heating chicken coop?

[ridinglizzard]

My chicken coop is small and well insulated. I am trying to figure out the best way to heat it to keep my 6 banties warm all winter (up in Northern Canada). I am thinking a heat bulb should do it.

What do other people do to heat their coops during the winter?

 

[ARose4Heaven]

No heat in my henhouse. Well, I might put a heat lamp in the nest room. But then I have a large henhouse, and 150 birds, so they generate a lot of heat. It gets cold here... -15f is just about the coldest we get. It's usually more like 20f.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Quote:
I'm in southern MB and for the winter I provide my banties with a heat lamp. What kind of banties do you have?

 

[AlaskGirl]

Hello from the middle of Alaska, I use a red-bulbed heat lamp and an additional light to ensure laying. My coop is 8x10 and I have more birds than I need so that they generate more heat. It can get to -50 in February but this method works in my insulated coop. I also have a window for them but the moisture has built up in deep winter, this year we have a better vent so that should eliminate moisture.

 

[ridinglizzard]

I have 3 cochins and 3 silkies and a pekin duck in a space about 4x8x4. The sad part is that I have covered the windows with insulation, so there will be no natural light once I start keeping them in all day. I am thinking that a red heat bulb is the best option for heat... Will this suffice?

 

[silvercat76]

We insulated our walls, floor and ceiling when we built our coop last year. We use a heat bulb in a coop 8x8 with six birds last year and this year we have about twenty for the winter. We are thinking about moving our coop over by our outdoor wood burner and putting a loop in there for heat at no cost. We do all of our work so it doesn't cost us anything but time. Some people don't think a heat bulb is needed but we like having fresh eggs, plus our coop is far away from our house that is a fire was to happen we would have notice. Good Luck but I think your on the right track with insulated walls and a heat bulb. You might want to add some hay when it gets colder as we do because they can fluff it.

 

[kittycooks]

I live in Minnesota and it gets very cold here. The only heat I have is a 100 watt night black reptile bulb in a brooder cone. You can find these in pet stores for about $10.00. Silkies are winter hardy and while they love to snuggle inside our coats they seem to tolerate the cold just fine. My hens don't sleep under the heat cone but do go under it once in a while to warm up when we get to < minus 10. I don't turn the heat on until it is about 15 degrees or less.

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

My coop isn't insulated. I only turn on the heat lamp if it gets -20 or colder. So, just most of January.

I used to have it on all winter, until my coop burned down from a heat lamp.

 

[cute chicks here]

Are red bulbs the best? I bought a 50 watt red bulb and put it facing the doorway of my insulated dog coop. Its hanging from the dog crate run and aims in the door. It isn't real cold here yet so I shut the little door I made but I was thinking of leaving it open and aiming the light into the coop. Will this keep them awake all night though? I want my girls to sleep ok.

 

[Chickpeep]

Hi all,
I was worried about leaving my girls out in the cold all winter. I didn't know that much about wintering the girls. We now use the Deep layer method (Deep layer of shavings) and what it states in this thread on letting the girls "Weather" the winter. Hope this helps.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=7708370

P.S. The coop is not insulated, and we live in Rhode Island. Cold in January till about mid march.