Sponsored Post Tips From Nutrena: The Heat is On, But is heating the coop really necessary in winter?

[New2ChickenPoo]

I am new to raising Chickens also. I put extra shavings in the Coop before it started getting cold. I live in Alabama too, just hasn't been to cold anyway. We've had a few nights down around 20 and mine were out walking around and doing better than I thought they would. I did notice they had bed down in the shavings. Wind is gonna affect them like it will us. Wind is gonna get em before the cold does. When I built my Coop, I was gonna build it airtight as I could, now I am glad I didnt. I have to keep thinking what were Chickens doing before Coops? They're pretty tough birds.

 

[Heatherlyn]

I read somewhere that if you have at least 4 hens they can keep themselves warm using body heat if they are in a small well-insulated, draft-free area. The same article said if you have fewer than 4 hens and it gets below 20 degrees that a 60 watt black light would be all you'd need for heat. Incidentally, I have 3 hens and use a 165 watt bulb. It seems to take some of the edge off. It's still pretty cold out there. My hens are doing fine.

 

[bgrantalasykes]

How about days reaching below-20? We get about a month or so where temperatures dip below? This is my first winter with them, but we have 25birds in one large coop.

 

[JesNflock]

To all the "New Eggs" HI and WELCOME to BYC!
~I live in Northern Florida, so it doesn't get anywhere near as cold as most places, but we do get freezing temps at night some nights throughout the winter. I first thought, when I was going to start raising chickens, that I would need to heat the coop on those hard freeze kind of nights, but after some research decided that it would be counter productive, so instead I have made sure to design the coop with lots of ventilation without letting them be in a draft especially on those really cold nights. I also plan to do the deep litter method to help with getting through winter. Great article!

 

[Allysha1990]

I could certainly see why many people don't provide any heat, but what about somewhere like where I live, Manitoba Canada? During the worst periods of winter it often stays around -30'C for weeks on end and sometimes gets into the-40s'c? My hen house isn't insulated but is solid with no drafts.

 

[StacyAK]

I live in Alaska and am new to chickens. I am using my Grandpas old coop that is built onto the back of his garage (we are neighbors) and he had a blower vent (like the one in your bathroom ceiling) installed in the wall to blow warm air from the garage into the coop. With that going it stays about 20-30F inside the coop and is also good for ventilation. It has been getting well below 0 for about a month and everyone seems to be doing fine. As long as the sun is up all the ladies and ducks are outside in the run. Even at -10. Main reason I heat the coop is so I don't have to deal with waterers that are frozen rock solid. I have the water right in front of the blower vent so it keeps everything nice and thawed

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I could certainly see why many people don't provide any heat, but what about somewhere like where I live, Manitoba Canada? During the worst periods of winter it often stays around -30'C for weeks on end and sometimes gets into the-40s'c? My hen house isn't insulated but is solid with no drafts.

There is an Alaskan chicken owners thread on BYC somewhere, and if you search for Chickens in Alaska you should be able to find out what other Northern chicken owners do to help their hens through the winter.

 

[Utard]

Well this is good to know. And one less thing to worry about.

Thanks

 

[Sharon Bee]

I have 11 chickens which are 6 months. They are in an unheated coop but I do have their water heated.

Why do some of them have bare behinds now?Is there sosomething wrong or are they molting?

 

[Sharon Bee]

Never mind...I found the correct thread.