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The owner who believes that chickens will be comfortable in the winter inside an insulated barn is greatly mistaken. During periods of severe frost, the bird needs additional artificial heating, otherwise egg production will decrease. When the room temperature drops below zero, chickens get colds and may even die. No one will do real heating in the barn, but an infrared lamp for heating the chicken coop will help solve the heating problem in winter.
Why is it important to keep your coop warm?
If the owner wants the chickens to constantly lay eggs even in severe frosts, comfortable conditions must be provided indoors. First of all, the bird requires constant warmth, light and balanced nutrition. In order for there to be a constant temperature inside the chicken coop, you should not start with arranging artificial heating, but you need to carefully seal all the cracks. It is through them that the cold penetrates in winter. When you close all the holes, don't forget about the floor. To prevent cold from leaking from the ground into the chicken coop, lay several layers of bedding. Straw, any sawdust or peat will do.
It is important that the chicken coop has an insulated ceiling, because all the heat is located at the top of the room. This must be taken care of at the stage of building the barn.The ceiling is lined with plywood or other similar material, and any insulation is laid on top of the sheathing.
Compliance with these measures will help maintain a positive temperature in the chicken coop, but with mild frosts outside. But what should be the optimal indoor temperature? At 12–18OThe chicken lays eggs well and feels comfortable. As frosts intensify, artificial heating is turned on to heat the chicken coop in winter. This is where you need to not overdo it, especially if infrared heaters are used. You cannot heat the room above 18OC. In addition, you need to monitor the humidity. IR heaters do not dry the air much, but the optimal humidity in the chicken coop should be 70%.
When using infrared heaters, it is necessary to make several slits in the chicken coop. Fresh air will flow through them. To prevent the chickens from being cold when sleeping, the perches are raised from the floor by at least 60 cm.
Chicken coop lighting
Daylight hours for laying hens should be from 14 to 18 hours. Only in such conditions can one count on a high egg production rate. This problem can be solved simply. Artificial lighting is installed in the chicken coop. Traditional incandescent lamps cannot provide the required light spectrum. Luminescent housekeepers do an excellent job of this task.
Sometimes poultry farmers hang red lamps to heat the chicken coop, thinking that they can simultaneously replace artificial lighting. In fact, red light has a calming effect on laying hens, but it is not enough. From approximately 6 to 9 am, and from 17 to 21 pm, white lighting should be turned on in the chicken coop, which can only be provided by fluorescent lamps.
Artificial heating of the chicken coop
With the onset of cold weather, poultry farmers begin to think that it is more profitable to choose a chicken coop for heating. You can make a potbelly stove, install water heating from the house, or install electric heaters. There are many options, but which ones are best decided only by the owner himself. Although numerous reviews from poultry farmers say that to heat a chicken coop in winter it is better to choose IR heaters powered by electricity.
Red lamps
Many people in stores have seen large red lamps with a mirror bulb inside. So they are the most popular heater for birds and animals. This is not a simple light source that emits heat, but a real IR lamp. Its power of 250 W is enough to warm up to 10 m2 premises.
Let's look at the positive aspects of using an infrared lamp for a chicken coop as heating:
- The rays emanating from the red lamp warm up not the air, but the surface of all objects in the chicken coop. This allows you to maintain optimal humidity, as well as constantly dry the wet bedding made of straw or sawdust.
- It’s not scary if you forgot to turn off the IR lamp for heating the chicken coop in time.Let it burn all night. Its red light has a calming effect on laying hens, but does not interfere with their sleep.
- The red lamp, unlike other heaters, does not burn oxygen. Its efficiency is 98%. About 90% of the energy is spent on heat generation, and only 10% goes on lighting.
- The red lamp is very easy to use. You just need to screw it into the cartridge and apply voltage.
- Scientists have proven that emitted red light helps strengthen the immunity of laying hens and the digestibility of feed.
In addition to the positive qualities, it is necessary to take into account the negative aspects of using red lamps. Poultry farmers complain about high energy consumption. In fact, there is such a disadvantage. But, most importantly, with a noticeably high cost, the service life of red lamps is short. Although the second statement can be disputed. Low-quality red lamps from unknown manufacturers burn out quickly. They also tend to crack when water gets on the flask. This is more the fault of the owner himself, who does not comply with the operating rules.
During installation, you need to take safety precautions:
- Each breed of chicken has its own habits. Curious birds can hit the flask with their beak, causing it to crack. Protective metal mesh will help avoid this.
- All red lamps are designed for high power, so they are screwed into ceramic sockets that are resistant to heat.
A dimmer will help make heating a chicken coop more economical. Using a regulator will help you smoothly change the intensity of heating and lighting.
Installing the red lamp will not cause any difficulties. They are produced with a standard threaded base.The lamp is simply screwed into the socket and then fixed above the heated object. In large chicken coops, red lamps are placed in a checkerboard pattern, while trying to place it closer to the center of the room. According to this scheme, uniform heating occurs.
The base of the red lamp must be 100% protected from the touch of birds, as well as splashes of water. To do this, the socket is securely secured with a suspension to the ceiling, and a metal mesh fence is created around the lamp. To reduce the likelihood of water getting on the flask, drinkers are moved away from the lamps.
Infrared heaters
The optimal temperature in the chicken coop in winter can be maintained using infrared heaters. In terms of popularity, they are in second place after red lamps, although they work on a similar principle. The IR heater heats not the air, but objects that fall within the reach of the rays.
For safety in the chicken coop, infrared devices are used, which are attached only to the ceiling of the barn. In the store you can choose different models with a power from 0.3 to 4.2 kW. To maintain the optimal temperature inside a small home chicken coop, an infrared heater with a power of about 0.5 kW is enough.
IR heaters are attached to the ceiling with suspensions, placing them at a distance of 0.5–1 m from the heated object. Although the accuracy of removing the device must be found out from its instructions. Heaters are produced in long-wave and short-wave types, so the way they are installed varies.
If we give a general description, then an infrared heater for a chicken coop can heat the room with minimal energy consumption. In this regard, the devices are economical, especially if they are equipped with a thermostat.It will allow you to fully automate the heating process and maintain the desired temperature in the chicken coop. IR heaters operate silently and also have a high fire safety class.
What is better to choose
It is difficult to advise which device is best to choose for heating a chicken coop. Each owner has his own preferences. Judging by popularity, Philips products come first. The company produces red IR lamps with a tempered glass bulb, and regular transparent models. The first option is the most popular. Such lamps have a long service life and allow you to adjust the luminous flux.
Nowadays IR mirror lamps from domestic manufacturers have appeared on the market. They are produced with a transparent and also a red flask. They are not inferior in quality to imported analogues, and can last up to 5 thousand hours.
As for infrared heaters, any ceiling model is suitable for a chicken coop with thermostat. You should not buy expensive imported models. The domestic device BiLux B800 of the AIR series has proven itself quite well. The 700 W heater power is enough to maintain the optimal temperature in a chicken coop with an area of up to 14 m2.
When choosing an IR heater for a chicken coop, you need to correctly calculate its power. Usually about twenty laying hens are kept at home. For such a number of birds, they build a barn measuring 4x4 m. If the chicken coop is initially well insulated, then even a 330 W heater will be enough to maintain the optimal temperature.
Video testing of the IR heater:
Reviews
Let's see what poultry farmers say about infrared heating of the chicken coop. Their reviews will help you choose the right equipment.
I saw a photo of an IR lamp in a fish tank and remembered my experience. I made a lamp for the chicken coop and hung it on a chain at a distance of about a meter above the surface; at a smaller distance it is not effective and does not heat the surface. Well, so that the chickens don’t kill her, I made a lampshade out of an old saucepan, maybe someone will find it useful: https://agrognom.ru/building/infrakrasnyj-obogrevatel-dlya-kuryatnika.html
I looked at the factory ones, they were very expensive for me.