# Keeping chicken coop warm in winter



## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

In the winter sometimes the wind chill is -50 degrees F... and I've had hens for almost 5 years and have always used heat bulbs as they're light source and heating but I've heard that they can create fires. I can't think of any other ways to heat my coop or give them light to be able to see when they're stuck in from all the snow. 

I hang up 2 lamps, one in the roosting area far from any bedding and about 4 inches from where the hens sleep. The other heat lamp is in the run and is 3 feet above ground where I put down straw for my hens. It seems fine to me, what do you think?


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

I never pay attention to "wind chill"... I guess I am too old fashioned.

However, I do have horrific wind where I am at... Where you simply can't breathe if you are walking into the wind.

Because it is so windy, wind blocks are excellent! I still haven't put up a good wind block for my main run, but the building itself does block some.

Insulated coops help a tremendous amount, but only one of my coops is insulated.

I do not heat. Last year I used a few strings of Christmas lights (the new kind that produce no heat so much lower fire risk) to help light the runs and coops.

In the past, and maybe this year, I will use lightbulbs on timers. The new kinds that stay cool, again for lower fire risk. This year I have more people that 
I sell eggs to, so I want a bit more light to keep their production up.

Ventilation is much more important than heat. Most people do not have enough ventilation. 

So many coops burn down, that is frightening. 

If you are going to heat, make sure that the lights are held up in at least two different ways. Make sure that if a giant wind gust blows through your run, or a chicken bangs against the light, or flys against the light, or the light bulb busts (sometimes they explode when breaking), that the lights will not fall down or cause a fire.

Also...where the plug enters the outlet is another risky point. 

Some people that heat use panel heaters, or other things that have a lower fire risk as well as lower electrical use than heat lamps.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I think I would put the plugs into one of those strip things that snaps off if theres a problem.
It's been easy for me to tell who's cold in the morning if any. They stay fluffed up for a long time. I don't know what I'd do , but I would end up providing heat. You can always set up a smoke alarm that points toward your house thru a vent or something. I have fans running all summer. With humidity, misters don't work well. But fans really do.


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

They stay fluffed all winter up here. Fluffed just means that they are making their down coat warmer.

What is funny is when it gets super cold, like -10F and colder, and even the skinny leghorns turn into something that looks like a butterball.


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

Fluffing the feathers traps air between the plumage and the body that is warmed by body heat, just like a down coat on us. A fluffed bird is a warm bird, if they are truly chilled they will shiver and sit in the penguin stance.

My biggest fear with heating the coop is not fire - it's power outages. If the birds are not used to extremely cold temps because you heat, they will have not regulated their down growth or bodies to accommodate cold. If your power goes off you run the risk of losing the flock to hyperthermia. Not a risk I ever wish to take.

The key to warm birds is a draft free coop with a thorough-way of ventilation high over their roosts to keep the warm, damp air generated by the birds moving, and an increase of feed - usually with slow digesting, high fat foodstuffs like corn - to stoke the bird's internal furnaces.


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

Yeah, I have lots of outages.

And even with my professionally wired coop -roll eyes- they clearly did not realize how much electric a deicer pulls, so it is ALWAYS TRIPPING MAN!!!!!

very frustrating. Especially because mid winter in order to reset the tripped switch, that they ran THROUGH AN EXTERIOR OUTLET ON MY HOUSE, you have to slide like a penguin down a giant snow berm, reach through all of the junk on the bottom shelf of the garden bench (I do try to make sure that there is a clear arm hole space) and hit the button on the blasted outlet.

I guess when the kids all leave me, I will have to pay money to fix that.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Thanks everyone


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Hi again-
I just wanted to ask another question about my coop in the winter. Its gettin to be around 30 to 40 degrees out and it actually has snowed the last few days so should I be getting the heat lamps and insulation out soon?!!


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## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

I am not planning on heating, but am putting rope lights on in the winter. We are putting thin styrofoam insulation in the walls, to block drafts from coming in between the boards. The floors are designed to be removable plywood with either tiles or linoleum on top. that way if they rot, we just pull them out and replace them. I live in the Piedmont-Triad area of NC, pretty much the middle of the state. We may get in the teens once or twice a year for a couple of days. From what I understand, the biggest concern is water freezing. Do I need to think about heating on those sub-freezing times?


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

I don't heat our coop but when it's really cold I'll close the door except for a little door at the bottom for circulation and I'll do the same with window. We have about 5 to 6 weeks of freezing day and night. They've done well so far. Their body heat is plenty.


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

I keep lots of venting open all of the time. 

I do not close up the venting even when we hit -20.

Ventilation is very important.

Heat Lamps will easily catch a coop on fire. I do NOT heat.

Down to about 20 or 15F I just bring out water twice a day... Fresh water brought out in the morning takes several hours to freeze when it is that warm.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

Even with our door closed and the window partly closed there's plenty of open areas for ventilation in our coop.


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## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

Alaskan said:


> I never pay attention to "wind chill"... I guess I am too old fashioned.
> 
> However, I do have horrific wind where I am at... Where you simply can't breathe if you are walking into the wind.
> 
> Because it is so windy, wind blocks are excellent! I still haven't put up a good wind block for my main run, but the building itself does block some.


We don't have that strong of a wind, but where we are situated, all of it kind of gets "funnelled" straight up to us. So I have been thinking of what to use for a windbreak/block. I saw a neat idea on pinterest of using clear shower curtain liners seemed like a relatively effective/inexpensive way to go. you could just screw in little hooks to attach to the grommets under the eaves. In the summer you could use the hooks for windchimes decor etc  It may not be enough for you Alaskan, but here should suffice


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

I live at 9200 in colorado, I am below freezing for the most part of nov-june. I do not heat my coops anymore, as I nearly had a coop burn down when the light dropped down. If it wasnt for where it dropped it would have caught fire, it happened to fall below the waterer and the ground was wet so it just smoldered until I got home from work and was able to identify and fix the problem. 
I use a security light to light my coops, 2 are in the big coop, one in the small coop. The first light is set to a time to give the flock the needed day hours. the second is on a motion detector outside the coop. If anything approaches the door the light turns on, lighting up the outside of the coop, but also the inside. My thinking was if something gets through the door at least this way they can see the attacker and my roo, kanye west, can have a chance defending the flock.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

This is a bit different but since I have silkiies and 2 older fat hens that sleep in the nest boxes, how bout removing the roost? Let them pick a corner to sleep in and then pack it heavier with shavings or straw. Straw is pretty heating. When you lay in it. You may want to figure out if you could put one of those electric blankets or pads under the shavings with plastic on top. Like a heated floor. But see if they all sleep together in a group. I would be trying that too.


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## Nm156 (May 16, 2015)

Mine survived -24 without heat last winter.

February 20 2015
http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/sandusky-mi/48471/month/333667?monyr=2/01/2015


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

I don't have electricity to my coop. We use a solar powered bright light for when the days are the shortest. usually late December, January and February. We don't have cloud cover very much unless rain or snow is moving in , so it works well.


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