When is a coop heat lamp needed???

[patandchickens]

See the "Cold Coop" link in my .sig below for a much longer discussion of the subject.

Readers Digest version: in your climate you would probably not need a heat lamp for sensibly-chosen breeds, but because high humidity (due to weather) is a concern it would be nice to have the ability to turn on a lamp if problems should develop. An extension cord, intelligently used, would be at least a viable emergency measure; in the long run it would be nice to have electricity run to the coop for lights anyhow.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[toletiquesbysam]

I have a heat lamp in my coop to keep my water from freezing. I use a large rubber tub like thing for my waterer during the winter and the heat lamp hangs above it enough to keep it from freezing. Otherwise I would not use a heat lamp at all.
I run an extension cord from the house to the coop since there is no electricity in the coop.
I did not want to spend extra money to buy a heated waterer and had the heat lamp from when they were chicks in the brooder so it was a no brainer. I did everything possible to keep the heat lamp "fire" proof and so far so good!

 

[anjbagley]

My situation might be totally different. Where I live we stay in stretches of below zero for a long time and nights commonly get to -30. I insulated my coop very well. I read that drafts are what cause a lot of the frost bite so I tried to make it pretty draft free. When it gets down in the - degrees for a long time I put vasoline on the combs of my roos, the hens keep their heads under wings. I have never used a heat lamp (I do run a regular light to get my 14 hours of light for laying) and it has worked out fine. I have one blue andalusian that the very tips of his points got frost bit which makes me sad- he has a huge comb and not the smartest breed for where I live. I think that if you keep the drafts out your humidity should stay low in the coop and you should be fine.

 

[oregonn8v]

I have received a lot of great advice. Where we live, as I mentioned, the temperatures stay fairly mild. If we have more than a week long stretch when it is under freezing here it is a cold stretch. It may get below freezing at night for a few weeks, but almost always warms up to high 30's or low 40' during the day. In the Portland city limits we are only allowed hens, no roosters but I don't think that should make any difference unless all hens shelter their heads under their wings.

 

[Manok-Tao]

I agree with all previous posts. I think the main thing to look at is proper ventilation. If you do not have enough then when its cold the air in the coop may be damp (? have too much moisture); this is not good for a chickens respiratory system and can lead to terrible things.
there is a memeber named Pat (patandchickens) I think that has a great page on this topic. I'll try and find it and post it........
Found Pat's page ...Big Ole Ventilation Page, but not sure how to copy/paste it. If you do a search using the Search icon in the blue bar at the top of the page...type in patandchickens into the members name block then scroll down and hit submit.....click on any entry....at the bottom of Pat's signature will be links to her ventillation and cold weather pages
Hope this helps...sorry I couldn't paste them here

 

[Montana-Hens]

I pick hearty girls for Montana winters and they live just fine in their insulated unheated coop. I think ventilation is the key. I do use a water heater, but that is my on concession to electricity.

 

[RocketDad]

I used a lightbulb in a cinderblock to keep the water from freezing, and I had a couple of incandescent lights to help stretch the day. I fenced off one nest box and put a cheap space heater in it, turned all the way down (tried using a thermocube - it seemed unreliable) during the worst of the cold snap this winter. Kept the coop about 45 degrees. Turned it off as soon as I could, but the night temps were really low for a while.