What to heat my coop with???

[gofasterstripe]

Im SOOOOOO glad we live in South Carolina. We dont get cold really untill Jan/Feb. My ducks are in an old house, 2 to 3 feet off the ground in an 18 by 8ish room. Ive blocked off all the windows and 1 window has a 5 inch gap for air. I had foam mats on the floor and a sprinkling of shavings. I clean out every day so nothing is wet in there. When I walk in there to let them out in the mornings its warmer in there than outside. So me, im not doing anything other that what im doing now for the ducks. OH and I have 1 bit of flooring where the door opens that is covered with Linolium, and not the matting. When I open the door in the morning I have to open it slow coz they are all gathered behind the door on the lino and not the mats, Plus..they have their litter trays full of shavings and hay and feathers where they lay their eggs and its nice and thick in there.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Haven't added heat yet... due to dip to -10F again tonight... I have about 20 mallards with a little house they go into. I give them fresh water 3x a day, and they're fine. 3rd year with ducks.

 

[janastasio]

Thanks for all of the replies! I'm still on the fence of whether to heat or not to heat. I'm not overly concerned about the temps of 20's and above. We are currently expereincing those now, and all of the ducks and chickens are handling things nicely. I worry about the later months of sub zero weather. I don't want the inside of the coop alot warmer than the outside either, because I worry about temperature shocking them. They will still need to go outside for their water and if they want to swim. I'm hoping by keeping their water outside this year that that in itself will help. This is the first year I'm trying this. Past years we have used a heated water dish and filled it multiple times over the day. 6 gallon of water a day makes quite a mess in the coop and by the end of winter we had a huge ice dam in the middle of the coop! I do also plan of trying the deep litter method this year, so maybe that will work too.... not so sure how well that works with ducks though. I guess time will tell!

 

[Justuschicks]

Yes, not sure about the ducks but it works for my chickens. I also make sure my chickens have a nice thick roost so that they are able to sit on their feet. Maybe for the sake of the ducks, they could use a fresh sprinkle of litter more often then chickens would. At least where they spend most of their time sleeping. You don't want them laying in their poo. sheww wee

 

[CityChicker]

I think that heating for ducks, unless perhaps you live somewhere like Antarctica, is completely unnecessary. They just don't need it. Ducks thrive in cold weather. I have seen time and time again that, given the choice, they will be out in the cold weather rather than protected. Ours here absolutely love the snow. I have never lost a bird to cold weather, never. I would just make sure they have a protected area to get inside when they choose to, make sure they always have dry bedding, and make sure they always have access to enough clean water to submerge their heads. They will be fine without supplemental heat.

 

[duckfat]

Incidentally, each duck and/or chicken produces about 40 to 50 btu of heat. You may want to consider this when designing poultry barn heating or cooling systems.

 

[katharinad]

That's true that you don't need to heat a protected shelter. I do it for 2 reasons. The first is that this way the water will not freeze in the duck house. The second one is to keep egg productions going. I'm trying to keep it between 35 and 40 degrees. So basically slightly above freezing. I do have a remote heat sensor in the duck house to check on it. In the daytime they are locked outside without any heat. They do have a shelter with hay they can go into and hay on the ground. I did put the hay onto the ground when it went below 20. I wont remove it until spring so it will just stay there. I do grant them access to the heated duck house when it gets below 20 degrees. They do go into it once it hits 10 degrees. Quite interesting to watch their behavior. I've also noticed that they prefer to lay on hay instead of snow. They walk a lot in the snow, but rest on the hay. I live in the high mountain region of Oregon and can get bitter cold up here. This is definitely a region of concern, and there are plenty of regions in the US where I would not even bother with a small frost coming around. They like it when it is around the freezing point.

 

[Justuschicks]

I purchased a special plug that has a built in thermostat. It turns on when temps drop below 32 degrees and shuts off after temps get over 40. It is designed for heaters for water containers but also works well for coop heaters. I purchased a small 5" reptile lamp made by zoo med and purchased a small inferred light for that. (they make a safety cage for the outside too which I purchased) I didn't install it yet because I want to see if the chickens can get thru the winter with the layered litter. If I need to install it I will mount the plug and light on the inside of the coop.

 

[duckking]

Edited cuz I was talking chickens....ooooops. Different story.

Just have a 4w night light on for them and use the deep bedding method. It's been 1F at night and they have been just fine. Duck house is uninsulated and well ventilated. I do lock them up as we have lot's of predator's, but then they go into their house at dusk by themselves anyway.

 

[Hattiegun]

http://digi-sun.com/DigisunInfraredHeaterProductFacts.aspx

I have this heater.. the infrared works well at warming everything in the hut , not a forced air heat.. I just keep it on the lowest setting possible right now.. I think I use it more for me than them .. I HATE COLD !!!!!!!!!!!!...