Southern NY, Dutchess county and below

[stoopid]

Al, no worries, I'm an outlaw. I probably have a case of illegal bulbs somewhere, Just like everything else in my house is....somewhere.
They also have ceramic heat bulbs, got a few for an incubator experiment. I had better finish that up soon, want to have easter chickies!

 

[ChickenAl]

Actually, I still have the heat lamp from the brooder. If a really bad coldsnap hits I can use that.

 

[smkchick]

Quote:
ChickenAl, I hear that. I used to work in a vet's office. I wound up with 5 dogs and 13 cats. They've all been rehomed, except for an expensive froofroo dog (okay, I totally love her) and two cats who were original. So now I've turned to chickens.

Gladys, by the way, seems to think she's a cat. She likes to sit in my lap, especially when I'm reading!

I think your wife and I were separated at birth...

 

[critterranch]

Quote:
im stock piling lightbulbs from walmart i go through about 20 bulbs a year because they blow easy. thats all i use for brooding and in the coop. plus my house too i hate energy savers. i know i'm bad.

 

[magsrags]

Al,
When it's really freezing and it lasts for days with a howling wind....an ordinary red light bulb (not the 250 watt brooder type)can be a good choice as well if you really feel it's necessary. Less intrusive. I use them seldom though.....and only when i feel it's necessary. I never have used heat otherwise. The peeps are fine lopng as they are kept dry and have a nice layer of bedding to dig into if they want.
maggie

 

[mjuenem]

Quote:

We were at Outhouse last weekend. They are under a new name (can't recall). Place was crawling with people - hayrides, apples, gourds, pumpkins and those fresh hot out of the fat, doughnuts! We also found some free-range chickens avoiding the crowd under some small trees.

Lot's of people but not over-crowded. Had a great time!

Mark

 

[ChickenAl]

Quote:
ChickenAl, I hear that. I used to work in a vet's office. I wound up with 5 dogs and 13 cats. They've all been rehomed, except for an expensive froofroo dog (okay, I totally love her) and two cats who were original. So now I've turned to chickens.

Gladys, by the way, seems to think she's a cat. She likes to sit in my lap, especially when I'm reading!

I think your wife and I were separated at birth...

Oh boy, you're a sucker for a cold nose and sad brown eyes too? I told my wife if we ever tried breeding dogs we would go out of business because she would never part with the pups.

We have a couple of froofroos ourselves. A Maltese and a Maltapoo. Only one cat, though. When you figure it out, we have more pets than people living here. Can't remember how that happened.

 

[ChickenAl]

Quote:
I like the red bulb idea. Keeps the stress down. Going to put a heavy layer of bedding down too before it gets too cold.

Thanks for the tips, Maggie.

 

[mjuenem]

I have electric in my small coop. I use it for fans in the summer. In the Winter (I think I will change it over this weekend) I run a small CF bulb in one corner attached to a sensor that comes on at dusk and adds 4 more hours of daylight to keep thos eggs coming. In the opposite corner I have two red bulbs, each 90 watts in a "Y" connector (in case 1 bulb burns out). This is plugged into a heat sensor that turns them on at around 38 degrees and off at about 50. My birds seemed happy all last Winter and the one hen I had laying then kept going past Christmas. She started up again in March I believe.

 

[ChickenAl]

I like the idea of keeping a red bulb in the coop to keep the air just warm enough to eliminate condensation from chicken respiration. I am in agreement with Rich about not having to heat the coop per se. Everything I've read seems to indicate chickens can handle the cold well, but not the heat of summer. Those hot days we had really stressed our girls this summer. Also, I've read if you get your chickens used to heat in the winter that a power outage will give them a real problem as they will not be able to handle the rapid change to cold.

I think we would like to be warm I'm the winter and transfer that thought to how the chickens would like to feel. Agreed, they would not want to be in sub zero temps, but they do have feathers, and each other to keep themselves warm.

Lots to think about when preparing for bad weather for the first time. I want to increase the ventilation with some vents up by the roof line and maybe insulate the ceiling. The new roof we put on has kept the coop bone dry during this past week of rain, so at least that is one situation that is taken care of.

Still getting 6/6 out of them. One egg yesterday was a monster. We get a fair amount of double yolkers which look as large as two eggs fused together. Had one a few weeks ago that had to hurt coming out. Going to take a look for the pic and post it.