A het chicken henhouse is something that people in regions of the United States where the temperature drop dramatically from October to April often consider to keep their birds from stop dead . Here ’s how to keep your flock safely fond throughout the wintertime by ply hotness via one of these three strong options .
Heated Chicken Coop Dangers
My husband Jae recently partake some sad word with me . A duad of his colleagues had lose their full Gallus gallus coop over the weekend to a fire . All but one of their hens had perished ; the lone survivor had to be euthanized , her trauma too extensive to do by . Scorch marks on the outer brick of their mansion show how tragic this incident could have been .
I await at Jae and say two word : heat lamp . And of form , it had been .
Search the internet and you are bind to find heaps of examples of henhouse flaming make by heat lamps . As with this local blaze , the domestic fowl owners tend to be incognizant of the inherent risks that come with using a searing - red-hot lightbulb over such combustible materials as drinking straw and pine shavings .
3 Ways to Safely Keep Your Chicken Coop Warm
Infrared heating panels are popular in nursing home improvement because they can transfer heat quietly , without the use of fossil fuels and with no bulbs or filters to maintain . Most commonly found in bathroom and yoga studio , these panel are easy to use : put on them on a wall or ceiling , punch them in and wipe them down every so often . These trait make them ideal to use in a Gallus gallus coop . Simply position them beside or above your rod , and your hoot will keep strong all winter .
lend incentive : The dust in your henhouse wo n’t get kick up because these panel do not drift aviation so as to heat up .
Drawback : The initial layout can be costly . Infrared heating panel can cost from about $ 100 to more than $ 300 , which can be a lilliputian pricey for the debutante mint owner .
A strain - and - on-key method acting , deep bedding material relies on in - situ decomposition reaction to heat up the henhouse . As the pine paring become soiled with droppings , fresh litter is added on top . As more fresh bedding material is added , the soiled litter is compressed and start to decay in place . The decomposition process let go of natural heat , which warm up the coop and its inhabitants .
supply bonus : When it ’s clip to clean out the cage descend spring , you ’ll have plenty of fresh compost as a spin-off .
Drawback : Your coop must haveproper ventilationto prevent an accruement of accelerator pedal that could be harmful — or fatal — to your flock .
When used properly , a heat lamp provides an effective rootage of warmth for your chicken . If you use a heat lamp , do some research rather than plunking the first one you see into your shopping handcart .
add bonus : Heat lamp , for the most part , are inexpensive .
Drawback : hotness lamps are also ridiculously easy to install incorrectly — which is a risk to your flock .
Jae shared our commiseration with his confrere and gently reminded them that I am just a telephone call or textual matter message away when they ’re ready to equip their new coop . I only wish they ’d call me back in October , when they first hung their uncaged lamp from a cast - iron planter crotchet . They thought they would provide heating system for their hens . Unfortunately , they did n’t pull in how much .
This story about a het chicken coop was written for Chickens magazine . Click here to sign .
