Chooks - Heating the coop

Way back in May 2011 when we got some new little Pekins I provided them with some heating in their temporary dog house quarters. This winter the weather is so cold I decided to heat the coop in a similar way.

May 2011 – new chooks need to go through a integration period where they are separated for a while from the current mob. On this occasion I made use of a wooden dog house to house the new chooks and for heating suspended a reptile lamp from the apex of the hinged roof.

Also had to buy the Edison lamp socket with lead and switch. With hindsight I won’t use this type of heating again, these lamps don’t last long, are pricey and give off a moonlight glow – disco chooks. Had to fiddle around too add a shade mesh shield to cut the light down – but it did the job.

This time I spent the extra money to get a proper ceramic heat lamp for $57 bucks – ouch.

Edison base so I was able the use the same lamp socket which is good as that originally cost $30.

For obvious safety reasons decided to put the heater in a cage.

Came up with the idea to use a 3 wheel pot plant caddy as the base and drill a hole in a bit of timber to hold the lamp socket.

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Made the cage itself from some wire mesh.

Took this picture in the dead of night, the camera flash didn’t disturb them too much.

The 100W heater is enough to raise the coop temperature by 2° – 3° on a cold night – happy with that.

UPDATE: 26/7/2016: Decided to cut down the height of the cage.

It’s now easier to check and feel for heat as I had some doubts about the reliability of the timer.

So…I changed that for a new one and peace of mind.