings, though.

 

[Judy]

I suspect whoever said you might close the windows didn't notice the two 4" x 8" vents; that's very little ventilation; I see why you are concerned about moisture.

There is a GREAT resource that no one has mentioned, in case you haven't found it: https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-winter-coop-temperatures She is great with coops and lives in Canada.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
I've never seen anyone claim this before. Evidently the person has no source. Gobs and gobs of people use red on baby chicks.

On DE, it is a highly debatable issue, and expensive and hard to find, to boot. If you use pine shavings you should get plenty of odor and moisture control. If I were you I'd read some threads (see index, FAQ's, scroll down) before I spent my money. I use it mostly to kill soft bodied insects (worms) in the garden. Some use it all the time, others say it is useless. Not debatable is that its sharp edges are rough on lungs, yours and the chickens'.

 

[featherbaby]

I heat my coop when it gets down to 32 degrees. Maybe the chickens can survive lower temps but I don't want mine to get sick or be weakened by the cold. I raise silkies and they are valuable stock both in money and heart, so I give them the optimal living conditions and take no chances with their health. I use a small ceramic space heater suspended from a chain to about 20" off the floor level. It has a thermostat so it only comes on when the temp drops to whatever level I set it at. I get them locally from Big Lots for about $25 and they last several seasons (I haven't had one burn out yet). Suspended keeps it from touching anything that could catch fire so they are safe and effective. If you are in the negative temps I would highly recommend some supplemental heat.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
Not sure I've ever heard of heating chickens in Fla, not even Silkies.

 

[Luckytaz]

The only thing you'll need to heat, is their water. And keep them well fed.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

I know that there are lots of debates on DE. I don't put it in the food, an area that sparks most of the debate. Plus I have a tiny coop with only four chickens. I bought a 50 lb bag months ago (it's cheap that way) and you can hardly tell that I've used any of it. It seems that sprinkling it around does help dry things out. That's been my experience anyway. And I hope that perhaps sprinkling it in the little crevices in the roost area may help prevent/kill any bad bugs (haven't had any, so I don't know for sure). Because I sprinkle it it doesn't send up clouds of powder to breathe. So, while I know there is a lot of hype, I can say that the DE I bought was cheap and looks like it will last for years. Anyway, it's not my intention to turn this into a DE debate, it's just what I do.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

I'm in WI, we get negitive temps a lot in winter, you do not need to heat your coop, as you can see by my siggy, I have silkies, booted, d'Uccles ans micro seramas i do not heat my coops, the only place that has any kind of heat is the building my incubator is in.
the info on the red light that is a new one for me, my granny used red on her chicks with out any problems and so did I till I found heat emmiters (they do not light up, just heat)

the big thing in winter is a dry coop, no draft and clean unfrozen water. not heat

 

[hallerlake]

Get a thermometer that records high and low temps and humidity. Green house supply stores usually have them. You can use the figures to know exactly how cold and how humid your coop is getting. With actual information, you can decide what you need to do, if anything.