Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tigeura 
Hello all,
I am in Knoxville area, and very new to backyard chickens. I am in the process of working up plans for the coop and run. I have been reading lots of wonderful posts that have given me some great ideas. Some questions are:
~Insulating the coop for winters?
~Using sand in the run? ~~ How does this do during our winters when the ground freezes?
~Can a coop be too big? ~~I am looking at 3-4 sq ft. per chicken and can only have up to 6 hens.
Thank you a head of time for reading this. I have tried to wade though all the posts on the site, but haven't found answers to these yet.
I've never worried about insulating my coops, depending on what breeds you get there are cold-climate hardy birds. Just make sure you don't insulate it so well that it gets "stuffy" in there, you want ventilation. I mean, we do live in Tennessee after all... 
Sand, can't help you there.. Ask bairo or TNBarnqueen... there are a few others that use sand...
I think there is no such thing as a coop that is too big, depends on what you want - a coop just large enough for 6-10 hens and a latched door on the back to collect eggs, or a building you can walk into and collect eggs, possibly have enough space to ::cough cough add more chickens cough cough::
Have you looked through the Coops section of BYC and look at the way some have built theirs? Are you on a small budget? I mean, most of us have spent WAY too much money for that first egg...
I'm guilty! My first coop cost me at least $600! I don't have the exact numbers...