Someone talk me out of it. - Heating

[Marrrum]

@chickens really

They sure do look happy!

Is that an EE rooster I see? I think I will end up installing a 40 watt bulb to ensure the light needed for laying MAYBE. But aside from making the coop more windproof, I guess they should be alright. If it really comes down to a personal choice, then I should consider weather or not it will add value to their life or not.

 

[chickens really]

No, They are all Pullets....

Best thing to do is what works for your Birds and decide from there......


Best of luck....


Cheers!

 

[chickens really]

The Bird your asking about is a Danish Brown Leghorn Pullet.....

Cheers!

 

[bobbi-j]

I'm not going to try to talk you out of heating since it seems you have your mind made up, but I will tell you what I do and why. I do not heat, and I live where it does get down into the -20's F during the winter. We just had such temps last week, and when I went out to do chores, the chickens were all scratching and pecking around their straw like it was any other day. I don't heat because my chickens have their own down coats that they acquire starting in the fall when the temperatures start dropping. They wear these down coats 24/7 no matter what it's like inside or outside their coops. I have heated water dishes in the coops for them so their water is always thawed. (That might be a thought for you since you apparently have electricity to your coop).

Before putting heat out there, try this - put on ALL of your winter gear. Coat, hat, snowpants, boots, gloves and scarf. Go outside for an hour or so. Nice and comfy, right? Now come in but don't take off any of your winter gear. Leave it on for at least two hours. Still comfy? Or are you hot? Think about your chickens. They started growing their down coats this fall and are acclimated to the weather by now. They can't get out of their winter gear, and by the looks of the size of your coop, it doesn't look like they'd have much chance to get away from the heat you are putting in there, either. By not adding heat, you are helping keep it dry in there because the moisture in the poop freezes, so it's not in the air like it would be if it's thawed. I had a lot more frostbite problems when I heated my coops than I have since I stopped doing that. Pouring boiling water into their water dishes may be causing extra humidity, which would also make them cold.

May I ask why you are convinced that your chickens are cold? Are they shivering? All fluffed up? What are the signs? Do you have frost on the walls of your coop?

One other thing that is very much on my mind right now is: what happens when they get dependent on that heat, and you lose electricity? There are 19,000 people in South Dakota (I live 20 miles from the MN/SD border) who are without electricity right now, and it doesn't look like that's going to change soon. We had an ice storm on Christmas day, with very strong winds that knocked down thousands of power poles. Once your chickens get dependent on that heat, how would they manage for a week without it?

Ultimately, of course, it's up to you. Just remember that chickens are not like people and are more comfortable with similar temps inside and out, rather than going from outside where it's cool to inside where they can't take off their coats or get away from that heat .

 

[Rion828]

Hello. We use heat in my coop because we have some non cold hardy breeds. Its not much though. Our coop is a 12x6 walk in building and has a mounted desk heater to generate some heat. It is designed to attack to the underside of a wooden dest so it dose not get hot enough start a fire even if it was to fall into the bedding. The heater isnt big enough to make the coop warm, and without my heated water dish the water would still freeze. It dose take some of the bite off the cold. This slightly raised temperature means that issues like frostbite have not happened. We also have the heater on a temperature plug so it only begin working at freezing temperatures.

this is the specific heater we got if anyone else is interested. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FRFFC4W/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1


For your situation with such a small coop i might suggest a floor mat heater, as sold at farm and fleet stores. but even adding a large amount of straw to insulate and allow them to burrow might be enough. I would never have a light heater due to the very high fire risk.

 

[snow5164]

We bought two of those cozy legs heaters , lasted two winters til the dust plugged it up , opened up the electrical box on the back and it had been smouldering and their was black Scorch marks on the lid..... they gave us our money back and said it was defective..(Amazon.ca)Just saying , it was the start of a fire that we couldn't see.... not any safer then a bulb, (made in India junk )

 

[junebuggena]

Friends,

Thanks for posting. So it sounds like some of you do heat. I have been extensively told not to heat. That it may sound completely counter intuitive but that if the power goes out or if I forget to start/Stop the light, it could kill all of them due to unregulated temp and dependency. Take a look at my coop below please. Now, I only have four hens and this coop. They are allowed daily out side time if they wish. ( They dont in this cold. ) Looking at the coop, where would you hang a heat lamp OR at least a 40 watt artificial light bulb for laying purposes at least. I dont feel comfortable placing it in the coop interior itself due to potential burns or fire hazards.

That coop is too small to safely use a heat lamp in.