Do You Need A Heat Lamp For Chickens In The Winter

Keeping chicks during summer months can be easier than winter because your house may be hotter.

Do you need a heat lamp for chickens in the winter.

In most cases chickens don t need heat in winter except if you live in a very cold environment such as parts of minnesota or canada that can easily reach 30 degrees f. Most of the time chickens don t really need heat lamps anyway. Unless you re brooding chicks you don t need to keep a coop toasty warm but i do suggest keeping your coop around 40 f. Using a heat lamp in the coop is just not worth the risk no matter what.

They put out 435 plus temperatures making them an especially risky way to heat your coops and brooder because they re dusty places to begin with and bedding is quite flammable. Every single winter someone s chicken coop catches fire due to an improperly used heat lamp. If home temperatures range around 75 degrees you won t need a heat lamp past week four. And then just to be sure you re safe throw the darn thing out.

But in barns or garages which may run 60 degrees chicks need supplementary heat until they are fully feathered at six weeks of age. Do they need a heat lamp to keep them warm. So if you want your birds to produce through the winter in cold climates specifically keep your coop s temperature within your chicken s comfort zone for best results and happy hens. These fires not only wipe out entire flocks they can spread to other outbuildings homes and even woods causing incredible destruction.

I m just plain not a fan of chicken coop heat lamps. In this article we look at what to do and what not to do for chicken winter preparation.