WINTER COOP Minnesota

[LynneP]

Electric dog bowls are far safer, I agree, and you can place them in a rubber stock bucket for more insulation and to keep them cleaner as birds perch on the rubber and bend forward to drink...

 

[ND Sue]

Thank you for the words of caution Lynne and Woodmort. I won't use my heat lamp anymore. I did use it last year and triple secured it so it wouldn't be able to come down, and had it up high so it would only help on the roosts and the chickens couldn't touch it. But I always had that "playing with fire" feeling in my gut, even though I felt it was secure. I read the sad stories of the coops burning down and killing all the flock. Are heat lamps also prone to wiring fires? Anyway, I'm done with it and don't want to tempt fate anymore.

Is it just as hazardous with the reptile type ceramic light? Is the hazard besides that it may fall down, that it could also ignite fires in bedding from a distance? Or does the wiring itself not hold up to hours of use?

But my flat panel heater, that I can't part with! It's staying!

How about these cookie tin heaters for waterers? https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=107951

I used one of them last year and had no problems. They are contained and seem safe to me... I used a plastic waterer which worked well with it. But would it be safer with a metal waterer? I was kind of afraid the chicken's lips may get stuck on the metal when wet and freezing, so I went with plastic.

I'm kidding!!!!

About the lips, but I am serious about the question of metal or plastic waterers on the heaters.
Thanks for everyone's help and words of caution.

 

[Luckytaz]

I have a 8x12 coop, the walls have R-13 insulation,the ceiling R-19. I use base heater for the water fountain, it has a thermostat to keep it just above freezing.
Also use a 60 watt light bulb with a timer, on at 3 a.m. off at 8 a.m. just for light. For ventilation their are two 12x12 vents, that are closable. Also two windows
that can be opened.
My chickens layed well, and didn't have any frostbite. The coldest I saw last winter was -27.5 , but have seen as low as -40 in past years. And I'm way south of
you, just 25 miles N.W. of Minneapolis. Woodmort the temps they're saying are not wind chill. It gets clod out here.

 

[Orchid]

Quote:

That cracked me up!

 

[sablevulpe]

Quote:
Those are DARN clever! I'll have to remember that! Now I just have to get cookies this december. Oh, the trials and tribulations.
thanks for posting...

 

[sablevulpe]

Thank you to everyone who posted!!! I have been reading a couple other posts about winter heating, and some folks in the south are worrying about when it gets "down" to 40.... Here, I'm thinking you mean 40 BELOW, right??? I have been really struggling with my decision to be very very frugal with heat because I am worried about fires. I have a heater for the water, a light that is outside of the coop shining through a window to extend daylight (hey, I want longer days, I'm sure they do too!) in a solid structure shed with insulated walls. I was feeling guilty, but I would much rather the chickens be a bit "tougher" on their own rather than provide a fire hazard to keep them toasty comfortable.

I keep coming back to the fact that my great grandparents didn't heat their barns in the winter, and I KNOW they were eatin chicken and eggs! (granted, I don't have the livestock heat factor they did, but buying a cow to keep the chickens warm seemed a bit excessive)

 

[Italian Chicken]

Quote:
I would have thought the soda bottle waterers would freeze. How did you keep them from freezing?

I just purchased a heated water bottle from the hardware store for $35. Works great.

 

[Chickenaddict]

I live about 45 minutes from downtown mpls and it gets pretty cold here. Our coop is 10 by 12 insulated with R-13. We have 5 windows, 2 on the south side, 2 facing west and 1 on the north. This is our first winter in the new coop so I am of course extremely nervous. We used to bring them into the garage which is attatched to the house until we built this new coop. I kept heat lamps in the garage for the first few years but then bought one of them heaters (biggest mistake in my life) My electricity bill was $300 a month!!! I mounted it on the ceiling of the garage and they got up there and perched on it pooping all over it, I ended up throwing it away at the end of the season. I run heat because I have an all bantam flock, alot of them being seramas. Woodmort these little 9 oz hens don't stand a chance in these cold mn temps even tho u might think so.

I plan on providing 1 250 watt heat lamp and that is it. There will be no pop door open, no windows open, plastic over windows and straw bales scattered around for them to hunker down in if need be. My birds hate the winter months they wouldn't even want to go outside if that was an option. I may add a second heat lamp if need be when the temps are in the -40 to -60 range. I also use the deep litter method to help create heat from their droppings. There are vents in the roof and if I need to crack a window I will but hopefully they stay nice and toasty out there. So far it hasn't dropped below 40 in the coop even on the coldest night which I believe was 17 degrees. The worst is yet to come for sure but I think I am pretty well prepared.

There are always gonna be folks telling you birds don't need heat, and depending on the breed they might not, orps do really well in the cold. Despite the mixed reviews you just gotta go with your gut and see how the birds are reacting to the cold and adjust it when need be. Straw is extremely flamable but pine shavings just kind of smolder so imo pine shavings are less of a fire hazzard then straw if your gonna go the heat lamp route. I also make darn sure the heat lamp isn't gonna come down if a human swings from it so it is very secure. Just my 2 cents.... best of luck to you and your birds.

 

[gordonburrito]

We have a smallish roost/lay area in the coop. We live in Missouri, but we had a terrible winter last year. Often our temperatures were lower than in Canada where my family lives. We bought a flat panel heater to keep the temperatures in the coop around the same temperatures that the chickens were accustomed too during the day while they were free ranging. That way there were no wild swings in temperature for our girls to adjust too and the chickens had a nice warm and dry roost area to recuperate at (typically around 34-38 F). It also provided a warmer area during the day to get out of the cold if they so desired. It is hooked up to a temperature sensitive thermometer so it will not turn on unless it is cold outside. The flat panel heaters are great because they don't take up a lot of space and they do not get hot enough to burn your hand on the surface. I did use a red heat lamp a few nights in the year but those were just exceptionally cold night. I watch the roost area temp with a electronic weather station type deal, so I can adjust things if I don't like what is happening.

http://essentialsforkeepingchicken.blogspot.com/2010/01/chicken-coop-heater-is-it-really.html

 

[neVar]

Saskatchewan here- we get up to -40C this is our first winter with this coop but we've done some -25C weather so far. I just updated my post of my coop. We're insulated- and have just a 40w bulb in for light (and a small amount of heat i guess). A heated dog bowl. So far no issues with moisture (it's a big coop for the number of chickens.

One ofmy chickens was even goofy enough to stick her head in the water and get her feathers wet in the coldest day- she was dry with in an hour.