# How do you keep your animals warm?



## HoCoLion91 (Jan 2, 2012)

Temps getting down to 24F tonight.  Put a red heat lamp on the chickens.  They love to get close to the lamp.


----------



## redman2006 (Jan 3, 2012)

I have chickens myself.  They adapt well as long as they are a cold hardy breed and they are not wet or in the wind.  

I do use a regular bulb to add a couple more hours of light in the winter and keep them laying well, but as far as heat, unless it is sub-zero, mine do well in my coop.   My eggs might freeze if I leave them too long, but I have a couple of hens that will set, so that is generally not an issue.

Do you see any change in habits or laying patterns when you use your heat bulb?


----------



## HoCoLion91 (Jan 4, 2012)

They stay inside during the coldest, most windy times of the day.  I believe they would be ok without the heat lamp.  They seem to enjoy it like people enjoy standing beside a warm fire.  They are still laying eggs, about 3 per day from 6 hens.


----------



## redman2006 (Jan 4, 2012)

HoCoLion91 said:


> They stay inside during the coldest, most windy times of the day.  I believe they would be ok without the heat lamp.  They seem to enjoy it like people enjoy standing beside a warm fire.  They are still laying eggs, about 3 per day from 6 hens.




I have 15 hens that were down to 8 eggs a day.  With a light I am back at a dozen a day.  About 3 hours a night extra works well.  I just have a timer for my bulb and use a "pigtail" bulb to save $, but it does not add any heat that way.


----------



## jabb06 (Jan 4, 2012)

your second pic looks like the chickens are in being broiled


----------



## hillbilly7 (Jan 5, 2012)

I, too, use a red heat lamp. I keep hearing though, that it is not necessary to heat their coop.  I haven't noticed a change in production since winter hit.


----------



## redman2006 (Jan 5, 2012)

hillbilly7 said:


> I, too, use a red heat lamp. I keep hearing though, that it is not necessary to heat their coop.  I haven't noticed a change in production since winter hit.



I had chickens when I lived in Kansas.  The winters there can be brutal.  If the coop is tight, there is no need for heat.  The eggs will freeze pretty quickly though unless yo have a sitting hen.  

The water is more of a problem than anything back home.  

In extremely bitter cold (-10 or so) we would see some frostbite to the combs.  The big thing is making sure you have acclimated them slowly and you have cold hardy breeds.


----------



## SarahFair (Jan 5, 2012)

I just put some hay down for my animals..

A girl I know had her coop catch on fire and kill almost 24 of her birds because of a heat lamp


----------



## skeeter1 (Jan 5, 2012)

i wrap  my chickin coops  with  bailin plastic   and  also wrap it  around   my  dog pens    and  any pen  that is  not  in the barn    this  works well  ,  but i am in south ga,   and   we don't have  winter  just extended fall . lol!!  but the  plastic helps from the wind     on  the  chilly nightsseems to work well for years, far as  my chickins   and  pigeons they  free range in the  day,  i  open the  door  at 430 everymornin,  and  shut it back  by  5 pm this  time   a year   them  birds  roost early !!! thats  why  they rise  so early i guess!! the pigeons  want come out  till the sun breakes though  they  like the  banker hours


----------



## redman2006 (Jan 6, 2012)

skeeter1 said:


> i wrap  my chickin coops  with  bailin plastic   and  also wrap it  around   my  dog pens    and  any pen  that is  not  in the barn    this  works well  ,  but i am in south ga,   and   we don't have  winter  just extended fall . lol!!  but the  plastic helps from the wind     on  the  chilly nightsseems to work well for years, far as  my chickins   and  pigeons they  free range in the  day,  i  open the  door  at 430 everymornin,  and  shut it back  by  5 pm this  time   a year   them  birds  roost early !!! thats  why  they rise  so early i guess!! the pigeons  want come out  till the sun breakes though  they  like the  banker hours



I sure wish I could let mine free range here.  The foxes and Yotes are terrible!  They managed to dig in last summer and kill half a dozen outright and left several others mangled enough they had to be finished off.  

Funny thing, one lost a wing and survived really nicely.  She looks funny, but it has not slowed her down.

Revenge may be the Lord's, but he helped administer it through the barrel of a .45 Colt!  I have not had much of a problem since.


----------



## skeeter1 (Jan 6, 2012)

redman2006 said:


> I sure wish I could let mine free range here.  The foxes and Yotes are terrible!  They managed to dig in last summer and kill half a dozen outright and left several others mangled enough they had to be finished off.
> 
> Funny thing, one lost a wing and survived really nicely.  She looks funny, but it has not slowed her down.
> 
> Revenge may be the Lord's, but he helped administer it through the barrel of a .45 Colt!  I have not had much of a problem since.



hear ya man  ,  yea  i have  not  really had to much of   a problem  with the foxes and  the yotoes , but  i have  hounds runnin loose  all  over the farm  ,  i  have  had  my  own  hounds  kill  some  chickins ,  and   deer  dogs   attack the  goats ,  but   to go  along  ya have  to get along  ,  so  the  killers  stay pened up  ,its a  regular zoo around  here ,  i have  all my farmin  critters  tha  make up  for sum of my income  then  i  got   these kids  that  have  to  have  all these different pets  ,  not  just  farm critters  they got  wild babby  critters   every where,  its   a  full time  job  just  messing  with  all these critters ,  much less  tendin the fields  ,  but  i don't know  any other way!!


i do have   a  possum problem though  they  sneak in hear  and   will crawl up  under the  hens  and   the way they do it   is so sneaky that  the  birds  thinks  its  just another bird snugglin up  then  bam !!  takin down from  the  sewer end    , thats  how  a  possum does it,  and   them dang  garter snakes  in the spring  , boy they have  made  me hurt myself   several times  ,  they will  wind them selfes  up  through  and  weave in the chickin wire  you don't even see them  till you touch them  at night  some times  ,  ,
had  one this  spring  fall  out the tree on me  will closin the  coop  one night  ,  checkin on a hen  ,  man  that booger must have  6 feet long  and  about  as big around as a  shovel handle man  i fell back like to broke my foot hand  landed on a  board  nail   went through my hand , man  i hate those things!!


----------



## redman2006 (Jan 6, 2012)

skeeter1 said:


> hear ya man  ,  yea  i have  not  really had to much of   a problem  with the foxes and  the yotoes , but  i have  hounds runnin loose  all  over the farm  ,  i  have  had  my  own  hounds  kill  some  chickins ,  and   deer  dogs   attack the  goats ,  but   to go  along  ya have  to get along  ,  so  the  killers  stay pened up  ,its a  regular zoo around  here ,  i have  all my farmin  critters  tha  make up  for sum of my income  then  i  got   these kids  that  have  to  have  all these different pets  ,  not  just  farm critters  they got  wild babby  critters   every where,  its   a  full time  job  just  messing  with  all these critters ,  much less  tendin the fields  ,  but  i don't know  any other way!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



LOl  The snakes are terrible!  I have had them curl up in the Fall and Spring under a hen to stay warm.  The hen did not seem to notice.  I stuck my hand under to grab and egg and came out with a snake.  

Need clean underwear after that!  

One ate eggs then tried to get out the chicken wire.  Caught that snake red handed wedged in the wire.  I like them around to keep down the rodents, but sometimes they are a bit much.


----------



## skeeter1 (Jan 6, 2012)

yea  they know they will get them  eggs  ,  
i got  a funny story  ,  my wife  was  out  at the  pen  one  evenin water up   when   i hurd  hear scream  and  she  was  screamin  runnin  around  the  house   and  i thaught what in the world  so  i grab a  shovel   and  as   she  rounded  the tractor barn   i se  this  garter snake  chasin her ,   she was  runn in screamin   say  i  sprayed  with  with the  hose!!!  i sprayed  him with the  hose!! ,  lol!!  man   that thing  was  movin like a  black racer  ,  i  choped  his  head  off as they came by ,   , but  i was laughin so  hard  i like to have  misse d  ,  i  started  to  let it  go  and  see  how  many   laps  they would  make , lol!!    but i didn,t wanna  have  to sleep in the barn !!


----------



## wilber85 (Jan 7, 2012)

I would like to do something like this but I worry about a fire.  A lot of people raise chickens up north where it gets a lot colder than here and they say their chickens dont mind so I let em be in their coop. They keep on laying so I guess they are happy.


----------



## SneekEE (Jan 9, 2012)

UH OH!!! My chickens are free range, they roost in the trees. I have a roost under a shed, 4 of them use it, the rest wont. So I been wondering what is going to happen when it gets real cold. They are almost 1 year old, this is there first winter. Should i pen them up and force them to use the roost i made indoors or will they be ok in the trees?


----------



## redman2006 (Jan 10, 2012)

SneekEE said:


> UH OH!!! My chickens are free range, they roost in the trees. I have a roost under a shed, 4 of them use it, the rest wont. So I been wondering what is going to happen when it gets real cold. They are almost 1 year old, this is there first winter. Should i pen them up and force them to use the roost i made indoors or will they be ok in the trees?



What breeds?

If they can stay dry and are cold hardy breeds, they should be fine.  Georgia is pretty mild even at its worst.

Mine have always been fine without heat even in Kansas cold.  My guineas refused shelter and were always great too.  I know, apples and oranges, but I really don't think there will be an issue.  Egg production will suffer though. 

I keep an additional 3 to 4 hours of light on mine every night during the winter to keep egg production up but not for heat.


----------



## SarahFair (Jan 10, 2012)

SneekEE said:


> UH OH!!! My chickens are free range, they roost in the trees. I have a roost under a shed, 4 of them use it, the rest wont. So I been wondering what is going to happen when it gets real cold. They are almost 1 year old, this is there first winter. Should i pen them up and force them to use the roost i made indoors or will they be ok in the trees?



Ive got a couple that sleep on the porch.. rain, sleet, and snow. They are always fine.

Im sure if I locked them in there for a week they would return there to sleep.
...not sure...
just whats happend with mine in the past


----------



## SneekEE (Jan 10, 2012)

They are aracona and bardrock, not sure of the spelling.


----------



## dawg2 (Jan 10, 2012)

I keep a standard bulb burning year round in the coop which makes (tricks) the chickens to lay year-round.  I don't have a heat lamp in there due to fear of fire.  The birds have an uncanny knack for knocking over or knocking down anything in the coop if it isn't nailed or screwed down.  

The Guineas roost in trees or the coop depending on their mood.  When it gets really cold they roost with the chickens (RIR).  If it gets REALLY cold, then I shut their door, otherwise I leave it open.


----------



## SarahFair (Jan 11, 2012)

SneekEE said:


> They are aracona and bardrock, not sure of the spelling.



The Barred Rocks should be fine but Im not sure about your Araucanas..
(are they tailless or do they have tails?)


----------



## SneekEE (Jan 13, 2012)

SarahFair said:


> The Barred Rocks should be fine but Im not sure about your Araucanas..
> (are they tailless or do they have tails?)



They all have tails.


----------



## thomas the redneck (Jan 13, 2012)

the chickens huddle up in the corner of the coop out of the wind
the rabbits are put 2 or 3 to the cagges and are out of the wind
the dog is laying on the couch under a blanket with the wife 
and the cows are in the center of the pasture with no wind cover because they just will not bed down in the trees unless its raining


----------



## HoCoLion91 (Nov 15, 2012)

Bought the dogs beds to sleep on under the carport.  They don't like to sleep on the cold concrete.


----------



## gsu51 (Jan 21, 2013)

Use the same lights work well.  Just be careful of placement seen two houses go up last year cause of those lights


----------



## Murphy (Jan 22, 2013)

See that fur right there......


----------



## Dogmusher (Jan 22, 2013)

Straw. Works great for the goats, donkeys, chickens, turkeys, rabbits, cows, pigs, collies and whatever else is roaming around. We let the Mastiffs sleep in the house.  Or they let us sleep in the house.  Sometimes I wonder.....


----------



## 7Mag Hunter (Jan 23, 2013)

*Keeping animals warm*

Outside dogs are crated with rugs/blankets and use tarp
and heavy canvas to cover crates.....

My little rescue Shih Tzu, Molly, (Thank you Sneekee) is another
matter!!!!!


----------

