Papa Hen and I decided not to install a heat lamp in the coop. Many chicken farmers have heat lamps to keep their birds toasty in the winter, and it works fine for them. However, there are dangers in using heat lamps: 1. it's a fire hazard and 2. if the electricity goes out, the chickens don't stand a chance against cold temperatures because they are not acclimated. The fact is that chickens can acclimate and withstand fairly cold temperatures. Drafts and dampness are the things that can really get to them in cold weather.
Instead of a heat lamp, we are relying on insulation (silver Styrofoam pieces) inside the coop, thicker layers of pine shavings and straw, and bales of hay to keep the chickens warm. If it gets really cold, we will put hot water bottles inside the coop overnight too. Here, you can see how we have stacked bales of hay around the outside of the coop to keep out the drafts.
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