Your Chickens Don't Need These Things! ~
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- čas přidán 22. 12. 2016
- Everyone in my Facebook Homesteading Group is buzzing over this! So, let's chat! Don't make your homestead more complicated than it already is. Don't bring more hazards to your farmstead. They have enough. Mother nature has a way of taking care of her own with minimal help from you as long as you do your due diligence as a homesteader. Stay warm. Stay safe. That's always the goal! Heat lamps and supplemental lighting are just not part of our winter set up for our flock! Let's go over why.
Enjoy & thanks for watching! xo
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Thank you so much for this. What people don't realize is that chickens have been around for hundreds of years even before all the things folks claim they need today. And guess what, chickens survived just fine back then.
I love your philosophy on how to raise chickens(animals)!I wish more people treated their animals nice as you!
Our barn burned down with some animals inside thanks to a heat lamp. Don't do it. I appreciate your take on not expecting chickens to lay all year. Everything needs a rest.
I live somewhere without snow or harsh winters but find it very interesting hearing about the husbandry involved elsewhere in the world with tough winters. I have lived somewhere which experienced a huge fire which spread quickly across wheat farming land & sheds full of hay. So as soon as you mentioned the risk of fire involved with heat lamps I can tell you it's not worth it. There is so much on farms that is ideal for spreading fires fast. Fires move quickly and aren't easy to control. It's not worth the risk!
Our brooder is a Rubbermaid container in my bathroom. I cannot second your no heat source rule enough. Our heat lamp fell and melted the plastic container. We woke up to our smoke detector going off. It could have been much worse. Now we use a ceramic heater that shuts off if it gets tipped over. Blessings and Hugs from 75 degree Houston TX
Picking chicken breeds suited for your climate makes it so much easier. A cold-weather chicken is heartier than most people would expect.
I agree so much about NOT using supplemental lighting. I don't use it. Everything needs to rest in order to thrive. I have 5, 6, and 7 year old hens that still lay.
I am not a homesteader, but you give some really good tips on just about anything. Once I get my backyard coop and a dozen fluffy but girls, I feel like I'm going to be an old pro with raising chickens. Thanks for sharing all your knowledge and helping those of us who need a few lessons.
I don’t have a homestead I habve kept animals though I am a UK viewer and I completely agree with you. There is a season for everything and you need to talk to the real farmers in your vicinity as to what is successful in your area. Good for you Patara. Keep it up.
I use a heating pad on the primary nesting spot in extreme temps so the eggs don’t freeze.
Also worth noting that draft and moisture are the two biggest issues with temp. Moisture in the coop (ie not a clean coop, improper ventilation, etc) can cause frost bite, respiratory issues, etc. Wind is hard on their ability to self-insulate! It cuts through their feathers.
You were spot on. Just some additional info that we find handy. LOVE what you said about natural laying cycles! 🥰
I use heat lamps to keep my specialty breeds that aren't cold hardy warm.When installed well they aren't dangerous and I have been using this method for years
Thanks Patara you don't know how much this helps me out, I can't wait to get my chicks but it is my first time ever having chicks and yes I just wanna get it right. So yes thank you so much for the time and effort you put into your videos I greatly appreciate it. 👍💜🐤🐔
Straw is excellent in summer as well. I cover the top of the pen with heavy shade cloth and a good couple feet of straw on a dirt floor. A few random buckets of water on the dirt and by the hottest part of the day (100-110F plus), the girls are buried barely a comb visible. Have never needed misters and never lost a bird due to heat stress. Love my Chooks!
This is so very helpful and thank you ... could not agree more. We are new to back yard chickens, but sure love it and want to always treat our girls with respect.
Straw is hollow, so it holds air... that's why it is such a perfect insulating material. It has its downside, because mites and other bugs can live in those hollow spaces, but in wintertime I don't believe that is such an issue, so yes, insulation is one of its best features. Animals can munch on it, too. Goats can eat it for some roughage, won't hurt them a bit. I also don't like how it packs down if it gets manure deposited on it daily, making cleanup a hard chore. Think bricks - how are they made? Clay, soil or manure plus straw and a little moisture = bricks.
Thank you!Love your realistic logical attitude!
I used lighting my first winter with hens. They laid eggs, then the eggs froze before I could gather them. When i realized that I would need to heat the nest boxes I decided I didn't need my hens to lay year round. Buying eggs from a neighbor is less expensive than heating my coop.
So your neighbor is using lights and heat? You're still taking the benefit of chickens being forced to lay and you're still paying for the energy your neighbor is using. What's the difference?
It is kind of hard to find straw in my area so we use pine shaving for now. I agree with the supplemental lighting. I don't use it and I have 5 out of 7 birds who are still laying and my French Copper is starting to lay again. I also agree with you about the safety of heat lamps but I have used them when I didn't have any other way to keep the babies warm. I hope to get the brooder you have when I can have more chicks but that will be a while. Thankfully all my girls do well in our climate. Thanks for the video.
first time chicken mama here. it got -29 c (-19f?) here and all my chickens got frostbite on there combs. ten production reds, and a cream legbar rooster. he was the worst. the only hen that did ok was the crested banty hen I have. I think in the future I will be getting a better cold hardy breed with smaller combs. coop is insulated and deep straw bedded. I turn on the heat lamp now when it gets that cold. still learning. thanks for the videos! Merry Christmas!
Lady, I like and echo your sense & sensibility. Good for you.
Thank you for the tips Patara!
This was wonderful THANK YOU! In the beginning I thought the heat lamp was to keep them warm. It seemed to me light was always on them. Where we kept them was really warm. I turned it off and never turned it back on. Then one of our hens decided to become broody. She was determined to lay on 17 eggs. WOW. Then she got up and just left them. I was like YEAH! She was still determined. I moved her where none of the other hens and roosters would bother her. Gave her lots of Timothy hay, water, food, put her in one of those rubbermaid totes and treated her like a queen. The new lot of eggs amounted to 7. She sat for 21 days and 5 chicks hatched. Where we get our odds and ends they had one baby chick all by its self. I was crushed and couldn't leave it behind, brought it home, stuck it under mama and she treated it as one of her own. I have decided I'm never going to purchase anymore chicks and let the hens sit on the eggs. The are the best, the sweetest, the mama lets us hold them, everywhere she goes they go but heaven help the hen that goes near them. In the beginning I had to keep them separate but they mixed right in after they grew to a good size where I felt the other chickens wouldn't bother them. Something in me says this is right. I got to thinking I can't take anymore chicks away from there mama. This was the best experience for my little one to see. THANKS AGAIN for the wonderful video.
Very good, simple advice. I have eggs coming out of my ears now and with everything else going on, I didn't stop to think that I can just unplug! No light needed and yes, why force that.
I enjoyed this video. It's so nice to see how you are Homestead.
GOD'S JOY
We don't use supplemental lighting either. It's not natural for chickens to lay eggs all year round, even though they've been bred and forced to do so by the "Industry". During Fall and Winter our girls lay few eggs, and usually only by the pullets that were hatched in Spring. Egg laying is a very energy exhaustive task and my girls will get whatever break they need from it to be healthy.
I think it's important to mention it's not the straw that's keeping the coop warm. It's what composting under it. When I built my coop I got some advice from a farmer who told me make sure you have dirt floors and do not clean out the coop until spring. The chickens will compost their own waste which makes its own heat just throw add some fresh straw every now and then. He was right. I've never had a heat issue in my coop during the winter. Also would like to add that Delawares are excellent winter layers, no artificial light source is required.
VERY basic question from a city girl; what is the difference between straw and hay? great video as always.
I have heard of old shepherds putting wet and cold lambs into the warming draw of their wood fired stove or area this will often revive a near death lamb
Thank you!! I just bought my Chicken House. My sis has had my chickens for a year now. I can’t wait to get it put up and get them home. Thanks for all the tips. I also just got my first herb garden started! Exciting times now.😎
When it hit -20 here in Vermont I use a heat lamp in my chicken coop.
Straw may be fine for you honey. You are in the southern states. Cold you do not know what cold is. Up north the temperatures can go down to and from 0 degrees to -40 F. degrees. I have a steam boiler system heating my coop with 2000 meat birds in the winter. Today Nov 7/17 the HIGH temp was zero degrees F. or -15 C.
God Bless
You have a great perspective and a very sensible approach to things. Thanks, for the information from Australia.
I love your chickens so cute I also use the crates so they can lay eggs it is a nice idea .
Totally agree have never and will never use heat lamps in with the hens .... a well made coop with packed deep beds
And never use artificial lights to keep hens laying ... I just work with nature
Those HEAT LAMPS ARE DANGEROUS.. I adopted a Basset Hound that had been severely burned in a fire caused by one of those lamps. The owners put him in an outside kennel, covered it with a tarp and added a heat lamp. The lamp caught the tarp on fire and the molten plastic fell on him and he couldn't get out of the kennel.He was at the vets for quite some time. He carries huge scars on his back and head.
I love all of her videos, very informative.
The only addition we made this year was a flat panel radiant heater. The temps being ten degrees during the day for over a week was too much. It has been so great, set at 50 degrees and keeping the inside part of the coop at 44 steadily. :)
Seeing your hens make me homesick for my Mama and her chickens ...she loved her chickens !
We had three families burn their homes down because of heat lamps.
We let the chickens do as nature would. We have deep bedding and straw. And a nice well built coop, thanks to my husband. I love the idea of an igloo made with straw.
Thanks for all you do.
I tried stray but when it got wet it was a mess. I use wood chips and that works great. With straw I had a rat problem but with the wood chips that has gone away. I have 30 chickens.
Be very careful with a type of food chips that you're getting I went and got some before and put them in my greenhouse and ruined a lot of things in my greenhouse because of smoking mushrooms if you bump the container they give off smoke and that is poisonous so I had to throw everything in that soil away
my thoughts on chickens align almost 100% with yours. Chickens do not need heat or light. they will adapt to the weather. If you are seeing frostbite on combs it's from moisture not the cold. Ventilation is not adequate. Google open air coops or look at Justin Rhodes videos.
drafts or ventilation????????
Awesome video. Thank you
Do you ever have issues with mites or anything when you are using straw? THANK YOU for spreading the word on not heating the coop!!!! I think it's so hard on the chickens to switch back and forth between outside temps and inside temps, not to mention what happens if you loose power and they are suddenly thrown into the cold with no preparation.
The only time I have ever had an issue was with a broody hen. That's it and I handled it quickly.
Again - Very good advice!
I live in maine were it is very cool the temps don't bother the birds but I do need to heat to keep the water from freezing.
stopped using my heat lamp. it's all a learning process. I have found keeping my ceiling fan on helps with keeping the coop windows from freezing up. Our coop is too tight and had hubby add more vents high on walls. Also doing deep litter method I'm not using DE. I've read this causes issues with beneficial bacteria in bedding. Our straw is yellow and yours is a more natural looking like hay. I wonder what type you have?
Very cool! I could’nt be further from being a farm girl but I’m right in there as an admirer of all things farm!
I just moved to Erin TN. Your channel is so awesome.
Question. Do you till the chicken coop straw right into your garden beds?? Or do you have a large compost pile for it and the other straw / hay / wood chip bedding you use?? Wonderful Video and thank you for the great info and Ideas.
Love this and agree totally.
Everything has it's time and season.
so happy to have found you
This is a lil off topic but.... got my t-shirt I ordered and I love it! 💜
I use a heat lamp with a ceramic bulb hanging inside the coop away from the bedding . It worked fine for 0 deg. temps and my chickens layed all winter long in the Upper Peninsula .
I totally agree with you.
That such good advise and l just love the igloo idea your creator friends are lucky to have you
I am so scared NOT to have heat lamps in my barn between November and March up here. Most daily temperatures can reach -20 to -30 degrees F. I am way more scared of finding frozen ducks and goats in the barn than the off chance of a fire caused by the heat lamps. But I do not use the lamps until we are only getting highs of 0 or below and I turn them off when our lows are near 0. I do double check the metal chains daily to make sure that everything is secure and also make sure the cage on the outside of the heat lamp is also secure. I try to be as safe as I can be when using them. If I lived farther south where the winters are a little milder, I would likely go the same route as you do though.
Ebon Pardus in your case please please please use a heat lamp just take precautions
Me too.. I don't put lights in the chicken house.. I believe in nature..I am experimenting with deep bedding system.. it seems to be working...
We are new to raising chickens and live in central Texas. We purchased 6 pullets in March of this year. I so nervous on raising them. I look so many coops and the way people do things. I hope I am getting it right.
This is my first winter with my chickens. I feel soo much better now my coop is almost identically set up with the straw and all.
You sound exactly like Dolly! haha must be a Tennessee thing. I leave a small light on in my coop because I have to see what’s going on. I had 6 girls and now only have 5 because my lightest bitty was attacked by a hawk and her sister jumped in to save her and got killed. She did save them though. We are all heartbroken. Her best friend built a memorial with her feathers and laid an offering of bread crust near that. They then all laid down and started singing. I swear to god if I hadn’t witnessed it myself I never would have believed it. I have video and pictures! Chicken funerals are real.
Agree!!! Common sense. Even in my brooder box, I just use a 75 watt bulb. It's enough.
We have Dark Cornish (pea combs) & they take our Nebraska winters like champs!
I LOVE my Dark Cornish girls. We're in Arizona, so no crazy cold winter, but my DC girls are amazing. Best broody hens I've ever had. And great foragers. Love them!
Is straw warmer than hay? I am using hay that my goats throw on the floor, starting the thick bedding method but with that wasted hay. Thanks for your time!
I secured my heat lamp so that it cannot be moved. I was concerned for them when they get wet in the rain and then the temperature drops at night.
Good ventilation is very important!
I don't have chickens yet. But wondering how thick you make the straw initially and do you take any out before adding more over the course of the winter season?
such an awesome vid!! so agree!!
I use supplimental led lights because my winter coop has only 2 windos that I have to close because of snow and so I need the light. I have my light on a timer.
Is there a real difference between hay and straw? We have access to hay but cannot seem to locate straw in my area.
I love your house and your by the way your bird houses are cute as a button. 😍😍
Thanks for the info... I get so disappointed when someone wants to advise on how to winterized your coop, then I see all the wiring... By the way, I noticed we have similar coop windows. Please show us where you have your vents. My vent is placed right where the chickens roost. Amish built coop..
You can make great pig houses out of straw bales and in the end they will eat it and turn it into mulch and compost for you
I wonder if your igloo idea would work with actual snow up here in MN. A lot of work, but I betcha it’d work!
Good morning
Here's a question. If you got day old chicks in April and eagerly waiting for them to lay in December/ January, what can you expect? Will they follow the season, or will they be rip raring to lay eggs out of season?
Animals also love to scratch and when they scratch that straw they're getting the straw seeds that they love which also feeds them I have to go into my chicken coop daily because I live on the hill and break all the straw back up to the front because they'll scratch it all to the back looking for seed and they love to scratch it's a job but I love my chickens and I understand them
Great vid
Do you know of any group s that build with straw I'm in Cleveland and will be building in meigs county tn. Just thought I'd ask. Thanks again
Amen!!! Have a good night!!!!
In your coops , where you are layering your straw, are those dirt floors?
What do you use as a heat source for chicks?
I agree no supplemental lighting
Totally agree with you 1000%
Did you build your coop or buy a pre-built one? Love the design! and the chickens...but that was a given ;)
I love your videos 😊🐥🐔🐔🐔🐔
Great advice ! However I have one question. See, I have been around animals almost my whole life. My Father was raised a farmer, then years went by and left farming. He always called hay, "Hay". Is there a difference between Hay and Straw ? I always thought there was just, hay. My question may seem stupid, especially since I am in my 60s.
I'm in northern Ontario Canada it gets -40 down hear in the winter and my silkies do fine
There ya go!
But make sure there not wet and away from wind and Moisture
Going to say the same thing we live in Ontario and -30 and colder... They need something to keep above freezing.. dead bird from fire is terrible but dead bird from frozen to death isn't very nice.. I have seen many heat sources that as soon as they fall turn off. If they move they turn off..
What breed of chicken do you have that lays those pretty blue eggs.
I'm in the tropics, im building a hurricane proof chicken coop, Cold 🥶 isn't a issue here, can I make metal roost...and yes I know it's forbidden in cold areas because of frostbite...it would be painted with a non slip paint, im just looking for something easy to clean.
my birds love three straw it's cute to watch them with it
how do you keep chicks warm? without heat light?
As for me Christmas is January 6th. Orthodox Christmas.
I worry about the feathers with the heat lamp. I'd absolutely have them on a thermostat if I ever used one, but our weather is mild enough that even a cold snap isn't concerning.
pickling is wonderful way to preserve eggs as well.
I love your videos! Such great content and love seeing the chickens!! Great job!
Move south if u want a longer laying season..
Thanks see much!
so much
Wouldn't hay work just as well as straw? We don't have ready access to straw but we do hay. Sometimes we use pine shavings also. I feel bad now because we have put a light on our chickens because they are a little over 6 months old and have not started laying. Guess it is because it is winter. Would it mess them up if we just stopped using it?
Faye Cartwright Hay decomposes and molds because it is a dried green feed. Straw is not food for anything it is a dead hollow plant that had as insulating property to it because of the air it traps. I hope this helps.
Thank you for that explanation Rosemarie. I had not thought of that. I just wish straw were more accessible where I am and less expensive. Guess I will see if I can find a source.
I use lighting at night because I live in an area where predators could get in my coop. (Mine live in a three bedroom trailer house). By keeping dim lighting on at night my chickens have a chance to get away from predators because chickens won't move in the dark so a predator can quickly catch and kill them. As far as heat lamps, I use them. I keep them wired up in bird cages, three feet from anything flammable and place them high enough that the birds cannot perch on them. I like the rest of your ideas and I love your videos.