Avoiding Electric Heating; Episode 29

For anyone with chickens living in colder climes, there is the great debate of “to heat or not to heat” to consider.  While there might not be a correct answer, as it depends on your “chicken philosophy”, one of the strong anti-heating arguments centers around the dangers and expense of using electric heating.  Its true that electricity causes many of the disastrous coop fires we’ve seen in the news, and its likewise true that electric heating is about the most expensive (inefficient) way to generate heat there is.  Short of burning money for warmth.

Not that gas is cheap either.. This week in the cabinet of curiosities, among many other stories, we hear the tale of the man who designed a system to save one poultry farmer $30,000; Off of a $60,000 dollar heating bill!  Not by changing fuels, but by changing design efficiency.  There are a lot of ways to avoid electric heating that have to do with improving design.  If you’re designing a coop, keeping winter temperatures in mind is very important!  We’ve got a few design ideas and modifications that can greatly reduce the need for heating your coop!

Beyond changes in design however there are things you can try to do to raise the nighttime temperature in the coop.  You’ve probably heard of deep liter bedding, but is it really a solution or hype?  We’ll talk about some of the problems with the idea.  We’ll also go over some alternative energy ideas for warming your birds without electric heating.. Or even fuel!

Amber has discovered an ancient tradition, steeped in mythology of foretelling the future with chicken bones!  Have a peek in the cabinet to learn about this curious tradition!  And, just because, Amber tells the story of a paddle boarding chicken.

Electric Heating
Of course Amber has groupies.

But other peoples chickens aren’t the only ones having fun; We won’t apologize for the fact that this is our first show we’ve done in the daytime, and we are utterly distracted by the flock, who insists on stopping by periodically to watch us through the window.  It was really tempting to let them in and join us again on the show.  They haven’t been on the show since they were babies, so maybe they’re trying so hard because they really have something to say?

And we have to talk about Sargent Pecker. Our Blue Andalusian  seems to have shifted her position in the pecking order, and has now transitioned into the role of rooster.  Oh. My.   So far, it seems to be working out the best for everybody. This week Sargent was on patrol and alerted everyone of a nearby predator!

Good news with the two story chicken coop; the birds are slowly moving up to the penthouse!

And the molt continues;  I can’t believe the pile of feathers we find in the coop daily now.  One of our poor chickens looks like its been through a disaster, and a couple are not far behind.. Everybody’s getting ready for winter- Are you?

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