North Iowa. Otherwise known as Antartica of the MidWest. -10 to -20 temps are fairly common, and -60 is generally a once or twice per winter occurence. Average night time temps are single digit by December, already we have had several single digit nights and the water has been frozen rock solid half a dozen times. The barn is neither heated, or insulated so we will be watching the birds closely in case they have issues with the cold, but they are all heavy breeds that are supposed to be cold hardy, so crossing our fingers. When it gets below zero we will probably run a few lamps to take the chill off at night, but I know they need to build hardiness to the cold if they are going to survive, so no plans to baby them. Just lots of deep litter and fluffy friends to snuggle with.
We use double walled galvanized waterers, so when they freeze, they are a real bugger to get open and take apart, let alone to bust the ice out of without ruining them. I have 4 different pens going, for 50 layers, 2 ducks and 12 turkeys, so it has become an issue already. I had planned on using the heat bulbs as I didnt want to shell out the cash for four heated bases, but I see now a month's worth of electricity for running four bulbs would likely cost as much or more, so I am just going to bite the bullet and order the bases.
