It's been miserable cold here in the Carolinas today and it's supposed to be no higher than 32 F for the next three days followed by high 30's for the week. It's also supposed to be down in the low to high teens for the next week at night. So this morning we decided we were going to try adding some heat to the coop. Since the coop is almost a hundred feet from the nearest power supply we thought we'd try something different. We set out to Lowes this morning to buy a couple of those 5 gallon water jugs like the thosed used for gasoline. But on the way we decided to go by the Post Office and when we were cutting through the back of the parking lot behind the Mexican eatery we spotted two of those five gallon white jugs that used to hold frying oil that restaurants buy. They were just laying by the curb. Both had the screw-on caps and they had sturdy handles and they were in great shape. So in the back of the pickup they went and we aborted our approach to Lowes and saved ourselves another $150. Yeah, I know two five gallon water jugs don't cost $150, but when we go to Lowes we can't seem to get out of the place without spending at least that much. Hey, I've got the receipts for the coop and run to prove it...
Tonight at 8:00 I checked the temp on the remote themometer in the coop and it read 32.5 F. I'd already locked the Gals (19 Gold Comets) up for the night so they were already on their roost and were huddled together keeping warm. I filled both of the jugs we found with hot water from the bathtub and topped each one off with a full kettle of boiling water from the stove. Then both of the jugs were placed in the center of the coop which is 4'X7'X4' inside. By 9:00 the temp was up to 35.9 F and just now when I checked it the temp was 36.5 F. The outdoors temp is already down to 21 F and falling. I doubt that they will hold the temp until morning but it's better than nothing... I hope. I'm hoping that I don't end up going back over to Lowes to buy a 100' extention cord and a heat lamp because that'll be a $150 trip...
Tonight at 8:00 I checked the temp on the remote themometer in the coop and it read 32.5 F. I'd already locked the Gals (19 Gold Comets) up for the night so they were already on their roost and were huddled together keeping warm. I filled both of the jugs we found with hot water from the bathtub and topped each one off with a full kettle of boiling water from the stove. Then both of the jugs were placed in the center of the coop which is 4'X7'X4' inside. By 9:00 the temp was up to 35.9 F and just now when I checked it the temp was 36.5 F. The outdoors temp is already down to 21 F and falling. I doubt that they will hold the temp until morning but it's better than nothing... I hope. I'm hoping that I don't end up going back over to Lowes to buy a 100' extention cord and a heat lamp because that'll be a $150 trip...
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