What heat source do you use when it's cold?

[majorv]

Hi, I was just wondering what everyone uses to put a little warmth on nestboxes when it gets real cold. I've never used a heat lamp before but I'm also tired of losing kits when they get uncovered overnight.

I got a Fluker's ceramic socket heat lamp and bought a 100 watt ceramic heat emitter to use with it. After giving it time to warm up it just doesn't seem all that effective to me though. The heat lamp is rated up to 250 watts but I wanted to see what others use before getting a stronger bulb. Our cages are outside under a roof, with shade cloth and heavy tarps hung around it. Its up against the house on the back side. It typically stays a few degrees warmer in there than it is 'outside'. I can clamp a light from the side but not from the top.

 

[Marinea]

My breeding stock does fine outside just being protected from the worst of the wind. My nestboxes...well, they are currently in my guest room. I take them out twice a day for feedings.

I would be concerned about heating the kits too much. In a nestbox, they really can't get away from the heat very well.

 

[Zass]

My stock is also fine with kits outside. They build good nests and cover the kits back up when they are done nursing. I would not keep a doe who fails at that.
I only run into danger when the kits start to wander, and will often bring the boxes inside between days 6 and 12.

 

[Truckinguy]

Mine are also fine in the colony outside all winter. I don't run power out there for the chickens or rabbits because I'm deathly afraid of fire. My chicken coops are under some big pine trees which gives them shade and protection from predators from the air but if the coops go up then the trees go up and then the house. I have a lot of solar lights out there which work really well.

My does are good mothers and build appropriate nests for the weather. I've been thinking of getting an outdoor wood furnace which pumps hot water into the house for heating and I could run separate lines off that for the colony and coops. It's an idea on the back burner. I don't think I would have electric or any combustible heat out there, though.

 

[TriumphTriple]

I have been wondering if I should bring mine in. It is 8 degrees out right night. Which is the coldest it has been this winter. It likely won't get to much colder in my area. I have 2 litters that are under 5 days old. I have a tarp wrapped around 3 sides of the structure just to keep the wind off of them. Since it got below 20 degrees, I have been wrapping the front. My wife keeps telling me to bring the nesting boxes inside, but I don't think it is needed. The mothers pulled a lot more hair of hair out than when it was warmer.

 

[majorv]

My stock is also fine with kits outside. They build good nests and cover the kits back up when they are done nursing. I would not keep a doe who fails at that.
I only run into danger when the kits start to wander, and will often bring the boxes inside between days 6 and 12.

That would be my problem. The does do cover them but its the occasional one that wanders. The nestbox isnt completely covered in hair, only the back half. The last couple of nights I think the does have been sitting in the front half to stay warm because I find a little poop in the front. My fear is that one will wander close to mom and when she gets out he's exposed. That's happened before. They're 1 1/2 weeks old so they have some hair but not enough to stand up to cold temps.

I tried the lamp with the 100 watt bulb last night and checked it several times and it seems to help take the bite out of the cold without making it too warm. Since the heat is coming down from above one corner of the box it will only warm the front half of the box. Once they get a thicker layer of hair I won't be so concerned.

 

[akane]

Some extra straw.

 

[PSFAngoras]

Extra straw as well, and I cheat and add some extra angora wool. I do believe you can buy stuff called 'litter saver' or something like that from Klubertanz to put in the nest if you don't have oodles of wool hanging around. I had one litter born in -17 F last year and they did great, not one lost, and it was the doe's first litter. I had another about a week and a half ago born in -8, and they did well, but mom is a first timer and drug one out of the nest with her on day 3. First time I've ever lost a kit to the cold in 3 years breeding.

 

[majorv]

Yea, we do have some extra hair that we keep just in case but maybe I should also keep some of that bedding stuff on hand, too, that you can get from the pet store. We've never used straw in our nestboxes although I've heard it's a good insulator. We use bedding and hay. Temps aren't frigid around here, but when it gets 30 and below I get more concerned.

PSFAngoras, yes, that's happened to me as well. That's why I go out and check on them before I go to bed each night...I've saved a few since that first happened to me.

Thanks again!

 

[akane]

30 is no big deal. We see -30 sometimes. Usually a few days of -20 and lots of slightly negative temps. It's actually been a very warm winter this year. We only saw -24 once so far and lots of 20F and occasionally a day above freezing.