Hen Brothel in my Garden

Last week was a bit of a worry. Periodically, I spend nights away from home. When my daughter lived with me, this was not a problem. Generally, it is not a problem. 24 hours isn't really long enough for the hens to get broody over the eggs not being removed, and they have a nice 2m WIR to walk around in.

For indoor use really, so I hang it well under cover

However last week, the temperature was set to drop to well below freezing. I had glug water bowls frozen solid so I was in a panic as I had to spend the next night and following day away from home, so wouldn't be around to put fresh water out. My neighbour was away as well so I couldn't ask him. I fretted but fortunately the temperatures rose.

Looks like a chicken brothel at night

I was voicing my concerns to a pal, Penny. She suggested an infra-red lamp as a solution. She had one that she no longer needed - she had used it when she kept her cats in an outhouse overnight while she was having an extension built, which was too cold. Now she had extended the house so the cat could sleep indoors and she offered to lend me her lamp.

She said it was a poultry lamp. As the photo shows, it is a big thing with a cage protecting the bowl. I put it on to test it out. During the daytime it is hardly noticeable, but at night it bathes the end of the garden in an eerie red glow.

However, the most important thing is it does stop their water freezing. I have tested it out overnight when all the other glugs have frozen solid, yet the two in the WIR near the lamp remain nice and liquid.

My worries are over. It is not the perfect solution since the wire runs over the ground, but I only need to use it occasionally so I'm happy with that. It's better than thirsty chickens.