COOP HEATERS

[mkrassin]

what TYPE OF HEATING UNIT WOULD BE SAFE FOR A CHICKEN House. i HAVE A PROPANE FIRED CATALYTIC HEATER
AND I WAS WONDERING IF THAT WOULD BE SAFE. IT WAS MEANT FOR A CAMPER TRAILER. SO THERE IS NOT AN
OPEN FLAME. i WOULD APPRECIATE SOME IMP UT. MKRASSIN

 

[ChickenCanoe]

NONE
Chickens don't need heat.
Because you're cold doesn't mean your chickens are.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Nothing burning Propane will really be "safe", and chickens normally dont need added heat anyway

 

[Hokum Coco]

My Coop is a salvaged 4x8 metal shed here are a few tips and a quick look at my set up.
My floor are planks with a layer of tin for rodent proofing. On top of the tin I have a piece of vinyl flooring cut one foot longer than the length and width of my coop (roughly). Six inches squares are cut out of the 4 corners of the vinyl flooring. This allows the friction fitted flooring to travel up the walls six inches around the perimeter of my 4x8 salvaged metal coop. Shovel out the heavy stuff into a wheel barrow. Pop out the vinyl flooring hose it off pop it back in.
Easy Peasy!

I have been around the sun 63 times.

It is not my first "Rodeo!"

Nobody "I know" heats a chicken coop.

Healthy "cold hearty" chickens die from heat not cold.

I live in Canada last year was subject to -40º (C or F take your pick) no light or heat in coop NO PROBLEMS. You have to feed heavier during cold snaps with extra corn I find.

Chickens have been raised on this continent for over a hundred years without heat.

If you feel you must supply heat to your chickens I suggest keeping your chickens in the house that way you can huddle with your birds when the hydro goes out.

Chickens will die from cold if not given the chance to acclimatize. Hydro is more apt to go out in an ice storm or blizzard when subject to below 0º temperatures in my opinion.

How would you supply heat then to your un-acclimatized birds ???

Diary of last winter cold snap check out the link:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/738994/chickens-arctic-conditions-prolonged-period

Watering
For along time I used heater tape around a bucket with chicken watering nipples. It worked excellent. However me being me I neglected to change the water as often as I should.

Last year I switched to white rubber contains the wife found somewhere. The freeze solid every night but the ice just pops out of them in the morning and I replenish them with fresh warm water. They have black ones at the feed store that are similar but large than mine.

The chickens congregate around them like people having their morning coffee. The only draw back is my yard is pepper with small ice bergs the size of the buckets.

April looks after that however..


I have used all types of litter for coops.

I have not tried sand (sand gets good reviews on this site).

Of all the things I tried to date wood pellets have been the best. (I tried wood pellets as a last resort when pine shavings were not available.) They are super absorbent and swell up and eventually turn to saw dust. The droppings just seem to vanish and turn to dust when it comes in contact with wood pellets .

Replace my litter and clean my coop every October after I harvest my garden.


Works for me in my deep litter method.

I do add to pellets from time to time.

I have anywhere from 10 to 15 birds housed in my 4x8 coop.

Through the winter months the pellets froze harder than concrete with -40º temperatures. The poop froze before it could be absorbed by the pellets and there was like a crusty layer of poop in certain areas where they collectively took aim (no smell, messy feet or flies @ -40º). Come April things started to look after themselves.

POOP BOARDS are the "BEST" addition yet. Handles well over ½ of the poop in my set up keeps ammonia smell in check 3½" below roost excellent for catching eggs laid through the night. I recently friction fit a piece of vinyl flooring over my poop board.it makes clean up even easier; Pop out; Scrap; Hose; Pop in.

In my nest boxes I fold a feed bag to fit (nest boxes are 1 ft³). When a bag gets soiled; fold a new one; pop out the soiled; pop in the new.

Easy peasy!.

Chicken coop is salvaged 4x8 metal shed.











I house an assortment of birds in this baby barn (¼ inch veneer plywood between birds and elements) no heat no light no problems.

 

[4 the Birds]

Since you are using Propane, my guess is that you don't have elec available. Without elec I would opt for no heat. You can pack straw in the coop and prevent drafts from hitting the birds in the coop. With elec you can opt for a brooder lamp if you choose to have heat/light. We also use hound heaters in the dog houses and goat shed. Very safe way to go and they only kick on at set temperatures (thermostatically controlled). Not cheap at around $90/unit but ideal for radiant heat during frigid weather.

 

[JackE]

No need to waste time and energy adding heat, that the chickens don't need. Let them properly acclimate to the colder weather and they will be fine.

 

[Rooster Rules]

Up here in my parts, Manitoba Canada, plenty of -30f weather every winter, -15-20, goes on for weeks too.
I have an insulated coop, 6ftX8ftX6ftH, windows that open, and a caged off area in 1 corner with a very small 700 watt, oil filled rad electric heater..
We don't have long or very often power outages, so were lucky, use heat to keep the edge off for the Bantams, especially the birds with large combs.
If you live in many parts of the continental USA, no heat is required,
I prefer to heat a bit for wicked cold weather we have that rivals Alaska no problem...The brooder light I do not use, but it is double attached with chain, and clamps, I can dang near swing on it with my 200 lb body, it ain't never falling. The bulb could get smashed though and hot glass fall into the bedding i suppose.

 

[BrickWall Honey]

Direct propane in an enclosed coop will generate lots condensate which will be worse than the cold.

 

[Rooster Rules]

Direct propane in an enclosed coop will generate lots condensate which will be worse than the cold.

You might as well have a woodstove in the coop, if your using propane or natural gas. The commercial barns up here use boilers, with radiant heat.
The type of heater I use, an electric oil rad, makes the air dry, and may be the safest heater you could ever use in this application.
I would not use propane in my shop,garage or home, infact do not use natural gas either, 100% electric, but it's very cheap in this area, because of all the hydro dams in this province...

 

[theabee]

This might be a silly idea, but if you live where it doesn't get to cold all the time, it might work at night. If you filled a waterer in the coop with extremely hot water and maybe even put gallon jugs filled with boiling water around the coop, would this produce enough heat (just for the night) to warm it on only the coldest nights? I guess you wouldn't want the water to be too hot in the waterer in case the chickies wanted a drink...

(thinking of chicken drinking boiling water). But gallon jugs could be filled with boiling water and placed after the chickies had gone to roost so they didn't bump into the hot jugs. It's like those water bottle heaters for bed to keep your feet warm!

I might try this when I get chickens... eventually... unless you think it could be dangerous in some way I haven't thought of.

What do you think? Would it work for a small coop for a few hours at night?