Do you heat your coop?

[i_am2bz]

its ok to worry! its good to be cautious and ask questions

Thanks, OFG...I was starting to feel like such a freak...!

(BTW, DH lived in Iowa for several years & lived down the road from a big chicken farmer...he had a 175,000 btu propane heater in his barn...)

Oh - journey11, we put a board under the roost to catch the poo (both so I can scrape it off to compost it, but also to keep it from falling into the nest boxes)...but I can tell they're actually sitting on the board some nights...it must be warmer that way.

Thanks very much to everyone for your insight!!

 

[FarmerChick]

we have commercial chicken houses on the next road

he raised baby chicks for 16 weeks to process time....he had the big heaters. all depends on the situation whether those heaters are truly needed or not.

 

[Jen-pi]

I live in Wisconsin, and I dont heat my coop. I guess I figure it's survival of the fittest. It has been well below zero many nights. So far, they are all ok. They all look so big and beautiful with their extra feathers. I THINK they grow some extra feathers to keep themselves warmer.

I do keep their food and water in the barn. The water is sitting on a heated base. It still gets ice around the edges, but stays mostly liquid for the day.

I have a chicken heaven in the barn where I put down some hay and they can snuggle down in it and hang out. Actually, we have a resident bunny who is enjoying the alfalfa hay too!

I noticed the other day when I was hanging out with them that they sleep in the rays of sunshine that are shining through the barn door. It was cute.

 

[journey11]

I imagine with meat birds, you probably would want to heat the coop for better feed conversion so they would put more energy into growing rather than burning it to keep warm. I only raise mine in the spring, so that never occurred to me, but it does make sense they would do that for winter.

 

[Beekissed]

My meaties seemed to do much better when was cooler temps outside....and seemed to suffer in the heat. I think their metabolism is so high that they stay pretty warm....sort of like someone who has been exercising and becomes over-heated.

They always seemed so hot to touch...could be why they never fully feather out like most birds, with a full coat of down under the feathers.

 

[chud]

I live in wisconsin all i do is give them a smaller place to live in like a small house in side the coop out of drafts and up off the floor close to the top of coop where all the heat is anyway . my grandad would put a goat or sheep in there with them he said they give off more heat than a bunch of chickens so it would stay warmer than needed some time

 

[i_am2bz]

my grandad would put a goat or sheep in there with them he said they give off more heat than a bunch of chickens so it would stay warmer than needed some time

I can just see the look on DH's face when I tell him I want to get a goat to keep the chickens warm!!

 

[hoosier]

I'm a born worrier (that goes along with being a born pessimist ), so I always wonder whether I'm going off the deep end, especially regarding my critters.

I think we may have been separated at birth!

 

[I'm A Gardener :)]

I don't think you need to. I have little bantams and 6 leghorns and some other breeds, and they ar efine without it. We get - degrees her sometimes too.

 

[i_am2bz]

I'm a born worrier (that goes along with being a born pessimist ), so I always wonder whether I'm going off the deep end, especially regarding my critters.

I think we may have been separated at birth!

Hey, I'm not alone...??!!

Well, I haven't gone "cold turkey" (ha ha) but I have cut back on the heat lamp...I know they hate it anyway (who could sleep with a light shining on you all night??)...but last night it didn't get below freezing, for the first time in forever, so I cut it off completely.