weather related question

[31665]

18 week old chicks out side all summer, now (in northeaster ohio) it is getting cool at night. Should I close their door on the cool evenings or should I leave it open so they will slowly get used to our winters. I was thinking that if I leave it open like I did all summer they will be more tolerant of the colder weather when it comes.

 

[ScottK]

My dad grew up on a farm in South Dakota. He never saw a frozen chicken - he swears. The only heat was for the waterer. That was 50 years ago and now I need to find one of those water heaters soon.

 

[FarmerMack]

Quote:
Thermo cube, cinder block, 40 watts appliance bulb, and a bulb socket that plugs into an entensiion cord worked well for me all last winter

the bulb goes up under block into one of the holes, set a black rubber pan on top with a 4-5 gal bucketl/w lid into the pan. drill 2" hole in the bucket about 2 inches from the top turn it upside down into the pan it gravity feeds. worked great for me all last winter. thermo cube is on at 35 degrees off at 45 degrees.
the total cost was less than buying dog dish or simular item

Farmer MacK

 

[swampducks]

Quote:
Excellent!!!!

I googled thermo cube and found Amazon has a seller that has them for 14.99 plus shipping (I suspect a local hardware store might have something similar if not the same brand).

I've never even considered using a cinder block. Great idea!

 

[FarmerMack]

Quote:
It works well just don't buy a cheap extension. I found the thermo cube TC3 at 23.99 delivered at this site off ebay someone called apelectric. I just bought a second set up for my second coop.

this is a new setup. make sure floor is clean under the cinder block. I set an extra socket on top so you could see what it is your looking for.

 

[swampducks]

Are you saying that little cylindrical plug thing is the thermo cube? Because when I google it this is the thing that keeps popping up.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=5507

 

[FarmerMack]

Quote:
No that is the plug in socket for the 40 watt appliance bulb. The thermo cube is plugged into the other end of the extension cord, In my coops i use a small power strip. The thermo cube isnt in the picture and yes that link is the correct item for a thermo cube. I plug the water heater system and my heat lamp into the thermo cube as it has two places available

 

[swampducks]

Thanks, I'm easily confused by electricity.

It was not my strong suit in college, if I can't see it, it's not really there, is it?

 

[ScottK]

disregard - this was a duplicate message

 

[ScottK]

Thanks for the info on the thermocube. I will order one of those right now. Didn't mean to hijack the topic, but hey - water freezing is more bothersome than chickens freezing.

So with the thermocube not in the cinderblock, the heat is just on all the time until the coop is 45 degrees? That means it would be on pretty much all winter? If you put it in the cinder block with the light, then there would be just little bursts of heat - enough to keep the water thawed?

Scott