What kind of heat is good for the coop?

[McGoo]

Thanks Greg. I will be sure to not use cedar shavings for the DLM. And I've gone to a number of threads and taken mental notes. I'm sure I'll have quite a few more questions.

As for the 'false ceiling' I am not building a 'large' coop, just large for the 4 chickens that I have (and hoping to get about 4 more). We will insulate, but I need the ceiling area for roosting. I'm pretty sure that temps will be fine. I'm a little crazy about these gals and I'll hang a thermostat to keep an eye on things. Chickens survived without heated coops for a long, long time.

Colleen

 

[greginshasta]

Quote:
I figure we will have one of the digital remote thermometers so that we can watch it from indoors. One in the greenhouse as well.

 

[allen wranch]

Adding heat to a coop when the birds have to go outside the next morning into sub freezing weather is not good.

However, turning on a heat lamp (I would use red) every once in a while to take the chill off at night when the weather is excessively cold isn't going to harm their health and they will probably appreciate it; especially if you only have a few birds and a large coop.

 

[aran]

guys I spoke to several ppl at the local TSC here who have chickens in Rochester NY and all of them told me they provide no heat lamps, no light and no water warmers for the entire winter and none of them have lost a bird ( apart to predators) in the last 3 years...the birds eat the snow to get water...what do you think?

 

[foxtrapper]

Quote:
Attended a livestock workshop not too long ago where several veterinarians explained how well meaning people routinely kill livestock by heating the stalls. Same goes for chickens. The animals do not aclimate, and get struck down with illnesses and die.

I learned it myself several years ago with one hen and her chicks. She showed up with them just as the snows fell. I figured she was a gonner, as all she and the new chicks had were a little snow shelter. Quite the opposite happened, those birds did just fine. Heathy and active. The rest of the flock that lived in the coop moped about, feather picking and such. I learned.

I've watched them eat snow for water. If I have adequate snow, that's a viable option. But since most of the time I don't, I chose to keep water on them. I've done it with passive solar heat, or daily refilling of the bucket, and with a heated pan. All worked.

 

[coop]

Thanks for all the good information! I'm new to the forum and new to all this chicken stuff. I've got 12 chicks about 2 months old now and have been using a heater in the coop to keep nite temps at about 60 degrees. Sounds like I can turn the heat off and feel like I'm helping the chicks at the same time! We don't get a lot of freezing weather here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon but many nites do get near freezing. I've got a LOT to learn, but this forum seems to be the place for much of that education.

Coop

 

[WoodlandWoman]

We add supplemental heat during really cold spells. We don't add heat just because it's freezing. We do add heat when it's -20 for a low and the highs are in the minus single digits. With temperatures that severe, turning on a single heat lamp does not make our 8x10 coop feel like a day at the beach. Our goal is to take the edge off the cold.

Doing this has not made our chickens less hardy. We have not experienced any disease outbreaks. Our sheep and chickens haven't seemed too effected by weather in the low teens, but when it's below zero, and the farther below zero it goes, the more noticeable their discomfort becomes.

When people are advocating just letting the birds tough it out, what temperatures are they talking about? I think that would be helpful information.

 

[aran]

good point WLW....the temps here in Rochester in the dead of winter are highs in the teens and low 20s. ( at least in the last 3 years that i have been here). THere are occasions when it gets lower than that but rarely. My coop is behind the shed, out of the prevailing wind and has a big bank/dirt mound along the whole length of the run...I mean im worried about how im going to keep the run free of snow but otherwise i think they will be just fine without a heater. Im certainly not planning on heating my coop. I may provide them with light to keep em laying...we will see. I figure chickens have been around as long as its been cold and longer than there has been heat lamps and heated waterers so they will probably be ok. Plenty of shavings to nestle into and company to snuggle up with and i reckon they will do just fine.

 

[chickbea]

Ask for one answer, and get a million!

Personally, I heat to about 45 degrees in the winter, mainly because it makes it so much nicer for me to hang out with the girls. It's no fun chatting with the chickens and doing chores when it's ten below! I use a heater, but I suspend it from the ceiling to prevent tip-overs.
My girls are confined to the coop for most of the winter, because the snow is too deep for them to play outside. On the days I do let them out, I don't think the transition from 45 degrees is too much to acclimate to. (I don't let them out if it is below freezing).
I'm afraid I have a problem with livestock being given only snow as a water source. For one thing, it is absolutely illegal in my state (Vermont), and I'm sure it is in most states. Water must be provided in liquid form in a container and be available at all times unless restricted for veterinary procedures. Poultry must be sheltered in a place that prevents combs and wattles from freezing (doesn't specify that it needs to be a man-made structure, however).

 

[McGoo]

This is all great information. With all the differing opinions, I guess we all will do what we believe to be best for the gals.

Sounds like less intervention is best. I do plan to monitor the temp in the coop and supply water.

The new coop that we're building (okay- my husband is building and I'm supervising/cheerleading

), is similar to one at the byc site. It's got the coop on one end and a fenced in area around it. The plan for the winter is to use the coop for the snow free zone. I thought that I'd cover the fencing with plastic and make it 'greenhouse' like. That would make it comfy and I could set up shelves for starter plants.

anyone done this?

Colleen