Rubber Mats?

[RyleeandMax]

Hi all!! I recently have just had a new coop built for me and have a few questions regarding the floor. It is concrete so I am a little worried about my hens getting frostbite. I live in Montana, and we are expected to have a bitter winter this year(nothing new) I am planning on putting a healthy layer of shavings down, but I don’t know if that will be enough:
My first question is how cold does concrete actually get?

Next, do I need to get some sort of rubber mat or carpet to put under the shavings, and if I do, what kind of material is the best.

Lastly, I have heard that straw is way warmer than shavings, but I have also heard that straw harbors mites... any advice?

Thanks everybody!!!

 

[chickenlittle21]

Hay is more likely to have mites, try doing a mixture of straw and pine shavings. You could put a heater in your coop with cinder blocks blocking the chickens from getting to it, but you would have to have a plug in your coop, and make sure that your heater will not start a fire.

 

[CannedMonster]

We have a concrete floor and we live in Southern Idaho.
We keep several inches of shavings on the floor, no straw. It’s worked very well for 3 years now.
My chickens free range most of our 1/2 acre.
So they only go in the coop to lay and sleep.
They sleep on the roosts and do just fine. No supplemental heat.
Our winter lows can be in the teens to single digits.

 

[RyleeandMax]

Hay is more likely to have mites, try doing a mixture of straw and pine shavings. You could put a heater in your coop with cinder blocks blocking the chickens from getting to it, but you would have to have a plug in your coop, and make sure that your heater will not start a fire.

I do have 6 outlets in my coop, so I would defiantly be able to use a heater! Any recommendations on any, or just a basic heat lamp??

 

[RyleeandMax]

We have a concrete floor and we live in Southern Idaho.
We keep several inches of shavings on the floor, no straw. It’s worked very well for 3 years now.
My chickens free range most of our 1/2 acre.
So they only go in the coop to lay and sleep.
They sleep on the roosts and do just fine. No supplemental heat.
Our winter lows can be in the teens to single digits.

Thanks for your info! I am sure you know what winter feels like then

 

[Criticalicious]

To avoid fires, if you absolutely must add heat (which is only recommended when temps inside drop below 0F), look into a heat plate rather than a lamp. Moisture buildup is what causes frostbite, not the cold itself.

 

[slordaz]

I tend yo use some sand and pine shavings and a little garden soil and do deep litter in the coup when it starts cooling off , then you just add more pine shavings when it becomes soiled, this also helps them keep a little warmer during out cold winter temps without causing a bad odor, for disclosure they have a wood floor and walls were sprayed with liquid rubber to make it easy to just take the power washer to the coop when doing a deep cleaning. as I'm not that far from the Montana border in eastern Idaho. Doing this makes it softer landing from the roost also

 

[ValerieJ]

To avoid fires, if you absolutely must add heat (which is only recommended when temps inside drop below 0F), look into a heat plate rather than a lamp. Moisture buildup is what causes frostbite, not the cold itself.

I agree with this idea.

 

[slordaz]

To avoid fires, if you absolutely must add heat (which is only recommended when temps inside drop below 0F), look into a heat plate rather than a lamp. Moisture buildup is what causes frostbite, not the cold itself.

we get negative 30 frequently here where I live and I have never had to add heat to the coop, Chickens survived without us meddling a whole lot, only thing I do if we are getting that cold is a porridge of oatmeal with a bit of Cayenne pepper added, just before they go in for the afternoon, I would not recommend it for ones that have heat added every time we are a bit cold though as they haven't had time to naturally prepare for temps, they will get more down in if super cold is coming to help keep them selves warmer

 

[SoonersDucks]

So I live in Oklahoma, and obviously our winters are not that bad compared to Montana and Idaho... this is my first year with chickens and ducks.... if I understand what I have read, I don’t need to add any extra heat for my birds in their coop? If I want to continue good egg production, I just need to supplement more light like adding a UV light in the coop?