When to start heaters and heat lamps??

[21hens-incharge]

Clarification: I have 7 chicks that are 7 weeks old and fully feathered. They have been in their outdoor run for 1 week. It's a large under-deck run, with water-tight roofing and lattice over 1/4 inch hardware cloth for draft protection. The coop is a pre-fab boxed one from Tractor Supply. I converted it slightly (removed nesting boxes & replaced with an additional roost) to provide more space. I will be insulating the enclosed roosting area w/ reflective mylar when the weather gets colder and will also add some tarp to the north facing wall of the run. I have a dryer vent that adds warmth, too. I sometimes run it in the early AM just to warm things up a bit. So is this enough to get my girls (and 1 boy) through the winter, or should I add a coop heater for below zero temps?

Tarp run....yes but do leave room for air to exit up top.
Dryer vent....NO that adds a ton of moisture which greatly contributes to frostbite.
Insulation...no they like to eat it and shiny is the most attractive.
Heater...not in that tiny of a coop. Not enough room for those needing away from it to get away from it. This leads to overheating and possible death.

I recall a few years ago someone heating a small coop and the sleeping birds could not move away from it. They were badly burned.
Small coops and heat lamps=fire. Every year we see posts of coops, barns, houses being burned down because of heat lamps. Not kidding one little bit there.

The prefab coops rarely if ever have enough ventilation. Please post pics of your set up so we can assist.

 

[Ridgerunner]

To start with some photos to maybe help you adjust your thinking about chickens and cold. I took the first photo when it was +4 Fahrenheit (-16 C). I left the pop door open and let them decide if they wanted to come out. Since a cold wind was not blowing they came out to enjoy the day. If a cold wind were blowing they would have been somewhere sheltered.

My chickens hate waking up in a white world, they just don't like the change. It's not the snow that bothers them, just that it is different. It typically takes them two or three days to venture outside if it snowed overnight. But this snow fell during the day when they were already out. The change was gradual enough they just stayed out.

I've had chicks 5-1/2 weeks old go through nights in the mid 20's F (about -4 C) with no supplemental heat. My brooder is in the coop, I kept one end toasty but the far end sometimes had frost in it. Those chicks were acclimated. The coop they were in had great breeze protection down where they were but tremendous ventilation up high. I do consider ventilation, breeze protection, and acclimating important.

My brooder-raised chicks tend to start roosting at night when they are around 10 to 12 weeks old. I've had some start at 5 weeks but that is unusual. I've had some start a lot later, each brood is unique. But 10 to 12 weeks is pretty common. I think the way my coop is laid out might affect that. Until they start sleeping on the roosts they tend to sleep in a group on the coop floor. Not because they are cold but because they like the company. They tend to sleep in the vicinity of the heat lamp but I wonder if that is more because they are used to sleeping there when they did need heat.

Your goal is not to keep them warm. Your goal is to let them keep themselves warm. You do that by keeping them dry (which means good ventilation) and keeping wind off of them. I'll link an article by someone that lives where it really does get cold. They seem to think that -20 F (-29 C) is when they tend to see a difference.

Alaskan’s Article

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/

 

[chickmamato7]

Here are pics of my chicks & set up (in no particular order). Thanks for all of the great advice so far-- I suspected I might be doing some things wrong! I def would never use a heat lamp inside of the coop, though. I was thinking more in terms of a ceiling mounted Sweeter Heater or wall mounted Cozy Coop for use during frigid temps below zero. These heaters are deemed safe for brooders and coops, as they do not get hot to the touch. My chicks hatched on 8/4, but the Crevecoeurs are still pretty thin, so they are the ones I am concerned about. The Wyandottes & Beilefelder roo are already plump and hardy.

 

[chickmamato7]

Thank you so much for this helpful information. I will stop using the light tonight and no more turning the dryer on as a heat source. I will only add tarp to the North side of the run and keep the top 1/3 open for good ventilation. Should I be concerned about using the dryer once per week in the winter? It's a very well ventilated run-- open ceiling to floor on 3 sides... Or should I get busy inventing something to redirect the warm dryer air up and out of the runbefore winter?

I was so with you when I started chickens 15 years ago. I was making the mistake of worrying about keeping chickens warm. Since childhood we have been taught, close the door, trap the heat in.

And that is the wrong worry. Do not worry about keeping them warm, worry about keeping them DRY. Dry chickens are warm chickens.

To keep them dry, and thereby keeping them warm, you need to have deep dry bedding on the floor. You need to either remove dropping by using a poop board, or sprinkle the bedding with scratch once a week so the birds turn the bedding and break up the manure, drying it out.

You need to look at the position of the roosts. They should be placed so that birds have about 15 inches ABOVE their heads, away from the ceiling. And placed so that a bird is not right next to the wall. If too close to the ceiling or wall, their breath will collect on the wall or ceiling and rain down on them.

You need a lot of ventilation above their heads. You want the warm moist air to leave the coop, warm air naturally rises and will escape and not collect on the birds. The coop should act as a wind break, not a warm spot. A place to get out of the wind, that is dry is warm for chickens.

I also set up a wind break in the coop, a place to get out of the wind. I do hook some shower doors to it, so they have a little sun porch. But it is open on both sides.

I live in western SD, and we are frequently below 0, often -10 to -20, and a couple of years ago, -35 which is very, very cold. Healthy, well fed birds, came through that just fine.

The chance of fire is real, beware.

Mrs K

 

[chickmamato7]

To start with some photos to maybe help you adjust your thinking about chickens and cold. I took the first photo when it was +4 Fahrenheit (-16 C). I left the pop door open and let them decide if they wanted to come out. Since a cold wind was not blowing they came out to enjoy the day. If a cold wind were blowing they would have been somewhere sheltered.

View attachment 2341684

My chickens hate waking up in a white world, they just don't like the change. It's not the snow that bothers them, just that it is different. It typically takes them two or three days to venture outside if it snowed overnight. But this snow fell during the day when they were already out. The change was gradual enough they just stayed out.

View attachment 2341685

I've had chicks 5-1/2 weeks old go through nights in the mid 20's F (about -4 C) with no supplemental heat. My brooder is in the coop, I kept one end toasty but the far end sometimes had frost in it. Those chicks were acclimated. The coop they were in had great breeze protection down where they were but tremendous ventilation up high. I do consider ventilation, breeze protection, and acclimating important.

My brooder-raised chicks tend to start roosting at night when they are around 10 to 12 weeks old. I've had some start at 5 weeks but that is unusual. I've had some start a lot later, each brood is unique. But 10 to 12 weeks is pretty common. I think the way my coop is laid out might affect that. Until they start sleeping on the roosts they tend to sleep in a group on the coop floor. Not because they are cold but because they like the company. They tend to sleep in the vicinity of the heat lamp but I wonder if that is more because they are used to sleeping there when they did need heat.

Your goal is not to keep them warm. Your goal is to let them keep themselves warm. You do that by keeping them dry (which means good ventilation) and keeping wind off of them. I'll link an article by someone that lives where it really does get cold. They seem to think that -20 F (-29 C) is when they tend to see a difference.

Alaskan’s Article

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/

Thanks for the reply and pics! Okay, I'm going to relax and let let my babies acclimate with no assistance. I'm a kindergarten teacher and I deal with parents like me all the time... time to love them and let them grow!

 

[aart]

Here are pics of my chicks & set up

You could make the whole coop/run combo into a coop for more roost space. Nice run, saves you this winter.

Should I be concerned about using the dryer once per week in the winter?

Not seeing the dryer vent in the pics?

 

[chickmamato7]

It's by the window & food, in image #5020. I only do 2 loads per week and could easily vent the air into the laundry room rather than outside, since I don't use the dryer that often.

 

[21hens-incharge]

You could make the whole coop/run combo into a coop for more roost space. Nice run, saves you this winter.

Not seeing the dryer vent in the pics?

I think I see the dryer vent 4th pic to the right of the window.

 

[chickmamato7]

That's my plan, eventually, to turn the eastern wall with siding into an enclosed, flip open coop & keep the smaller coop in place to be used as a hospital/jail.

 

[chickmamato7]

I think I see the dryer vent 4th pic to the right of the window.

Yes, that's it. Figure I can just disconnect the vent & let the air vent into the room since I use it only one day per week, for 2 hrs.