Serious question, why do people keep putting heat lamps in the coop overnight?

Ryan Anderson · 2026-10-21T12:20:05.85311+00:00

I lost a hen to a fire in my neighbor's coop two winters back, and the cause was a clamped heat lamp that slipped off the beam and landed in the pine shavings. Since then I've been telling everyone who'll listen to use a flat panel heater or just give the birds a dry draft-free coop, because chickens handle cold way better than we think. Here's what people get wrong: they see the flock huddled and assume they're freezing, but mine in Albany do that at 20 degrees and at 40 degrees, it's just how they sleep. I ran a thermometer at roost height for a whole January and it never got below 28 inside, even on nights that hit 8 outside, because the birds' own body heat plus good bedding does the job. The one real fix that mattered was closing the window on the windy side and leaving the top vent open so moisture gets out, wet air is what actually hurts them. I know it's not a fun topic, but if someone reading this has a lamp hanging by a clip from a hook, please swap it tonight. Has anyone here had luck with those sweeter heater panels, and did your flock actually use them or just ignore it?

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Serious question, why do people keep putting heat lamps in the coop overnight? | Backyard Chicken Keepers - Rigidtalk