what kind of heat lamp should I get?

[sannarella]

We live in Wyoming and just got a coop and 5 chickens. The coop is about 5 feel long and 2-3 feet deep with a caged run below. We are letting the chickens out during the day but I've heard that we need a heat lamp to keep them warm and laying during the winter. What sort should I get? what wattage bulb? Do I need to keep it on 24/7 or just at night or during the day? thanks in advance for your advice. Sarah

 

[pawsplus]

Some people here are adamant that chickens don't need supplementary heat. Maybe not, but I prefer to provide it in the wintertime. I love my birdies and see nothing wrong w/ making life a little easier for them.

I have a brooder lamp hood (Home Depot) that takes a 250 watt infrared bulb. I have that hung above the top roosts (where they prefer to be) and it is on at night ONLY. The chickens pretty much never go into the coop except at night--their food and water are in their covered run.

Hope this helps!

 

[fireguy56]

Hi Sarah, Just a suggestion. Ya might wanna go to Learning Center tab on site...lots of good advice for newbie. Folks here are very helpful but kinda need alittle more info or photo of coop. Age of chickens, breed, type of construction, ventilation, etc.....all of this to consider as far as needing heat. Good luck,
Erik

 

[Imp]

Quote:
First off, Welcome to BYC.

Just a couple of things
Light not heat will encourage the hens to lay. About 14 hours a day of light will do it. It does not need to be terribly bright. If it is easier to leave it on 24/7 that is an option.

Adding heat is a choice you can make. Chickens can survive very cold temperatures. But there is much more involved than just the ambient air temp. You should be looking into being sure that they are not in drafts, but still have adequate ventilation. The fluxuations in your weather. Insulation of your coop. The cold hardiness/ breeds you have.
Also take into consideration the how you view your chickens. If they are pets to some degree, that may affect how you want to keep them.
If you choose to heat the coop, be sure that you do so safely. There are other options besides a heatlamp. Lots of people do heat their coop without problems. There is nothing wrong with making that decision.

Imp

 

[ECBW]

24/7 lighting? Are we running battery chicken farm?

I used light in the past and found that PM lighting is useless, they just perch and wait for darkness. AM lighting got them up and feed. This is the purpose for lighting.

This winter, I plan to test the other theory, no lights. Some say that chickens will be better off getting the rest as nature intends.

Some might say that you MUST have 14 hours of light. Well, my area is getting 12 hours at this time and my production rate has not changed. As day gets shorter, I plan to see if and when the production changes.

 

[TN_BIRD]

There was a youtube video posted on this forum a few days ago where a guy took some incandescent Christmas bulbs and put them inside a PVC tube. He spliced the wires and added a thermostat. The bulbs heated the tube just enough to provide some warmth without provided too much light (i suspect too much light might keep the chicks awake all night????).

 

[pawsplus]

Infrared heat lamps do not make it bright--that's the whole point of them.

The chickens are not kept awake and as someone else said it won't do a thing for their laying.

If you want to extend daylight for them to encourage laying, that's a whole other issue, having to do w/ LIGHT, not heat.

But it should certainly never be 24/7. Just a few extra hours a day.

 

[goldies99]

chickens dont need heat for the winter.....if the light should go out for some reason the chickens could suffer the the temp change...
better to NOT heat your coop....

 

[SteveBaz]

Welcome to the BYC

How old are your chickens? No one has asked. cant put them out until fully feathered thats 6 to 8 weeks especially in the winter. They say week 1 90* week 2 85* and go down 5* a week until summer or not needed. I have been convinced that by heating them they do not get a proper introduction to learning how to stay warm themselves. By 6+ weeks they will need maybe heat in the night only but must have an area big enough to get out of the heat too. I have traveled through Wy enough times to know there is plenty of snow there and heat is a must in your sub 0 days and nights. Good luck

 

[chrislemurs]

they make a no light heat bulb for repitails if you would like to give them the heat without the light.