heat lamp in coop advice

i have one of those standard house style coops that are for sale on ebay. its getting colder now and snow forecast tonight for us so im wanting to add some heat to the coop to prevent the water freezing.

i have 3 silkies in the coop who usually stick to just one of the two perches. i usually put the water drinker in the opposite corner away from the nesting boxes and the perch they use so its there if they want it but not in the way.

i have run a clip on lamp and bought a 60w fireglow bulb which i have screwed into the roof (away from touching the wood sides) and directly above the water drinker. ive set the timer (15 minute slots) to come on 4 time through the night at intervals, so around 7pm, 11pm, 2am and 5 am.

would this be ok? i dont want to add too much heat and dont want to disturb the birds sleep. the heat the light generates will mainly be on the drinker so the hens would only benefit a little from the heat it provides.

any thoughts? :blink:

I agree with Joy and if you heat the coop for your birds it will be bad for them as the change in temperature when they leave the coop will not be good for them.  They have enough insulation with their feathers.

I am using a table top food warmer which has candles in it to stop the water freezing during the day in bad weather.  Just put bricks or clay tiles on top of the warmer to disapate the heat so it doesn't melt plastic drinkers.  You can get the food warmers cheaply at car boots or even charity shops.  Long burning candles can last up to 8 hours which is enough as the bricks retain the heat for a while after.

There is no naked flame as it is all covered in and with bricks on top their is no way it can be knocked over.

Similar to this one

www.electricshopping.com/brabantia-br477164-food-warmer