Alan's Answers: How do you keep your chicken coop warm? - New Braunfels Feed & Supply

July 09,2024

The Cold Coop: What to do..and not to do! What are some of the things that produce heat in the coop and thus tend to warm it up? Well, chickens themselves produce heat. A single 5 lb commercial laying hen produces something like 10 watts of heat, so having 10 chickens in the coop is about the same as running a 100W lightbulb. Sunlight coming through windows will warm the coop air and whatever the sunbeam falls on; sunlight will also warm the coop walls and roof, which may then radiate some heat into the inside of the coop depending on whether there's insulation in the way. Passive solar devices, some of which are quite easy to construct, can capture additional heat. If your coop floor is dirt or slab, i.e. it's built directly on the ground, then for as long as the ground is warmer than the air it will be another slow steady source of mild warmth for the coop, until mid to late winter when the ground becomes just as cold as the air. And of course some people []