Truth time...when do you put the heater in the coop?

[The Lone Free Ranger]

Hmm...very interesting topic. Have I messed up by keeping a light on my birds at night year round here in Texas? Does NOT get cold compared to what most of you are dealing with. My birds are 9 months old and have NEVER had a night without the light on them.

 

[johnsons-r-us]

Quote:
Well, a light is not the same as heat? Or doesn't have to be. We have a light to keep them laying but it's not a heat light/lamp. And it's off all night. Just on in the am and pm for a few hours of extra light.

I would think they might want to have it dark at night. Gives them a "normal" 24 hour time period.

 

[AlienChick]

I am too afraid to heat my coop because of the humidity/frostbite issues.

It stays unheated and there's plenty of ventilation at the top since all the eaves are left open.

 

[Ksane]

Quote:
I'm in Oklahoma, so close to you. I don't think me and you need to have any kind of heat on our birds. This is my 1st winter with chickens, what's concerning me is keeping the water thawed. You definitely don't need a light at night and it's way too early to even think about heat.

 

[pips&peeps]

I will put a small "milkhouse" heater in my smaller coops by the waterer to keep them from freezing on extreme cold nights.

My big house has never frozen, too many bodies I presume. I have left all the windows open so far this year in it.

 

[The Lone Free Ranger]

Quote:
Thank you! It is a heat/light lamp. I guess I should try to get them adjusted to not having that at night before it gets "cold" here. The coldest we get here is MAYBE 2 or 3 days of freezing temps. Not too bad really. One of the reasons I love living here.

 

[Imp]

Quote:
When I got my first chicks, years ago, (had hens before that) I was very unsure about raising them. An older man at the feedstore overheard me asking questions and not getting satisfactory answers. He approached me and answered my questions. He said that he had had chickens forever and offered this advice about light in the coop. He said either no light ever or light all night. Said that trying to time it was not a great idea, that the slightest variation could take a long time to recover from. So since the bulk of his advice was full of common sense and logic; I believed him. I have since had a light in the coop 24/7 with no adverse effects. They lay fine, sleep fine, do not go blind or any of the other horror stories I've heard. I have no interest in changing now, since has been successful for me. I also don't think that just supplementing light is a problem either.

Imp

 

[The Lone Free Ranger]

Quote:
You are right.

 

[JackE]

No added heat ever, except for the cookie tin heater for the water fount. The front of the coop is open year round, NO problems with frost in the coop, or frostbitten chickens.
Jack

 

[Fred's Hens]

It's a barn. Impossible to heat and unnecessary. -20 is common enough, -30 a bit rarer.
Yes, to heated dog bowls for the water pails.