Will a light bulb keep chickens warm in the winter?

[gjoyner]

I am new to the chicken deal and wanted to make sure that I have all my ducks in a row. In the winter, will an ordinary light bulb keep the chickens warm or do I need a heater? If so, what wattage?

 

[Judy]

Where are you?

 

[patandchickens]

If you choose your breeds right, chickens keep THEMSELVES warm enough, down to quite cold temperatures (like well into the minuses Farenheit). This presupposes dry air (i.e. good ventilation) and no drafts blowing at the chickens.

Not only do chickens not run up your electric bill the way a bulb (heat or otherwise) does, you'll never hear of *chickens* accidentally burning down the coop.

If you are in an exceedingly cold climate, or have unwisely-chosen breeds, or are keeping them in poor conditions (humid air, etc) then yeah you can run lamps to provide supplemental heat. Whether you need a regular bulb or high-wattage heat lamp just depends on how much heat you need. There is nothing special about heat lamp bulbs, really -- they produce essentially the same heat as any other bulb of that wattage. So for something less intense than the 175 and 250 heat lamp bulbs they sell, you can use (most people choose red) floodlight or regular ol' lightbulb bulbs, in whatever wattage(s) you need.

If you're going to worry about your chickens being cold, it's really worth insulating the coop. It will retain daytime and chicken-generated heat much better, thus need less heating, thus make things comfier for non electrically heated chickens and allow you to spare your electric bill as much as possible if you *do* run a lamp.

Most people don't need heat lamps though, if the rest of the system is designed right.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[big greg barker]

What Patandchickens said. My breeds are chosen for winter climates and my coop is dry and draft free. We had a run of below zero weather for 3 weeks this past year with no problems.
The only reason I run lights in the coop during winter is to simulate 16 hours of daylight so my hens keep laying me all kinds of eggs all year long.

 

[chickens3]

chickens only need lights when they are young that is it you have to wait for them to grow there feathers and they will be fine my chickens are 7 weeks old i live in southen michigan and they are fine outside right now. In the winter the feathers will keep them warm.

 

[Betsyann]

so i am a newbie too and have some questions about light/heat etc.
we live on cape cod ( new england) so winter can be iffy either way.
do we need to have a light to keep them laying ?
do we need to have a light to keep them warm. we have 12 rhode island reds with a new coop that doesn't have insulation but is weather proof and well built
thank you for all the advice you will have to offer. your forum offered us so good advice when our run got really stinky. and it is not now
Betsy

 

[Troop1379]

I have sexlink chicks and it is getting down into the 50's at night and i want to go but a heat light on them. I guess since I think I am cold they are cold. I live in Va and was wondering the same thing.
How cold does it have to get before you turn a heat light on?
How do you keep the water from freezing?

 

[OldGuy43]

This subject comes up a lot. I always like to refer the poster to this thread:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/421122/think-its-too-cold-for-your-chickens-think-again

 

[blazingmist]

If you choose your breeds right, chickens keep THEMSELVES warm enough, down to quite cold temperatures (like well into the minuses Farenheit). This presupposes dry air (i.e. good ventilation) and no drafts blowing at the chickens.

Not only do chickens not run up your electric bill the way a bulb (heat or otherwise) does, you'll never hear of *chickens* accidentally burning down the coop.

If you are in an exceedingly cold climate, or have unwisely-chosen breeds, or are keeping them in poor conditions (humid air, etc) then yeah you can run lamps to provide supplemental heat. Whether you need a regular bulb or high-wattage heat lamp just depends on how much heat you need. There is nothing special about heat lamp bulbs, really -- they produce essentially the same heat as any other bulb of that wattage. So for something less intense than the 175 and 250 heat lamp bulbs they sell, you can use (most people choose red) floodlight or regular ol' lightbulb bulbs, in whatever wattage(s) you need.

If you're going to worry about your chickens being cold, it's really worth insulating the coop. It will retain daytime and chicken-generated heat much better, thus need less heating, thus make things comfier for non electrically heated chickens and allow you to spare your electric bill as much as possible if you *do* run a lamp.

Most people don't need heat lamps though, if the rest of the system is designed right.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

I have a few different breeds of chickens, 3 brahmas, cinnamon queen, bard rock, astro, speckled Sussex, sapphire gem, coop does have a draft. No insulation at this time. Do you think its a good idea for a bulb 250 watt red? The low will be -7 here soon.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I have a few different breeds of chickens, 3 brahmas, cinnamon queen, bard rock, astro, speckled Sussex, sapphire gem, coop does have a draft. No insulation at this time. Do you think its a good idea for a bulb 250 watt red? The low will be -7 here soon.

What is astro? Australorp?