What type of light?!

[ButtersMama]

Thank you Sharol! This makes sense to me

This is our first winter with our 5 chickens and a 4 x 4 coop with a 4 x 6 run. I am enclosing the run with 6 mil to keep the wind and the snow out. As I mentioned above I put weather stripping on the door of the coop and the plastic over the window to stop any drafts. We have ventilation at the top. I am thinking of purchasing the waterers with nipples to keep the chickies from spilling and creating more moisture than is ideal.

I love this forum. Everyone is so helpful and share so many ideas.

Thanks again. Good luck everyone with keeping your feathered friends healthy over the winter.

 

[sharol]

I have a heated waterer that I put up on cement paving stones (about 6" above the litter level). By raising it and putting it under a shelf where their food is, there is lots less spillage. I haven't put out the heated waterer yet, but it won't be long. It is just harder to handle than the summer one, so I stall until the water starts forming ice overnight.

Good luck with the coop/run. The enclosed run will really create more stretch space for them during the day. They might like some straw in the run to scratch around it. Others say that hay isn't a good idea, but straw has bits of grain and lots of potential for entertainment. Mine seem to really like their straw.

 

[threeduckfarm]

If you're interested in radiant heating panels may I suggest Kane heating mats. They also go by pig blankets. They are very popular among those of us who keep large reptiles and cheaper than the sweet heat panels. You can mount them several different ways. As for heat lamps, I use the red livestock heat bulbs and stainless fixtures with the bulb guard runnig 365 days a year. Coop fires are a result of negligence. If you do feel you need to run a heat bulb and follow common sense precautions like making sure your bulb are fixture are rated for each other and you hang your bulb in such a way that if the first hanger breaks or gives way that there is a second safety hanger in place to keep your fixture from falling. Never use the clamp on clips that come with the fixtures they will give way. If you use an extension cord make sure you're using a heavy duty outdoor cord and don't string a bunch of them together. For added safety wrap some electrical tape around the plugs to insulate them from water and debris. Use cord hangers to keep your electrical cords up and away from your animals and once a week make sure that your bulb is free of dust and securely screwed into the socket. If you follow these simple steps you'll never have a problem but do look into the panels as they provide even more peace of mind. I use 250 watt heat bulbs all through the year for my tortoise and then turn in the Kane mat as well in winter.

 

[MissJenny]

I know my chickens don't NEED heat -- but the thing is I need my chickens to have heat -- they're fine, I am not. I hang a heater from the ceiling, so it doesn't touch the floor or the hens. I run it when temperatures dip below 20. With my little heater I can raise the temperature in the coop by about 12 degrees. With that I feel soooooooooooo much better.

♥♥♥♥♥

Jenny

 

[GardenGal]

We bought a ceramic reptile heater for our chickens. It's very nice, screws into a light socket, and really pumps out the heat. However....after reading up on the BYC, I'm learning that it's best for the chickens to acclimate to the cold, so I haven't used it. We've had a couple nights so far that dipped to 25 degrees, and they've done really well. The hardest thing is letting them toughen up, because they're my babies! But they're happy and busy, and incredibly healthy. They're developing some fabulous down jackets as well. If you're concerned about your chickens, stand around in your house for 5 minutes in a down jacket and you won't feel so bad!