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

[Mrs MIA]

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[davekrista]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

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Okay, I'll cop to it: They had a 75 watt infrared heat lamp tucked up in the corner of their coop. I HAD to move them outside because of my hatching addiction and the 15 chicks just hatched within the past week which REALLY needed the two brooders inside.

Busted!! I'm really talking about adult birds here, though. So you're in the clear.

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I wouldn't say it's harming them, but they probably don't need it. You said yourself that their winter coats are thicker... do they ACT like they're cold? Besides, they need dark-time just like we do for sleeping at night.

Without it being insulated, any heat the 100w light bulb is putting off is not staying in the building, and they don't need the light, so I would turn it off. But that's just me.

Just curious, how cold do you usually get in the deep of winter there in your part of MA?

Occasionally we get below freezing at night, sometimes its in the single digits with wind chill below zero..... Right now we do have a couple nights below freezing which is my concern. I know the light isn't going to warm it up but we have it pointing to part of the roost and my logic is that if they get real cold they can atleast get in the light beam and warm up for the moment... hope that makes sense... Well if they will be ok then I will keep it off and see how it goes..... water hasn't frozen yet, but i'm not sure if that is from the light or not...​

 

[vtgirls]

LOL - my kids were grumping about winter here in VT and I told them we could move to Alaska since we're in the same temperature zone - they went oooooooo Alaska is way too cold. Funny our perception of things!
I also heard you can throw some hay down if choosy hens dont like snow under the toes....

 

[Tuffoldhen]

I don't heat my coops and one doesn't even have insulation and they do just fine here in WV. As long as the coops are draft free and they have good clean bedding down plus lots of food and water. We get blizzards and sub-zero days where they are not out and about in the runs. I keep heated dog bowls for their water and straw down for their feet when they want to be out in the snow in the runs. I've never lost a chicken to winter weather.

 

[woodmort]

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Please forget about wind chill--at least I hope you can as your birds should be out to the wind--that won't have the least bit of effect on how cold your chicken's coop will be. I'm sure that right now where I live is and has been colder than MA with a series of nights down in the low 20's and not only isn't the water in the coop frozen but I've still not closed all the windows. Not only are the birds fine, they're laying like crazy. Even on the coldest day--and it gets to 20 below here--the interior of the coop is 5 to 10 degrees warmer simply from the birds' body heat and the composting manure.

 

[Mrs MIA]

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[vtgirls]

dave - i noticed youre addicted to mcmurrays - all my birds are local sourced but i am considering buying from mcmurray this spring - have you done well with them?

 

[Mrs MIA]

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Kids!! You guys get a lot more "winter storms" than we do. But our winters are all over the place. Last year was mild... I rarely had to even give the temps a second thought. Two years ago, right after Christmas, we dropped to -25°F and stayed there for 15 days straight. It was a nightmare for me, hauling water. We're expecting worse this year based on those in the know, so I'm going to just see what happens.

Woodmort's right... they need someplace to get out of the wind, but the only parts that feel it would be the face/comb/wattles. They just tuck their heads under their wings and fluff up their feathers over their feet, and they're well insulated.

 

[Chickenaddict]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

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Minnesota is one of the few states I will listen to for advice on cold weather.

You guys get colder'n us sometimes!! I have two pens of ducks... I've learned that small containers filled a few times a day is much easier all around. The boys call them yuck-ducks for a reason!! This morning one of the mallards hopped right in the bowl, water streaming over her...

And I thought turkeys were clueless...

I DO heat my coop only because I bet a million dollars my little serama hen who weighs 9 oz wouldn't make it thru these crazy winter temps we have. If I had standard sized birds I wouldn't heat them. It all boils down to the weather in a specific area as well as the breeds. My cochin bantams survived -40 no problems besides a few spikes missing from the roos comb. We wen't from 60 one day to a full blown snow storm the next, thats hard on any bird.​

 

[davekrista]

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Please forget about wind chill--at least I hope you can as your birds should be out to the wind--that won't have the least bit of effect on how cold your chicken's coop will be. I'm sure that right now where I live is and has been colder than MA with a series of nights down in the low 20's and not only isn't the water in the coop frozen but I've still not closed all the windows. Not only are the birds fine, they're laying like crazy. Even on the coldest day--and it gets to 20 below here--the interior of the coop is 5 to 10 degrees warmer simply from the birds' body heat and the composting manure.

That is good to know. I am hoping to have all the drafts fixed and fully insulated by the weekend. Mine are not laying tha well. We have 10 hens and only 2-3 eggs a day, and some days we don't get any.