Should I put a source of heat in the coop for my chicken who can't huddle with the others?

[Annie44]

Hello!

I have a chicken who has a disease, which makes it so she can't hop up onto the roosts with the other chickens. She sleeps on the ground. When the Massachusetts winter comes around (rare lowest temps in the teens F), does she need a heat lamp? Her disease makes her weaker too, so that probably means the cold might effect her easier than it would effect healthy chickens.

Thanks!!

~Annie

P.S. Come to think of it... Will the other chickens need heat lamps too? I've read a bunch about heat in the winter, and the responses seem to vary a lot. Teens seem pretty chilly.

 

[Judy]

Teens are no problem for chickens in a well ventilated coop. Where they have problems is when they are closed up too tightly, so that the humidity and ammonia they give off builds up in the coop. I'll give you links to some excellent articles written by one of our Canadian members.

For your "special needs" chicken, she will probably do fine without a heat source, though it's true she might be more comfortable with one. I'm assuming you give her a good layer of hay or the like to nest in. I have one in a similar condition who sleeps on the floor. Granted, this is the South, but we do get lows down into the teens on occasion, and some nights into the 20's every winter. Not only do they not have heat in the winter, they live in a rather open air coop, with half of one wall made of hardware cloth, plus an open air space above all 4 walls, around 6" wide. They do have a roost corner they can get into which is out of the wind or draft.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/winter-coop-temperatures

 

[Annie44]

Thank you so much for answering! It seems we live in similar temperatures in the winter. I will be sure to add more vents to my coop.