Re: New plan for chicken house

From: Jill (news_at_REMOVETHISkintaline.co.uk)
Date: 08/04/04 

Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2004 21:56:50 +0100

Karen Woodward wrote:
> Jill, you asked in a previous post about our weather here.

sorry previous post went without permission !!!

> Advice given from several sources has been to put insulation
In the house - your house?

and a
> light bulb in the pumphouse,

I can understand that - you need to be able to see in there to re set stuff

 so that need must be common enough.
>
> So here's the new plan. A house within the barn. I need a space
> that I can heat with a light,

WHY??
you have some nights when it falls below freezing -- in the UK I doubt there
is a hen alive that has not lived through freezing temperatures and very
very very few have any sort of heat at all
Chickens that are healthy and well fed are perfectly capable and happy to
get freezing temperatures - WHAT temperatures are you talking about -
routinely - every winter - more than a weeks worth?

 but how do I provide bedding without it
> being a fire risk? Will a light really provide enough heat if it's
> up, safely away from the bedding? If it drops well below freezing,
> should I have a way to close the ventilation off if even for the
> coldest hours?

Chickens have little problem with ordinary cold - below freezing is fine,
wet freezing is less good. Freezing when they are thin is not good, Goodness
there are birds in Scotland - and elsewhere who survive very well in snow
and freezing temperatures for more than 2 months of the year without
heating.
Heating can be counterproductive - as teh birds will not regulate their
temperatures naturally - in this scenario a cold draft could become much
more serious. Let them grow up in natural conditions and they will be very
effective in making themselves comfortable.
You will be quite surprised at how warm your collective stock keeps a
building

 If I hang a light near the perches, will the nest
> boxes need heat too?

NO

Or do they just go there to lay eggs, then go
> to the perch under the light?

 If it's that cold,

Okay I must be really missing something - just how cold are you talking - it
sounds like Alaska ???

 they may not want
> to go to the next boxes, or even be laying eggs at that point. So
> far they like to pile together on the floor or up in the nest boxes
> because these are closer to the light I have hanging in their "ark".

Lights can be useful to maintain lay if the hens you have are capable of it.
They are different from heat. What are the hours of daylight in your neck of
the woods in the winter??

>
> If they're used to standing on perches near a light to keep warm,
> what will they do if the power goes out? Should I provide a nice
> raised floor area for them to pile on? Now were back to the bedding
> being too close to the light again...
>
> I'm a nervous hen!

STOP and think - you seem to be going WAY OTT
Chooks are perfectly content with a draft free airy barn
Asa long as they are not wet they can stay warm as long as you are not in
the extremes of the US and from what you havee said so far you are hardly
out of the maritimes :~))) 

--
regards
Jill Bowis
Pure bred utility chickens and ducks
Housing; Equipment,  Books, Videos, Gifts
Herbaceous; Herb and Alpine nursery
Holidays in Scotland and Wales
http://www.kintaline.co.uk

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