Methods and options for heating the chicken coop
Before the onset of cold weather, heating of the chicken coop in winter is mandatory. Insulation of walls and floors allows you to maintain the number of birds until spring, to protect them from freezing and hypothermia.
Heating the chicken coop in winter
What is the cheapest and most reliable heating for a chicken coop in winter? The infrared heater for the chicken coop in combination with natural heating allows you to create a special microclimate in the barn throughout the winter.
Keeping poultry in winter
A chicken warmer in winter is not the only device that regulates the temperature in a barn where birds are kept. Chicken coop - this is not an easy place to sleep for chickens, but also a haven for the whole season for young and adult birds. In winter, birds rarely leave their shelter. To achieve good heating, the walls are insulated, flooring and an additional device is purchased. A heater is an expensive thing, so before buying it, you should decide on how to care for a bird in winter.
The chicken coop is equipped for cold weather from autumn, while the temperature remains high outside. The sooner the farmer takes up the arrangement of the barn and its heating, the easier the chickens will switch to winter. A heater for household needs differs in power and dimensions. In winter, any problems with heating devices can cost the farmer the entire poultry population. A lamp for chicks born closer to autumn protects the young from low temperatures. You cannot do without such a lamp.
For heating, the chicken coop is remodeled from the inside and outside. The heater is installed in the corner of the shed and is protected from damage. For birds, especially in winter, human care is important. The chicken shed, warm, cozy and dry, is an ideal place for wintering. It doesn't matter how powerful the heater is used to keep the birds. The combination of nutritious compound feed with vitamin supplements, clean water and sufficient heating will help the chickens survive the winter.
Heating methods for a chicken coop
Coop heating is a concern for every farmer. In order to heat the chicken coop to be reliable and inexpensive, it is necessary to provide natural and artificial ways to warm the box in which the chickens live. The chicken coop heating lamp is only used when the farmer is concerned about the fate of the chickens. For adult chickens, a conventional heater with or without a built-in lamp is suitable. The price of such a device depends on the configuration and performance. How can you heat a chicken coop in winter if there are several rooms in it at once? barn?
One or several separate corrals of one box are heated using the following equipment:
- lamp (red, ceramic, halogen and ultraviolet);
- IR;
- heater;
- blowing with warm air;
- stove;
- insulation.
Distinguish between natural and artificial heating of premises.Most chicken coops can be heated with electricity. The lamp warms up small cells, especially with small chickens. In a barn where there are adults, this type of device is also effective. Choosing heaters for poultry boxes is difficult, and it is completely impossible for novice farmers. How to deal with a lamp or stove? The price, equipment and versatility of the heater helps to choose a device. Skillful farmers insulate chicken coops with their own hands, maintaining the natural warm flow in the room.
Variants of heating lamps (heat or incandescent lamp) for small boxes are selected at any time of the year and are used for brooding on cold days of summer or autumn. Such a lamp can be used all year round and for adult chickens who have suffered serious illnesses or after hypothermia. Animals, especially domestic birds, need to create special conditions, it is important that warmth and comfort are present all year round, regardless of what the weather is outside the window.
How to heat a large chicken coop
Popular and inexpensive ways to heat chicken coops. Sheds or boxes with combined heating methods are suitable for an adult brood of birds. For both humans and animals, the heat emitter must be absolutely safe and reliable. Power drops, power outages, severe bad weather - the farmer must be prepared for any situation that endangers the health of birds. Without insulation, the chicken coop cannot be warm (even a heater will not save the day).
Birds can warm up with the onset of cold weather, if the boxing (greenhouse) combines:
- flooring and wall insulation;
- insulated ceiling;
- heating with a potbelly stove;
- radiators or gas cannons;
- special lamps that heat up quickly.
Ceiling, walls, floor - all parts of the room need additional insulation... Without decking, you won't be able to keep warm from a heater or lamp. It is important for the bird that not only the body, but also the legs, remain warm. Heater options that can be installed at home on their own are better and more reliable than overall household devices. The farmer needs to be guided by his own needs and opportunities. If the farm is small, then the heater is selected of the appropriate size.
At home, the birds calmly survive the winter and even rush. The egg production of birds, when it is warm and dry in the box (shed), significantly differs from the productivity of chickens in a cold box. The ceiling is also insulated, because creating the right microclimate presupposes complete insulation of brick or wooden surfaces. Home device options (the most popular) don't come too expensive. It is the farmer's responsibility to care for the bird when it is warm or cold.
Natural heating
Insulation of cages or chicken coops allows maintaining high egg production of females and increasing the weight of broilers. When the heat remains at the same temperature level, birds continue to incubate eggs. The health of the future brood depends on how warm it will be in the house. Layers sit on eggs in early spring. Birds need certain conditions: constant dryness of the floor and walls, as well as a sufficient amount of food. It is better to make an insulated poultry house separate from the room that birds use in summer.
How to heat a chicken coop without special devices? The optimum temperature regime (the house is not heated additionally) is up to 10 ° C. A temperature of 15 ° C is the most suitable for birds of any age. Moderate heat helps the birds grow and fly quickly.
What are the most suitable natural heating options? A house that does not need additional electrical heating includes:
- Deep bedding. Before starting work, the farmer covers the floor of the room with slaked lime. It is better to calculate the amount of powder per square of the room.Sawdust or ordinary straw is laid on top of the lime. Dry bed options vary. It is impossible to make a poultry house without a layer of insulation (thickness about 10 cm). To heat the chicken coops, several floorings are laid as the layers are saturated with moisture. The dry material changes periodically. Natural processes cause the litter to generate heat on its own. An economical option with a cheap thermostat is useful for small farms.
- Insulated walls. The ceiling and walls must be properly processed before winter. For this, the poultry house is insulated using different methods of indoor climate control. Styrofoam or cotton wool will be useful for finishing work. A thick fabric is used to insulate doorways and windows. A film or rug is also useful (such insulation methods are the most reliable). Energy-saving methods protect chickens and roosters from moisture, cold snaps and precipitation.
The house is insulated to protect young animals and preserve the basic functions of females and males. Egg production of birds is a farmer's priority. Coop heating lamps and coop heaters are used for large farms or numerous poultry houses. The floor and walls in the room where the chickens live can be heated with a convector (minimum watts consumed) or with a brooder. Heating will cost more, but even a novice farmer can afford cheap insulation for a poultry house.
Artificial heating
A heater for heating a chicken coop is a more reliable way than creating a microclimate in a room with a heater. Heating is independent of the power supply and is easier to regulate. Heating large rooms is easier because warm air continues to circulate in the house. The best way to keep your poultry safe is to combine 2 or more heating methods. Autonomous heating depends only on the farmer, so it is used on large farms. Infrared radiation allows several houses to be heated at once.
Heating from a stove or heating plate will help to arrange a constant circulating air flow at the desired temperature. Infrared radiation provides chicken coops, even if their area is too large. Which lamp is better? The most popular are gas and infrared lamps. Requirements for heating the chicken coop (no matter what area of the room) must be observed in any household.
Why do you need a lamp (targeted infrared radiation)? The power of such a device is suitable for numerous domesticated flocks. How to safely heat a chicken coop in winter and which lamps for heating a barn are the easiest to use, you need to find out before the onset of cold weather. A person who is not afraid to learn and seek advice from professionals will never make fatal mistakes in keeping chickens.
IR heaters
The infrared bird heater will be a lifesaver for the farmer.
The video instruction demonstrates all the advantages of a device for heating a room with chickens. No need for a lot of power or a lot of space, a large number of lamps for heating: 1 infrared lamp for heating will heat the area up to 20 square meters. m. Heaters and lamps do not need constant replacement. A heater or infrared lamp has been used for several years in a row, therefore it is considered an economical option.
An infrared heater for heating a hen house is also called a flask, with a large radius of heating the house. How to heat a chicken coop in winter with such a lamp? Heating lamps heat only objects that are exposed to its light. There is no point in warming up the air of the entire room. Such a device maintains the humidity level at the desired level and additionally dries the flooring. A ceiling lamp that uses infrared radiation is needed for high room ceilings.A gas lamp, without using radiation, cannot heat large areas.
A safe way to heat the air in the box with a light bulb is suitable for day old chicks.
It is not necessary to turn off the lamp: it warms up the air and does not burn out from prolonged use (low power). In addition, a mirror lamp may be needed to enhance the effect of heating radiators. All the costs of the heaters are paid off.
Heating the chicken coop with a stove
Does a chicken coop need a stove? The potbelly stove was used long before the use of the first lamps, which prevail in modern farms. A seemingly simple brick stove can heat the air in a barn, but such a device is not always safe for an animal or a person. Precautions include isolating the structure from birds. You should worry about the health of the chickens, which will tend to sit closer to the warmth.
The stove must not be installed in rooms with flooring on a straw or cotton wool floor. Such materials can ignite at any time. The device needs constant temperature adjustment. Separate elements of the potbelly stove quickly oxidize and become unusable.
Conclusion
An experienced farmer or novice is involved in heating chicken coops. Caring for birds is the primary task of a person who has taken responsibility for the bird.
Using old or modern methods of heating air in a poultry house is within the power of every farmer, regardless of the number of chickens on his farm. The correct microclimate in the premises where the birds are kept will be the key to good egg production and rapid growth of chicks.