winters coming and I need to get ready.

[Wood Dude]

I'm in Indiana where the temps can hit -8 and typically hover around or below freezing. I need your advice on how and what to heat during the winter. We are using an automatic watering device that uses nozzles that the chickens peck for water. The water container is outside the coop.
the bnew coop must work for winter and summer. Summer temps can hit 100 degrees.

 

[Emma Miriam]

Hi! I'm in the northeast, so different area but similar winters. I would highly recommend NOT heating your coop. Chickens are surprisingly hardy, and slowly adjust to low temps during the fall and winter. If, however, you have a heat lamp, they won't adjust...and if the power ever went out (as it often does in snowstorms), your birds won't stand a chance. Of course, there's also the risk of fire with heat lamps. (If you're absolutely set on heating the coop, I've heard the Sweeter Heater is the safest option.)

That being said, there are some things you can do to help. Make sure there are NO DRAFTS blowing on the birds, but that there is VENTILATION up above the heads of roosting chickies. People here on BYC recommend either 1 square foot of ventilation per 10 square feet of floor space, or 1 square foot of ventilation per bird. The former is the minimum you want for winter, and the latter more of what you want for summer. It's great to have vents/windows that open and close so you can control the amount of ventilation.

If you have a run, I'd also recommend covering three or three-and-a-half sides of it with a clear tarp or plastic sheeting to block some of the wind (http://www.thegardencoop.com/blog/2011/11/25/chicken-coop-plastic-wrap-winter/).

The Deep Litter Method can also generate heat in your coop during the winter. Here's a good article on that: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/10/the-deep-litter-method-of-waste.html. It's especially important to have good ventilation if you do deep litter.

As far as heating the waterer, I use a nipple waterer as well. Is yours a bucket, or a more sophisticated design like the Chicken Fountain? If you have a brand name or a pic, I can help you more. In general, many report success using the API 250-D 200-watt heater, sold on Amazon, in their nipple waterers. This is my first year with chicks, so I can't tell you if it worked for me...sometimes the vertical nipples will still freeze even with a heater like that. Personally, I think I'm going to buy the Cozy Hen waterer for my three chicks this winter...15 watt vs. 200 watt makes a big difference in the electricity bill!

One last bit of advice. If you have any room in your coop, I'd move the waterer inside for the winter. The coop is generally a bit warmer and certainly more sheltered than outside, and unless you have a roofed run, some chickens won't like venturing out in the snow.

Hope that helped!

 

[FTCMRose314]

Following I live in southwest Michigan with similar winters and summers, i'm leaning towards building my coop so i am looking for ideas!

 

[thomasboyle]

Ditto to what Emma recommended.

Your chickens don't need a heat lamp. They each produce about 5 watts of body heat, so a small flock can be their own heat lamp.

My coop is a large shed, which is insulated and has southern facing windows. Last winter we regularly had temps down to -20 overnight, and the coop never went below 20 degrees. And I keep the windows open all the time for proper ventilation. I wrap my run in clear plastic shower curtains, and this keeps the wind out and acts as a greenhouse. Often the temp in the run would be 30-40 degrees warmer than the outside temperature. I found my waterers never freeze if I wrap the run. Before I wrapped it, the waterers would be frozen in a couple of hours.