Fellow Pacific Northwesterners, despite what the local newscasts would have you believe, low twenties/upper teens is actually not that cold, relatively speaking. There are huge swaths of the country (much less the planet) where this weather is considered “balmy” for December.
That being said, we’re having our annual run of chilly weather, and who likes to be that cold? When I found their waterer frozen into a solid block of ice yesterday morning, I knew it was time to deploy the heat lamp.
They enjoy it, oh yes. In fact they pretty much spend the entire day standing under the lamp. When darkness fell, I turned it so that it pointed in the open window of the coop.
The only down side to this plan is that the light obviously kept them awake. All night? It’s hard to say. I went out at about 7:30 and they were still up and about, pecking away and muttering to each other.
It’s a chicken slumber party!
I suspect this all-night lighting might throw off their systems enough that they finally stop laying for the winter. Yesterday I collected three beautiful – but very cold – eggs from the nest. I’d be sorry to see them stop laying, but I’d rather they stay cozy at night.
Thanks for the update, I’ve been worried about the chookies
Light will actually keep them laying, which is unnatural, and which is what the factory egg farms do–keep the lights on and the chickens laying until their bodies give out (at which point they are disposed of). Better to get a red lamp for heat, let the chickens take the break they deserve when their bodies tell them too, and keep them for years and years. They keep laying, although not as much. That’s when you get a couple of newbies!
Those sweet babies!
When I was in college I worked in a bird lab and while I don’t entirely know what kind of research was done there, one of the experiments involved light cycles.
That was the worst job ever. I had to feed and water the birds, change their cage paper, and put the dead ones in the freezer. Hundreds of birds in a tiny room = worst smell ever. And those tricky birds liked to escape their cages, and then I had to catch them with a net.
I HAVE 2Chickens IN MY HOME AND I TAKE TO THEM wheat AND I DONT WANNA TO KILL THEM ANT EATING THEM BECOUSE I LOVE CHICKENS AND I LOVE PHOTO THEM
We keep a spare waterer for winter, and swap them out, so one is always thawing while the other is freezing up.
We run a heat lamp, too, with a red bulb. Especially when temps get below 0F…