Think it's too cold for your chickens? Think again...

[123ChickieLou]

I really really need some advice. I have 14 1-2 week old chicks. I put them in a larfe brooder that will hold them while they go through their t-rex stage until they can go outside. Some of them lat far away from the lamp some closer but no one under the lamp. Is this ok? Temp is 80 degrees?! New mom here any help would be awesome!

You're baking them!! LOL! Kidding.
I have four 3 wk olds that are already outside even with the lowest low being mid 30's. I brought them home at 2-3 days old and never used a light/heat and they did really well. Eighty degrees is pretty warm so don't worry about it. You cold probably raise the light up some so it's not so close to them since they're actually moving away from it. They'll move away as they get too hot and closer to get warmer. Or, turn it off all together. With 14, they'll keep each other plenty warm; especially if they're indoors.

ETA- They were inside the house until they were two weeks old, so they had heat from the household temp and I waited till the weather was in the 70's in the day and the 40's at night to move them outside.

 

[4 the Birds]

There is one thing that I have learned around here. People that don't heat are passionate and claim that adding heat is wrong and harmful. Going as far as to say that a heated coop is a big fire hazzard and it will burn down. I actually have no problem with people that don't add heat or follow that philosophy. Many times their passion follows the "my way is the only right way".

I have farmed many years and I have seen livestock and even chickens shake from the cold. My coops are large and they have heated water containers and a few brooder lamps for the depths of Winter. Will they survive without heat... sure. Will the dogs out in their dog houses survive without a hound heater.... sure. We are all about keeping our livestock and pets healthy and happy. There is no right way or wrong way... Our wiring is safe, we have the "means", and we have generators here at the farm should the power grid go down.
You can choose what is best for your situation.

Thermostatically controlled Hound Heater (two room insulated dog house)


Brooder lamp for heat source in the Winter (birds can roost inside or out under the roof or huddle near the lamp in sub zero temps)

 

[123ChickieLou]

4- I agree with you, and thanks for the reminder that we all do things our own way. I don't use heat, but I live in a milder climate where daytime temps rarely, if ever stay below freezing. I don't do it bc I don't need to and it's one less thing to worry about. I believe my birds are healthier for it. I don't know if that would be the case if I lived in a colder climate, like Alaska or Minnesota.
I think that we all have to raise and handle our birds in ways that work for us and make sense to us.

My concerns lie more with heat than cold. It gets and stays hot and humid here. My poor birds pant all the way from May until November.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

There are others but the main reason I don't recommend heat is that for most people it is difficult to do so and provide the ventilation chickens need to thrive.

 

[Triplell]

I live in Minnesota and I had heat lamps on my waters only but of course the hens liked to lay around the heat too. We did have a small barn fire that was caused from a leaky roof that on a very warm day this winter dripped on one of the heat lamps and caused a fire. The breaker did trip and our wiring is safe too. Things just happen, ANYTIME YOU HAVE ELECTRICITY YO RUN THE RISK OF A FIRE. Since then I have went with the heated dog dishes since they are better equiped wiring wise witht the water. My barn is an old dairy barn that is uninsulated but as draft free as I can make it. I have 63 chickens,ducks,and geese right now so my main thing is ventilation. I will never begrudge anyone who uses heat lamps or not. It is all in what you want to use. This is still a free country but the advice can be taken or not. We all need to be giving advice and listening but ultimately making our own decisions.

I hope this finds you in a good mood and with a smile on you face.

 

[chestypuller]

looks liek my chickens are doing good, looked int he coop and had 12 eggs! threw them out cause most were frozen or cracked, thats what i get for not checking the nesting box for a week! had 6 in the box and 6 in a corner of the coop....

 

[chestypuller]

4- I agree with you, and thanks for the reminder that we all do things our own way. I don't use heat, but I live in a milder climate where daytime temps rarely, if ever stay below freezing. I don't do it bc I don't need to and it's one less thing to worry about. I believe my birds are healthier for it. I don't know if that would be the case if I lived in a colder climate, like Alaska or Minnesota.
I think that we all have to raise and handle our birds in ways that work for us and make sense to us.

My concerns lie more with heat than cold. It gets and stays hot and humid here. My poor birds pant all the way from May until November.

one time i took our chickens for a 45 minute ride in the tack room of the horse trailer, it was the funniest thing when i opened the door they were all panting and stumbling around.

 

[TattooedKeeper3]

4- I agree with you, and thanks for the reminder that we all do things our own way. I don't use heat, but I live in a milder climate where daytime temps rarely, if ever stay below freezing. I don't do it bc I don't need to and it's one less thing to worry about. I believe my birds are healthier for it. I don't know if that would be the case if I lived in a colder climate, like Alaska or Minnesota.
I think that we all have to raise and handle our birds in ways that work for us and make sense to us.

My concerns lie more with heat than cold. It gets and stays hot and humid here. My poor birds pant all the way from May until November.

I understand your concern about heat in the summer months. Last year I gave my babies a shower once or twice a day as I noticed the rise in temp. and watered the ground in areas of shade. That way they would have a cool place to lay and got a bit cooler from the shower. That seemed to help a lot. I know it got so hot even in the shade that our game cameras read 121 degrees Fahrenheit. I have an open air coop so when the temp gets to be about the 30's here I use one heat lamp for my older ladies and one for the younger bunch (2 ducklings and 3 chicks). They are between 3-4 weeks old. I just went out there and all the baby ones are huddled together under the heat lamp. I covered an area in the coop to make a fleece blanket cave away from the heat lamp if they want to go in there. I found them in it last night when the heat lamps weren't working. They liked it and were playing in it today. I got cheeped loudly for moving their fun cave first thing in the morning.

 

[OliversMom]

I see several people have posted about heated dog dishes and I wanted to contribute another option that has worked well for us. We have a hanging metal waterer which I like because the chickens don't poo in it and it stays relatively bedding free. My husband glued a battery heater to the bottom of it and it keeps the H20 ice free and warm even when we have stretches of -40. Not sure about the cost to operate it; our electricity is so expensive anyway I resigned myself to astronomical bills.

 

[allsummedup]

Hey I'm up in fairbanks Alaska (60 below at the coldest) and I wanna say thank you for this thread.
People were lookin at me like I was crazy when I said I didn't think I needed a super insulated coop. Though i am only going to have 12 birds so I think some blue foam board is gonna be just fine.