Safely Heating A Coop

[KMAtterbury]

Hi!

We are wanting to heat our coop but are looking at safe options. Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

Why do you want to heat it?

I have had chicken for almost 4 years. And gone through 3 cold winters. With it being in the negative 30s and with winds. My girls have been fine.
If adding to much heat and loosing power it can cause shock to your chickens.
If adding any heater i would add a radiant heater like the Sweeter heaters or the Chick Cozy heater.

 

[DobieLover]

Hi!

We are wanting to heat our coop but are looking at safe options. Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!

The vast majority of locations do not require supplemental heat.
I am going into my 6th winter with chickens in NY. They have experienced temps as low as -23F and have done well. A small bit of frostbite on the tips of the rooster's comb and that is all.
As long as you provide ample ventilation to remove all moist air from the coop and don't have drafts directly hitting roosted birds, they will be fine. They need a coop that is very dry, not warm.
Chickens simply sit on their feet and fluff their feathers to trap their own body heat.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you can, your safest option is to not heat it at all. There is always a risk of fire. Also, if the chickens are not allowed to acclimate they may be in trouble if you have a power outage, assuming you really do have cold weather. What is cold to us is not necessarily cold to chickens. That's why we are questioning whether heat is required at all, there is a risk in heating.

I'll link a thread from someone that does experience really cold weather. You might find it interesting.

Cold Weather Poultry Housing and Care | BackYard Chickens - Learn How to Raise Chickens

Other than extreme temperatures one risk if cold weather is frostbite. Any time the temperature is below freezing there is some danger of their combs or wattles freezing and becoming frostbitten. That's tied to moisture. If the moisture level is really high so is the frostbite danger. The moisture we are worrying about is mostly from their breathing, their poop, and any open water in the coop. If you have good ventilation you can get rid of most of that moisture. With poor ventilation moisture can build up. Most chickens, even those with large combs and wattles, can handle temperatures below zero Fahrenheit (-18 C) if the air is dry.

The other risk is a cold breeze hitting them strong enough to ruffle feathers. Chickens have tiny air pockets trapped in their feathers and down that insulate them. If their feathers are ruffled and those air pockets escape they can get cold. The way the feathers lay on a chicken if they face into a light breeze feathers are unlikely to get ruffled. But we need to provide them a safe place to roost where they are protected from strong breezes.

Another risk having nothing to do with the cold is ammonia. When their poop breaks down it generates ammonia gas. This gas is lighter than air so if you have a ventilation hole above their heads it will safely escape. If you don't have an escape hole it might build up and poison them. This really doesn't happen much, it doesn't take much of a hole for the ammonia to escape.

The way most of us provide good ventilation and protect them from breezes is to have ventilation holes above their heads when they are on the roosts.

I don't heat my coop so I'm not going to recommend anything. I don't have the experience. Warm air does rise so if you have any ventilation up high most of the heat will escape but you can get some benefit from it.

Good luck!

 

[KMAtterbury]

Why do you want to heat it?

I have had chicken for almost 4 years. And gone through 3 cold winters. With it being in the negative 30s and with winds. My girls have been fine.
If adding to much heat and loosing power it can cause shock to your chickens.
If adding any heater i would add a radiant heater like the Sweeter heaters or the Chick Cozy heater.

Last year some of the chickens got frostbite on their combs. Thank you for your response!

 

[alinas2010]

While I agree 100% with what the others are saying, and my first year of having my girls, I was against giving them heat, now I am amongst those who provide a bit of heat. Especially when temps dip below zero. I know it probably does a disservice to them as others are saying, but I struggled our first year not giving them heat. One chicken ended up with frost bite on the tips of her comb. It wasn’t bad at all, just a tiny bit white and it fell off in the summer. But all winter I went absolutely crazy worrying about them. Everyone here said the same things; that they were fine and could handle it, and they did. But I didn’t. I struggled seeing them cold, and i could tell when they were struggling with the cold, on some days more than others. Even so they did do fine, so take that as you will.

I am able to provide heat relatively safely. I monitor on a camera that is motion activated at night and can wake me up via my watch. If the power goes out, all 5 of them are coming inside in a dog kennel with me, which has happened on a -30f night. Their coop is also right outside my bedroom window and everything is within earshot.

So, I wouldn’t provide heat without a plan for everything. Something like cozy coop radiant heaters are relatively safe, imo, but extension cords are a bit risky, which is what we run. I recommend getting a proper electrical set up if you want to save your sanity. Even with a way to monitor, I still don’t fully trust the set up we have and wake up multiple times a night to check my cameras when the heaters are on. So save your sanity and do things right if you’re considering heat.

I am providing heat at night right now when I normally definitely would not because I have one who is having a very tough time molting and is shivering quite a bit and another who is sick with a reproductive infection. Temps are in the 20s at night mostly, a few upper teens. I normally wouldn’t provide heat until it was around 15f, the I turn on a cozy coop radiant heater. Around 10f they get a dog house heater, which adds about 15 degrees. Beyond that, as others said, we’ve had -20s to -40s and I have a large radiant heater that I use inside that I’ll stick out there on low. I do try to keep it warm enough so that they’re (more like I’m?) comfortable but not too warm that they’re not going to be able to tolerate any cold weather.

I know others disagree with this and that is fine. Everyone chicken keeps different.

 

[StinkyAcres]

Last year some of the chickens got frostbite on their combs. Thank you for your response!

What are your winter temperatures like? The frostbite may have been caused by a lack of ventilation.

 

[KMAtterbury]

What are your winter temperatures like? The frostbite may have been caused by a lack of ventilation.

Hi! We have good ventilation. We’re in Nebraska. Thank you!

 

[KMAtterbury]

While I agree 100% with what the others are saying, and my first year of having my girls, I was against giving them heat, now I am amongst those who provide a bit of heat. Especially when temps dip below zero. I know it probably does a disservice to them as others are saying, but I struggled our first year not giving them heat. One chicken ended up with frost bite on the tips of her comb. It wasn’t bad at all, just a tiny bit white and it fell off in the summer. But all winter I went absolutely crazy worrying about them. Everyone here said the same things; that they were fine and could handle it, and they did. But I didn’t. I struggled seeing them cold, and i could tell when they were struggling with the cold, on some days more than others. Even so they did do fine, so take that as you will.

I am able to provide heat relatively safely. I monitor on a camera that is motion activated at night and can wake me up via my watch. If the power goes out, all 5 of them are coming inside in a dog kennel with me, which has happened on a -30f night. Their coop is also right outside my bedroom window and everything is within earshot.

So, I wouldn’t provide heat without a plan for everything. Something like cozy coop radiant heaters are relatively safe, imo, but extension cords are a bit risky, which is what we run. I recommend getting a proper electrical set up if you want to save your sanity. Even with a way to monitor, I still don’t fully trust the set up we have and wake up multiple times a night to check my cameras when the heaters are on. So save your sanity and do things right if you’re considering heat.

I am providing heat at night right now when I normally definitely would not because I have one who is having a very tough time molting and is shivering quite a bit and another who is sick with a reproductive infection. Temps are in the 20s at night mostly, a few upper teens. I normally wouldn’t provide heat until it was around 15f, the I turn on a cozy coop radiant heater. Around 10f they get a dog house heater, which adds about 15 degrees. Beyond that, as others said, we’ve had -20s to -40s and I have a large radiant heater that I use inside that I’ll stick out there on low. I do try to keep it warm enough so that they’re (more like I’m?) comfortable but not too warm that they’re not going to be able to tolerate any cold weather.

I know others disagree with this and that is fine. Everyone chicken keeps different.

Thank you so much! I like the radiant heater - something they can warm up by & still have the fresh air. I’ve done heat lamps but not really safe. I appreciate your help!

 

[KMAtterbury]

If you can, your safest option is to not heat it at all. There is always a risk of fire. Also, if the chickens are not allowed to acclimate they may be in trouble if you have a power outage, assuming you really do have cold weather. What is cold to us is not necessarily cold to chickens. That's why we are questioning whether heat is required at all, there is a risk in heating.

I'll link a thread from someone that does experience really cold weather. You might find it interesting.

Cold Weather Poultry Housing and Care | BackYard Chickens - Learn How to Raise Chickens

Other than extreme temperatures one risk if cold weather is frostbite. Any time the temperature is below freezing there is some danger of their combs or wattles freezing and becoming frostbitten. That's tied to moisture. If the moisture level is really high so is the frostbite danger. The moisture we are worrying about is mostly from their breathing, their poop, and any open water in the coop. If you have good ventilation you can get rid of most of that moisture. With poor ventilation moisture can build up. Most chickens, even those with large combs and wattles, can handle temperatures below zero Fahrenheit (-18 C) if the air is dry.

The other risk is a cold breeze hitting them strong enough to ruffle feathers. Chickens have tiny air pockets trapped in their feathers and down that insulate them. If their feathers are ruffled and those air pockets escape they can get cold. The way the feathers lay on a chicken if they face into a light breeze feathers are unlikely to get ruffled. But we need to provide them a safe place to roost where they are protected from strong breezes.

Another risk having nothing to do with the cold is ammonia. When their poop breaks down it generates ammonia gas. This gas is lighter than air so if you have a ventilation hole above their heads it will safely escape. If you don't have an escape hole it might build up and poison them. This really doesn't happen much, it doesn't take much of a hole for the ammonia to escape.

The way most of us provide good ventilation and protect them from breezes is to have ventilation holes above their heads when they are on the roosts.

I don't heat my coop so I'm not going to recommend anything. I don't have the experience. Warm air does rise so if you have any ventilation up high most of the heat will escape but you can get some benefit from it.

Good luck!

Thanks! I want something they can warm up by - we used a heat lamp but not really safe. We have good ventilation so they can still acclimate. Thank you!