6.5 weeks upper 20’s temp heating mat/pad use question

[Magnolia76]

Yes as soon as they are good with coming and going I will be moving the food and water permanently to the outside! So you feel that I am safe with them experiencing 29° at night this weekend. That’s good to hear thank you so much

 

[Magnolia76]

I’m sorry if my posts are all mixed up I’m still trying to figure out how to reply on my cell phone

 

[Magnolia76]

I love these babies lol. It’s been so fun watching them come out and explore earth for the first time! After this weekend passes and they are OK I will be so much better because I will know they are fine with age on their side. I really need them to be tough because winter here can get rough.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I think they should be fine, they're pretty well feathered already and are already adjusting to the cooler temps outside.

The ventilation is at the ceiling. No I cannot get the entire top Cut open but I have about 11 of those circle vents you see one of in the pic. I plan on adding more of them.

Problem with small circle vents is when you add up the amount of sq ft of ventilation they provide, it's surprisingly little. The best style of vent to add to this type of coop is in the soffits, like this: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/coop-modification-recommendations.1517556/#post-25543595

 

[Magnolia76]

I think they should be fine, they're pretty well feathered already and are already adjusting to the cooler temps outside.

Problem with small circle vents is when you add up the amount of sq ft of ventilation they provide, it's surprisingly little. The best style of vent to add to this type of coop is in the soffits, like this: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/coop-modification-recommendations.1517556/#post-25543595

Thanks for the tip! I definitely am going to revisit my venting before winter. This coop kit has beams up high so not a ton of places to add more venting but I had planned on adding more where I could. I actually could just cut a hole on the one side soffit and make that bigger instead of the circle vents.

 

[Magnolia76]

So I went ahead and got this k&h heated plate last night. It’s the highest level of fire risk I’m willing to take. It’s just a hard shell pad. It only got down to 48 last night. I had it propped against the wall next to their roosting bar. Nobody moved over to it. The temp inside the coop is the exact same as it is outside. The pad is warm to the touch like the warm spot in a bed if you roll over. I guess the warmth rises up and out the venting. They say burning a small candle in a cold stranded car will warm it up a few degrees….so trying to wrap my head around the concept of vents. If heat escapes up top then inside the coop will always be the same temp as outside? Is there any reason to insulate in winter if the heat escapes? I really thought this heating pad would at least raise inside temp by a few degrees. (I have Bluetooth therm in it). I’m just gonna leave them be this weekend when it drops into upper 20s as I’m probably worrying about nothing but I’m also thinking for winter when it can go 20 below. I’ve never raised Chickens in a cold climate. Love any advice! I understand I need lots of venting. Moisture is the enemy. I plan to change bedding completely and not do deep litter as while I know it creates heat it has to create moisture too and I don’t have tons of vent space. I was going to line the walls snd ceiling with reflectix insulation in winter also as my wall is just thin osb board. But if heat escapes….I’m confused lol. Will they just be the same temp as outdoors no matter what I do

 

[Blooie]

I‘m in Northwestern Wyoming not too far from Yellowstone Park. This is my coop and hoop run in winter. We can get wind gusts of up to 90mph, (unusual but has happened) with 60mph being our more normal gust speeds. I do not insulate my coop, nor do I heat it. I have operable windows on all but the north side of the coop. They are always open at least a crack on the downweather side. I also used floor vents, the kind used for forced air heating in our homes, on the upper walls on all four sides. They are also usually in the open position except on whicjever side bad weather is blowing in from. The gable vent above the people door is always open, as is their pop door into the plastic covered run. This has been my setup for the past 8 years. I’ve never lost a chicken to cold, nor had a case of frostbite. Even my Silkies do very well. A small, rated-for-plastic stock tank heater in a 5 gallon bucket fitted with horizontal nipples provides a steady supply of unfrozen water.

i raise my chicks outdoors from the start in a wire brooder pen in the run, even when our springtime “chick season” temperatures are in the twenties, dipping into the teens. I detest heat lamps too, so they use Mama Heating Pad as their heat source. In fact, it’s supposed to get down to the same temps you’re going to experience this weekend, and I have chicks out there right now. Three of them are 2 weeks old, the other 8 are a week old. They’ll be fine. They’ve already acclimated.

I evicted my first indoor, heat lamp raised chicks at 5.5 weeks. That was April 1, 2014. That night the temperature dropped to 18 degrees. The first two days they had a heat lamp, but those 2 nights when I went out to check them they weren’t anywhere near it. They were sleeping in a comfy pile in front of the pop door. The third day, April 3rd, I took it out, and it snowed hard with high winds that night. We got our last snowfall on June 6th. That’s when I realized that THEY didn’t need those arbitrary temperatures - my own peace of mind and the “experts” did. Done and done.

I grew up in South Dakota. I know how unpredictable spring is there, just as it is here. I think your chicks will be just fine. Temporary dips in temperatures are different than trying to contend with the long months of deep winter. They can cope with both quite well, but we, on the other hand, can worry ourselves into quite a state!

 

[Magnolia76]

So I went ahead and got this k&h heated plate last night. It’s the highest level of fire risk I’m willing to take. It’s just a hard shell pad. It only got down to 48 last night. I had it propped against the wall next to their roosting bar. Nobody moved over to it. The temp inside the coop is the exact same as it is outside. The pad is warm to the touch like the warm spot in a bed if you roll over. I guess the warmth rises up and out the venting. They say burning a small candle in a cold stranded car will warm it up a few degrees….so trying to wrap my head around the concept of vents. If heat escapes up top then inside the coop will always be the same temp as outside? Is there any reason to insulate in winter if the heat escapes? I really thought this heating pad would at least raise inside temp by a few degrees. (I have Bluetooth therm in it). I’m just gonna leave them be this weekend when it drops into upper 20s as I’m probably worrying about nothing but I’m also thinking for winter when it can go 20 below. I’ve never raised Chickens in a cold climate. Love any advice! I understand I need lots of venting. Moisture is the enemy. I plan to change bedding completely and not do deep litter as while I know it creates heat it has to create moisture too and I don’t have tons of vent space. I was going to line the walls snd ceiling with reflectix insulation in winter also as my wall is just thin osb board. But if heat escapes….I’m confused lol. Will they just be the same temp as outdoors no matter what I do

View attachment 3114579
I‘m in Northwestern Wyoming not too far from Yellowstone Park. This is my coop and hoop run in winter. We can get wind gusts of up to 90mph, (unusual but has happened) with 60mph being our more normal gust speeds. I do not insulate my coop, nor do I heat it. I have operable windows on all but the north side of the coop. They are always open at least a crack on the downweather side. I also used floor vents, the kind used for forced air heating in our homes, on the upper walls on all four sides. They are also usually in the open position except on whicjever side bad weather is blowing in from. The gable vent above the people door is always open, as is their pop door into the plastic covered run. This has been my setup for the past 8 years. I’ve never lost a chicken to cold, nor had a case of frostbite. Even my Silkies do very well. A small, rated-for-plastic stock tank heater in a 5 gallon bucket fitted with horizontal nipples provides a steady supply of unfrozen water.

i raise my chicks outdoors from the start in a wire brooder pen in the run, even when our springtime “chick season” temperatures are in the twenties, dipping into the teens. I detest heat lamps too, so they use Mama Heating Pad as their heat source. In fact, it’s supposed to get down to the same temps you’re going to experience this weekend, and I have chicks out there right now. Three of them are 2 weeks old, the other 8 are a week old. They’ll be fine. They’ve already acclimated.

I evicted my first indoor, heat lamp raised chicks at 5.5 weeks. That was April 1, 2014. That night the temperature dropped to 18 degrees. The first two days they had a heat lamp, but those 2 nights when I went out to check them they weren’t anywhere near it. They were sleeping in a comfy pile in front of the pop door. The third day, April 3rd, I took it out, and it snowed hard with high winds that night. We got our last snowfall on June 6th. That’s when I realized that THEY didn’t need those arbitrary temperatures - my own peace of mind and the “experts” did. Done and done.

I grew up in South Dakota. I know how unpredictable spring is there, just as it is here. I think your chicks will be just fine. Temporary dips in temperatures are different than trying to contend with the long months of deep winter. They can cope with both quite well, but we, on the other hand, can worry ourselves into quite a state!

Wow thank you so much for this post! I love the area you live in! That’s a great idea to use the floor vents so you can close or open!! Y’all definitely get a ton of snow there! Everything you stated is what my gut says and you’re right my mom worry has taken over. About an hour ago I actually just boxed up the heating pad and I’m gonna take it back to the store. My original plan all along was to raise birds that can handle the climate we live in and I don’t wanna go back on that now and chicken out lol. I just put a huddle box in there for them and my gut says they are going to be just fine and responses like yours make me feel much better thank you so much!

 

[Blooie]

Wow thank you so much for this post! I love the area you live in! That’s a great idea to use the floor vents so you can close or open!! Y’all definitely get a ton of snow there! Everything you stated is what my gut says and you’re right my mom worry has taken over. About an hour ago I actually just boxed up the heating pad and I’m gonna take it back to the store. My original plan all along was to raise birds that can handle the climate we live in and I don’t wanna go back on that now and chicken out lol. I just put a huddle box in there for them and my gut says they are going to be just fine and responses like yours make me feel much better thank you so much!

You are so welcome! In the beginning those guidelines from experts are meant to help new chicken owners, and for the most part they do. But it doesn’t take long until we start scratching our heads while we do what “they” say we should, and wondering why we’re doing it. Common sense usually kicks in about that time for some of us…..for others those things become habit and they just won’t budge.

Think about this….if a two pound hen can successfully raise her broods outdoors among the flock regardless of weather, without heat lamps, charts, books, experts and web sites, why do we do it so differently and think we’re doing it better? By the age of your chicks, they’d be away from mom most of the time because they all wouldn’t fit under her anymore anyway. They may roost next to her, but they aren’t using her for heat anymore. Listen to your gut and to your flock.

 

[Magnolia76]

View attachment 3114579
I‘m in Northwestern Wyoming not too far from Yellowstone Park. This is my coop and hoop run in winter. We can get wind gusts of up to 90mph, (unusual but has happened) with 60mph being our more normal gust speeds. I do not insulate my coop, nor do I heat it. I have operable windows on all but the north side of the coop. They are always open at least a crack on the downweather side. I also used floor vents, the kind used for forced air heating in our homes, on the upper walls on all four sides. They are also usually in the open position except on whicjever side bad weather is blowing in from. The gable vent above the people door is always open, as is their pop door into the plastic covered run. This has been my setup for the past 8 years. I’ve never lost a chicken to cold, nor had a case of frostbite. Even my Silkies do very well. A small, rated-for-plastic stock tank heater in a 5 gallon bucket fitted with horizontal nipples provides a steady supply of unfrozen water.

i raise my chicks outdoors from the start in a wire brooder pen in the run, even when our springtime “chick season” temperatures are in the twenties, dipping into the teens. I detest heat lamps too, so they use Mama Heating Pad as their heat source. In fact, it’s supposed to get down to the same temps you’re going to experience this weekend, and I have chicks out there right now. Three of them are 2 weeks old, the other 8 are a week old. They’ll be fine. They’ve already acclimated.

I evicted my first indoor, heat lamp raised chicks at 5.5 weeks. That was April 1, 2014. That night the temperature dropped to 18 degrees. The first two days they had a heat lamp, but those 2 nights when I went out to check them they weren’t anywhere near it. They were sleeping in a comfy pile in front of the pop door. The third day, April 3rd, I took it out, and it snowed hard with high winds that night. We got our last snowfall on June 6th. That’s when I realized that THEY didn’t need those arbitrary temperatures - my own peace of mind and the “experts” did. Done and done.

I grew up in South Dakota. I know how unpredictable spring is there, just as it is here. I think your chicks will be just fine. Temporary dips in temperatures are different than trying to contend with the long months of deep winter. They can cope with both quite well, but we, on the other hand, can worry ourselves into quite a

You are so welcome! In the beginning those guidelines from experts are meant to help new chicken owners, and for the most part they do. But it doesn’t take long until we start scratching our heads while we do what “they” say we should, and wondering why we’re doing it. Common sense usually kicks in about that time for some of us…..for others those things become habit and they just won’t budge.

Think about this….if a two pound hen can successfully raise her broods outdoors among the flock regardless of weather, without heat lamps, charts, books, experts and web sites, why do we do it so differently and think we’re doing it better? By the age of your chicks, they’d be away from mom most of the time because they all wouldn’t fit under her anymore anyway. They may roost next to her, but they aren’t using her for heat anymore. Listen to your gut and to your flock.

Definitely! I went against Google and turned the heat lamp off several weeks before I was supposed to just because they seemed fine and I wanted them to be tougher albeit they were in my bathroom. Google and my head aren’t jiving with these chickens lol. Thanks so much! I need them to be tough chickens to live here! So far they’re doing so great and I’m thrilled! Appreciate the logical advice!