Painting tyvek instead of wood siding

nightbear

Chirping
Feb 20, 2016
10
7
62
Illinois
We are in the process of building our coop and would like to keep it light weight, we have used pink foam to insulate the inside and will have interior walls of paneling, has anyone tried just tyvek on the outside of their coop?

The pic is of our coop so far, and of course is not near done!
400
 
Please don't be offended but you started asking questions WAY too late.
Your efforts to insulate a coop are misguided and painting tyvek is a poor idea as well.

For a light weight coop you just needed to use a thin plywood, no insulation.

Coops need ventilation above all else, if ventilated well insulation means little.

I made a small tractor before making a larger one just to "get some mistakes out of the way", the experience with the first definitely helped me do better the second time around.
 
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Ok, so some help, I will have two Windows both 24" by 24" that open on each side as well as an entire wall that opens and the chicken run door, but I know I didn't explain that, what other ventilation is recommended remembering that I live in the north and it gets very cold in the winter?
 
Chickens are very resistant to cold--they are basically covered in down jackets but if moisture condenses on their combs, wattles, and feet (the bits not covered in feathers) it will result in frostbite. So, the key to keeping chickens in winter in cold climates is to keep them out of drafts (which can ruffle their insulating feathers and let cold into their "jacket") and to keep their coop as dry as possible.

Sources of moisture in a chicken coop assuming it's weather-tight:
(1) the waterer--move it outside if at all possible
(2) droppings--keep this in mind when choosing your bedding
(3) breathing chickens--this is the most significant source of humidification of the air and the only way to address it is to provide excellent ventilation so it is carried out of the coop

So. Ventilation. Heat rises and it takes moisture with it since warm air holds more more moisture than cold air. Your most significant ventilation should be at the roof level then. Popular methods are roof ridge vents, gable vents, clerestory windows (esp above the roosting area)... In addition, you need a place for drier cooler air to enter and create cross-ventilation. This can come in through the pop door during the day, but if you plan on closing it up at night, you probably want to put some adjustable vents in the walls. Leaving the walls a little less sealed would have actually worked in your favor for this.
 
Thanks, I had also bought an exhaust fan to put towards the back of the coop, has anyone tried this? And I think that venting the Windows and leaving a vent space between the door and roof along the entire side as we had originally planned should give us quite a bit of ventilation...I am interested in finding a siding idea that I can use that will not make the coop so heavy that my four wheeler has a hard time pulling it, anyone have any ideas?
 
I live up near Green Bay so I understand cold and there are plenty of chicken keepers in colder places yet.

I used white polycarbonate corrugated sheets for the roof, light weight and lets lots of light in, will definitely be using them again maybe even as siding.
 

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