remote temperature gauge.

[CJ21]

For low-temperature performance, load the thermometer with lithium batteries. They have better cold-weather performance than NiMH or alkaline cells.

 

[woodmort]

Quote:
The point is, What are you going to do knowing the temperature? If you're considering adding heat you might want to read this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=420995 I'm forced to know what the temperature is in my greenhouse since I'm keeping tropical plants out there and if it drops below 45 I know I'd better add more heat or I'm in trouble. Chickens, on the other hand are not tropical and can take below zero temperatures so I really don't care how cold their coop gets since it isn't heated anyway and I'm not about to go out and cover them with little hats and blankets.

 

[Cebarmlds]

Knit little bonnets! Great idea

 

[patandchickens]

Even though I am usually a big advocate of using eyeball-based management and avoiding artificial heat unless frostbite is imminent or occurring, I am going to play devils advocate here because I think there *is* some legitimate use to knowing the temp in your coop.

(Mind, you can acquire almost-as-good information from just a mechanical max/min thermometer, which is all I use myself; but thermometers with remote displays have become so common and cheap these days that they are certainly an option too).

If a coop just "were", if it just sat there and was unchangeable and its physical characteristics unalterable, there would indeed be not much point in knowing the temperature inside it. (Even in terms of whether to add heat, knowing temperature doesn't tell you anything, because it is the chickens' health and behavior that is the deciding factor, not some digital-readout numbers). I mean, it's not like you could do anything about it anyhow.

However coops are generally MANAGED. You open or close vents on different sides, you maybe change how windows are rigged or whatever. In ways that change its temperature.

It is really useful, IMHO, to develop a reality-based sense of how your management actions affect coop temperatures. What difference does it make which vents are open, which are closed, how MUCH open or closed, in different wind conditions, how much does the coop warm up on a sunny day (if it's "a lot" you have the opportunity to put in barrels of water or something to trap some of that heat for nighttime...), etcetera.

So while I certainly don't think it's *necessary*, I do still think it's *useful* for people to get all data-collect-y about their coops as long as they have the enthusiasm for it. The information really CAN come in handy.

Furthermore, as far as "chickens can take subzero temperatures so I really don't care how cold their coop gets", well, SOME chickens can SOMETIMES take subzero temperatures. (For "some", read "many" if you like, I am not trying to start semantic arguments here). But it is not all *that* uncommon to get frostbite starting in milder temps e.g. because of humidity problems be they management-related or weather-related, or to have chickens struggling with the cold if they are a non cold hardy breed or suffering under the burden of some other health problem already.

So unless one is going to take a hard-nosed Darwinian "if they die, oh well, only the hardiest get to survive" attitude (which I'm not criticizing, it has some merit IMO but so do other attitudes too), you have to realize that sometimes you MAY find yourself wanting to add heat. And if you DO get to where your best roo is getting frostbit and you want to give him a bit of a lamp to minimize further pain and damage, or something like that, you will CERTAINLY benefit from knowing what temperature is like in the coop, because it helps you fine-tune your heating to use as little as necessary.

So, I dunno. Technology is not entirely useless, even if it isn't NECESSARY as such

JMHO,

Pat

 

[woodmort]

Pat,
I'd rather keep track and control humidity than temperature since it is the former that can cause frostbite problems. There are remote thermometers that will allow one to do that. Then, if the humidity is getting too high one can adjust it with better venting. Frankly I think adding heat alleviates one problem but adds expense, possible fire hazard, increased moisture and prevents the birds from becoming accustom to cold. Since most/many mature chickens can winter without the heat I'd rather not give them any.

 

[Donner]

Quote:
The point is, What are you going to do knowing the temperature? If you're considering adding heat you might want to read this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=420995 I'm forced to know what the temperature is in my greenhouse since I'm keeping tropical plants out there and if it drops below 45 I know I'd better add more heat or I'm in trouble. Chickens, on the other hand are not tropical and can take below zero temperatures so I really don't care how cold their coop gets since it isn't heated anyway and I'm not about to go out and cover them with little hats and blankets.

That is a good point. It would suggest that warm temperature monitoring might be more interesting because there is something that can be done about that like opening vents. The hygrometer combo might also be more interesting where below freezing and high humidity would again suggest ventilating more because the chickens can handle the low temperature better if the humidity is kept down.

 

[donnavee]

I have a Weather Channel brand which I think came from Home Depot and it works great, used it all last winter and this summer as well.
The 1st one we bought didn't have enough range for the coop, so we took it back and got a better one. Kind of fun to see the temp go up about 5 to 8 degrees once the girls get on the roost.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Any idea how accurate they are, though, especially at subfreezing temperatures (which is when humidity makes the most difference)? I honestly don't know myself. But am pretty skeptical, considering how 'off' they often are even at r.t.

Most mature chickens can winter without heat in some conditions. In other conditions, though, not so much. Observe the number of frostbite cases on BYC annually. Not *all* are caused by unwise management decisions; and even the ones that are, once you've got the frostbite, I think a good argument can be made for actively trying to minimize how much further cold the chickens are exposed to (for pain reasons if nothing else)

JMHO,

Pat