I'm thinking about winter and wondering about a heat lamp? Do any of you do this? I'm thinking about one of those heat lamp timers that turn on when it gets below 33 degrees. Does anyone use these?
There are a LOT of threads on here about this. There are people in FL who run a heat lamp and people in Minnesota that don't. You do not have to keep the coop above freezing, but you do have to be sure it is well ventilated. Here's a writeup that is a good place to start: https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-winter-coop-temperatures Also contains a link to an excellent page about ventilation.
Where do you live? Unless you live where there are weeks of sub zero weather, I'd say you don't need that other than to maybe keep water from freezing solid. Ventilation is very important up high, though, even in frigid weather, to keep moisture from building up in the coop and causing frostbite. Yes, we have many, many threads on this very subject, lots of good reading.
Ok, so you do have some very cold winter nights, then, considering your elevation. I wouldn't think you'd need to worry too much since you have a fairly dry climate, but if I lived where you do, I might at least have a heat lamp suspended over the waterer or one of those thermocubes plugged into a waterer defroster. Chickens do much better in cold weather than hot, thank goodness. Deep straw for bedding is warmer than shavings in extreme cold. Your coop setup and the number and size of birds living there factor into your decision as well. They generate body heat themselves and feathers are great insulators.
Im not sure how cold it gets where you are, but i am in NH. Last year I used a heated water base to keep the water thawed and that was it. I had bantams last winter and had a broody hatch chicks in the dead of winter!
