Thinking about heating my chicken house

[Mistress-with-birbs]

I know a lot of people are against heating a chicken house or coop and say they don't need it, it's too dangerous ect. But I live in Northern Arkansas US and last year it got down to -3 F. I'm not comfortable with having my chickens go through that again. Previous years I've hauled hot rocks from my wood room to their house and carried 5 gallon buckets with hot water (keeping the lid on so as not to add water to the air) into their house to try to keep the temperature up in their dwelling. But this year I finally got electricity and light to my chicken house so now I have new options. (and lets be honest I'm tired of carrying really heavy things down an icy slope to my birds)
Flat panel heater on AmazonI am looking at one of these heaters, any thoughts? I want to do this as safely as possible. My little chicken house is not drafty, I have sealed up a lot of the cold areas, put a big chunk of foam in their window so it's sealed up good. But regularly it can only maintain about an 8 degree difference from the outside temperature at night. I currently have 24 chickens and they are free range until it gets bad with snow and ice and then I do keep them in their house. I know you don't want to ruin their cold hardiness so I'm not trying to make it like the Bahamas in their house, but I really don't like it when it gets into the teens in there. Especially when some of these total dumb dumb birds decide that January and February (the coldest months for me) are a nice time to molt and run around naked.
I want to try to do this safely so please let me know if there are safe heating options I can use and if the flat panel heater is a good one
Edit: my brother says the flat panel heater won't do me any good for the size of my house and says I need something like this oil heater

 

[WoDia]

The flat panel, radiant heater…. DO IT. It’s ONLY my opinion, but I use these in all 5 of my buildings. (Chicken and quail). They love cuddling up next to them on frigid Ohio winter nights. I set mine on ‘low’, and I think that’s enough heat (my coops are actually fully-insulated buildings though, so it works really well). The flat-panel heaters are the safest option, in my own opinion. You can wall-mount behind the roosts or set on the floor. If I weren’t using this safer option, I’d rather not supply any heat at all due to fire risk.

 

[nuthatched]

Flat panel heaters operate like brooder plates, they don't heat the air, but they will heat up the bird if their touching it. Not going to work with 23 birds.
There's no way to heat up a properly ventilated coop. Save your back and stop hauling heavy things. They WILL be fine.

 

[littledog]

Please don't heat your chicken house, and especially, DON'T seal up their windows! It's really unhealthy for them when they don't get enough ventilation. Blocking off the drafts below and at the same level where they roost is good, but not the upper windows! They really should have plenty of open ventilation above the level where they roost. Their poop creates lots of ammonia, moisture and heat, and you need good airflow above, to suck up and blow out all that unhealthy ammonia air.
Chickens do not suffer from just pure cold, they suffer from direct wind, moisture, and rain. -3 F. is not at all harmful for them, as long as they are not getting soaked from rain or having wind blowing directly on them. Especially since you have 24 of them - huddling up together on their roost, out of any direct drafts and with ammonia-laden air being drawn out from above them, they keep each other warm and it actually helps them all get along together.
One reason they tend to molt when the weather starts getting cold and chick-raising season is done, is because they get closer together and feel they can take turns depending on each other for warmth - a good thing for flock cohesiveness.

It's still great you now have power to your coop - the best thing you should do with that advantage, is to set up a heated watering system. Keeping fresh unfrozen water available to them at all times is a great thing you can do for them, such more healthy than heating the coop.

 

[nuthatched]

Did you seal all the vents in your coop?

 

[Mistress-with-birbs]

Did you seal all the vents in your coop?

Right now yeah, because they're only in there at night when they sleep. Last year I didn't have the window insulated and closed with foam so this year when it does get real cold and snowy enough that they have to stay in their house during the day I will probably have to crack open one of their vents at the ceiling to make sure moisture doesn't build up. I'm not too worried about ammonia I don't do the deep litter method I clean their house pretty regularly.

 

[nuthatched]

Right now yeah, because they're only in there at night when they sleep. Last year I didn't have the window insulated and closed with foam so this year when it does get real cold and snowy enough that they have to stay in their house during the day I will probably have to crack open one of their vents at the ceiling to make sure moisture doesn't build up. I'm not too worried about ammonia I don't do the deep litter method I clean their house pretty regularly.

You need 1 sq foot of ventilation per bird, reguardless of how often you clean the coop. I highly recommend you go uncover your vents and stop worrying about the cold, they'll be find.:]

 

[Ted Brown]

Winters in my location routinely have temperatures of - 3F and a couple of times -22F and lower.

I have a Woods fresh air coop the front of which is open year round. I have electricity at the coop but use it only to keep the water from freezing.

I use a high protein (20%) feed and most of my flock are cold tolerant (Chanteclers).

 

[DLA]

I know a lot of people are against heating a chicken house or coop and say they don't need it, it's too dangerous ect. But I live in Northern Arkansas US and last year it got down to -3 F. I'm not comfortable with having my chickens go through that again. Previous years I've hauled hot rocks from my wood room to their house and carried 5 gallon buckets with hot water (keeping the lid on so as not to add water to the air) into their house to try to keep the temperature up in their dwelling. But this year I finally got electricity and light to my chicken house so now I have new options. (and lets be honest I'm tired of carrying really heavy things down an icy slope to my birds)
Flat panel heater on AmazonI am looking at one of these heaters, any thoughts? I want to do this as safely as possible. My little chicken house is not drafty, I have sealed up a lot of the cold areas, put a big chunk of foam in their window so it's sealed up good. But regularly it can only maintain about an 8 degree difference from the outside temperature at night. I currently have 24 chickens and they are free range until it gets bad with snow and ice and then I do keep them in their house. I know you don't want to ruin their cold hardiness so I'm not trying to make it like the Bahamas in their house, but I really don't like it when it gets into the teens in there. Especially when some of these total dumb dumb birds decide that January and February (the coldest months for me) are a nice time to molt and run around naked.
I want to try to do this safely so please let me know if there are safe heating options I can use and if the flat panel heater is a good one
Edit: my brother says the flat panel heater won't do me any good for the size of my house and says I need something like this oil heater

What breed(s) of chickens do you have?

 

[Debbie292d]

I know a lot of people are against heating a chicken house or coop and say they don't need it, it's too dangerous ect. But I live in Northern Arkansas US and last year it got down to -3 F. I'm not comfortable with having my chickens go through that again. Previous years I've hauled hot rocks from my wood room to their house and carried 5 gallon buckets with hot water (keeping the lid on so as not to add water to the air) into their house to try to keep the temperature up in their dwelling. But this year I finally got electricity and light to my chicken house so now I have new options. (and lets be honest I'm tired of carrying really heavy things down an icy slope to my birds)
Flat panel heater on AmazonI am looking at one of these heaters, any thoughts? I want to do this as safely as possible. My little chicken house is not drafty, I have sealed up a lot of the cold areas, put a big chunk of foam in their window so it's sealed up good. But regularly it can only maintain about an 8 degree difference from the outside temperature at night. I currently have 24 chickens and they are free range until it gets bad with snow and ice and then I do keep them in their house. I know you don't want to ruin their cold hardiness so I'm not trying to make it like the Bahamas in their house, but I really don't like it when it gets into the teens in there. Especially when some of these total dumb dumb birds decide that January and February (the coldest months for me) are a nice time to molt and run around naked.
I want to try to do this safely so please let me know if there are safe heating options I can use and if the flat panel heater is a good one
Edit: my brother says the flat panel heater won't do me any good for the size of my house and says I need something like this oil heater

Here's the one we've used for 7 years. On nearly its lowest setting it keeps the 8x12' coop from freezing. Usually it's about 35-40F in there. We have it on a shelf about 4' high so the silkies can't get to it. With other chickens, you may have to fence it or something.