Somebody stop me, I am losing my reserve, Im gonna cave....

[sourland]

What will you do with a flock of chickens that are not acclimated to the cold if your power fails? Chickens have been surviving in well ventilated draft free coops for as long as I can remember--and that's a lot of years. Heck, they've been surviving out in the leafless trees unles a GHO discovers them. They have an incredible insulation system.

 

[geebs]

You have to decide how you will feel without this hen....

 

[JLS]

If your power fails you can loose your ENTIRE flock in ONE night. It sounded to me as if your shivering bird was outside not in the coop, right? If it is cold I would only allow the birds outside in a protected area. It doesnt have to be big or fancy. Cooping them up with added light is a disaster waiting to happen. If they have 24/7 of light with nothing to do they WILL pick at each other...I know from experience. My vet reminded me that people have been keeping chickens for thousands of years without electricity. They are tough birds. If you add heat you may be adding to your problems in the end.

 

[spartacus_63]

My power rarely fails for more than a few minutes at a time. If I were to loose power for an extended period, chances are my flock would be fine and not even notice that the lights went out early. My coop is well insulated and averages 15-25 degrees higher in the sub freezing times. I only use a 150 watt heat bulb, only at night and only when the temp drops below 35 degrees. I attribute most of the heat in the coop to the 50+ small space heaters that I keep there. In the event of prolonged power failure, my main concern would be keeping the water liquid.

I built my Chicken Palace from scratch and planned for extreme weather conditions that have been known to hit this area from time to time (like every year). I am motivated by low maintenance hobbies. I would rather spend a few pennies more a month to run a 150 watt bulb and a thermostatically controlled water heater, than to spend money on antibiotics for infected frostbitten combs, replacing dead egg machines and the the number of trips to the coop to refill or replace the frozen fountains.

To each their own though. I do not think my chickens need the heat bulb to survive. I do believe that because the coop is comfortable during the winter, my egg production stays consistent to summer time numbers. I do believe the girls like the heat bulb as evidenced by the cluster that sits in it's glow. They don't hang out there, but use it somewhat like the proverbial water cooler. They gather there from time to time, exchange gossip, and then disperse. I am unwilling to unplug the lamp to toughen my birds in the off chance that we will loose power for an extended period of time. That would be akin to me turning off the heat in the kids room to toughen them for the same event. After all...man survived the ice age w/o electricity.

Just my technique...

 

[LauraG]

Oh man, I'm still

Such good points on both sides.

Yes, the shivering chicken was outside hanging on my front porch, loitering around...She is a really odd chicken my Auracana, and does some weird stuff.

They have a 6x6 insulated coop. There are 7 chickens total. I have vents on 2 of the walls which I have the option to close. They are both open halfway right now.

they have a covered run with plastic panels over 3/4 of the hardware cloth so snow doesnt blow into their run.

I have not shut them in the coop because im sure they would go bananas and I dont want them pecking each other mercilesslessly out of boredom.

They do choose to walk across the snow in the front yard and hang on my porch. Then they wander back, gives them a chance to stretch their wings I guess

I DO loose my power- frequently- in the winter. I have co-op electric and live in the sticks. I have a back-up generator for the house for this reason.

Man, Im loosing sleep and driving the old man nuts over this.

 

[redhen]

This has been my experience with 2 winters now..
My first winter i heated with a heat light and even sometimes a small heater... to just above freezing.
That year i had quite a few with frost bite on their combs...

Last year i did no heat except a small light directed at the roosts on VERY cold nights.. really i doubt it made any difference cause my coops 8x12...and i had no frost bite last year.

So... i think that the heat helped them get frost bite?? I dont know... i'm always torn on what to do too...
I hate to think of them cold.. but i also think that the heat makes for moist conditions and that can be dangerous in the winter.

Next is my worry about my piggies outside...

 

[Imp]

I use a heater to keep the coop about 35*. I have never had to deal with frostbite or death from the cold. I have had the power go out and the chickens were fine. In case of really severe weather I have a few large cardbord boxes under the bed that will become indoor pens if it really comes to that. I've never really bought into the theory that they will die if the power goes out.
After reading posts like "I found 2 of my ducks frozen to the ground outside" or "I found my chickens frozen solid" or "is this frostbite" or " my chickens feet turned black-help" I went and bought a back up heater.

Imp- would probably put the chickens under the electric blanket in really cold weather.

 

[austradork]

My chickens LOVE their flat panel coop heater. When it's really, really cold, they stay inside their coop even when given access to the yard. To me, this means two very important things: (1) chickens CAN get cold, and (2) they don't like being cold! Our girls LOVE free ranging, so for them to forego that in exchange for a warm coop, that tells me something.

 

[PepsNick]

I think that adding the heat, since you're in NY, wouldn't do any harm... just spoil your birds. Which is never harmful!

 

[chkn]

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