Coop insulation ? in the UP of MI

[Zookeeper9000]

Hi, I am getting my coop up in the next two weeks. All that is left is the sides and the doors and windows, the daughters boyfriend who is doing it said 2 days at the most. Right now my flocks are in large dog type houses that the lids lift on, very warm and handy. They do have roosts in them.

My coop is 16 x 7 feet and that will be turned into 2 pens. One will hold my buff and black orps which is 1 roo and 8 hens (one hen is a blue cochin) and one will hold my dorkings which is 1 roo and 6 hens (one hen is a BR). My pens will be attached to this chicken coop.

My ? is for the siding I planned on using the outside paneling which I can get for $9 a 4 x 8 sheet. It is about 1/2 inch thick. Then I get the black roofing stuff that dries like rubber (It is 1 $ a gallon at our $ store). I would paint the inside walls with this after I liquad nailed the seams. It would have a dirt floor that is already packed down and I will be using wood chips on the floor.

I am new to chickens so I am not sure about insulation. I thought yes but everyone up here who has chickens says no. I can run a electric line to the coop for heat lamps on the worst weather days. I already plan on running a light to it this way.

Right now I have that lean too (with a solid roof) with tarps all around it used for storage and it is not cold in there in winter with the tarps. It is protected from winds with my trailer and the woods that is around it so I am thinking the old timers up here might be right about not needing insulation. If I am wrong I can always insultate next summer I guess. But I don't want to be wrong at the expense of my chickens.

My origanal plan was using the out side paneling and running liquid nails down the seems and then painting the roof rubber on the inside then using those sheets of insulation on the outside and next year cover the insulation with more of the outside paneling. I don't want the insulation on the inside as I fear they would peck it and die or get sick. But if I could wait on the insulation then that would help alot with the finances, but I don't want to wait and have my chickens die from cold.

I know a lady up here who uses a hoop house made out of PVC pipe and thick plastic and she don't lose chickens and she puts them in her farm fields with straw down on the floor. And a electric net that is run on a solar charger surrounds it. She doesn't turn the charger on any more (at least that is what she said)

Thanks for any and all help on this.

I will also be hatching this fall and winter and have a small shed for those chicks. I use the large rubber tubs from Walmart for all my chick brooders till they reach a certain stage I use a hardware (the better wire) cover that fits over these tubs and have the heat light on one side of the tub. Once they get bigger then they would have this 8 x 8 foot shed to grow in. I plan on insulation for that as a draft would kill those babies. My ? is what else would I need to do for that shed to make it a good large brooder for when my babies out grow the tubs.

Thanks again, I do have ideas I just want to get more experianced opinions as my ideas are not always the best, but I can live with that as long as I am willing to learn from others LOL.

 

[chickenpiedpiper]

There is another thread on this same subject going on right now, it is called 'can insulating your coop be a bad thing' it has had 15 responses that are all over the board in opinion and facts.

My detailed response is there, and I wont duplicate it here for sake of time, however, I will repeat that neither my panel electric heater (designed for coops) or the red light bulb that run on timers or by temperature in my coop have affected my electric bill, and I am certain that is because I insulated well. Keep ventilation in mind, avoid making it air tight, or drafty, and think that if it would not be somewhere you could live with a down sleeping bag comfortably, why would you want your little friends there?

And, Frostbite hurst like HELL! prevent it, dont plan to treat it!

Good luck!

 

[Zookeeper9000]

Thanks I did a search and didn't see that thread. I suck at searching. I thought the same way but was getting a lot of flack from family and oldtimers for wanting to insulate. Thanks again going to look up thread.

 

[chickenpiedpiper]

just go up to the link for recent posts, and search back the last half hour, you will see it......

And remember, the old timers didnt care much about birds dying from cold stress or suffering from frostbite. Also electricity is not cheap, why heat a building that is not insulated. Just because an animal can survive extremes, doesnt mean its easy or humane! Dont listen to what other people dont like, you are the one who will be sleeping in a warm bed thinking about your birds, will you sleep well on cold nights? I know I wouldnt, so, I spoiled my ladies, and in return, I get awesome egg production year round. Cold hens put their energy into staying alive!!

Good Luck!

 

[chickenpiedpiper]

better yet, at the bottom and top of this page there is a link in blue letters to Index = Coop and run design and construction! Click on that, you will see the conversation with 15 entries!

Good Luck!

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Oh, I would be *awfully* careful about this, i.e. I would not do it myself in a million years and don't think anyone else should either. Firstly, chickens are pretty sensitive to fumes. The stuff you're talking about emits fumes like the dickens IME (frankly liquid nails is not so innocent either). Personally it would take a LONG period of airing, like a number of weeks, before I felt at all comfortable letting chickens into a coop like that, and then I would worry a lot about chickens pecking at loose bits. Also it will turn your coop into a dark black pit, very very unpleasant for chickens and unlikely to produce many eggs and hard for you to work in too.

What is the purpose of this plan?? I cannot see what it offers you, other than risks. Reasonably tight carpentry (use battens, possibly with a caulk behind (not next to) them, if you have minor drafty gaps in your construction) will take care of drafts. You want washability and/or vapor barrier? Prime and paint with a white exterior-grade paint. (Priming is not optional). You will have a light, bright, pleasant, chicken-friendly, chickenkeeper-friendly, relatively nontoxic coop. (e.t.a. - you can usually get leftover primer and mismixed paint for cheap; if you ask around to everyone you know, you may even find someone who'd give it to you free)

I am new to chickens so I am not sure about insulation.

It does no harm and some reasonable amount of good, but iyou do not NEED it in any way shape or form. Its main advantage is that it lets you have more ventilation (always a good thing, for air quality and health reasons) without dropping the coop temperature unduly.

If you're closing the inside walls in now, I'd say insulate if you can afford it b/c it will be a big pain in the patootey to rip the interior walls open later on if you decide to change your mind and insulate after all. OTOH if you are going to leave the inside walls open to the studs if you don't insulate, I'd say you could perfectly well leave it uninsulated this winter and see whatcha think. Easy enough to add insulation that way, even in January, if you change your mind.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​

 

[Zookeeper9000]

Pat you wrote:

Oh, I would be *awfully* careful about this, i.e. I would not do it myself in a million years and don't think anyone else should either. Firstly, chickens are pretty sensitive to fumes. The stuff you're talking about emits fumes like the dickens IME (frankly liquid nails is not so innocent either). Personally it would take a LONG period of airing, like a number of weeks, before I felt at all comfortable letting chickens into a coop like that, and then I would worry a lot about chickens pecking at loose bits. Also it will turn your coop into a dark black pit, very very unpleasant for chickens and unlikely to produce many eggs and hard for you to work in too."


Ok so I don't get ya wrong, I think you are talking about the roofing stuff not the outside panelling right?

The purpose of that was to stop any and all drafts. I never thought of the fumes. Thanks will change that plan, will change the liquid nail plan then as well. That was only going to be in the seams to help seal out drafts but don't want to take the chance.

So it will be the wall studs then the outside paneling, then the pink foam and next year will add a layer of the outside paneling. That should keep them warm.

? about the venting. At the top there is a gap of about 1/2 inch between the last framing board and the roof. I was going to close that up but from the other thread, I am not sure, do I close that up or leave it open for venting and cover it with that 1/2 inch hardware cloth so predators can't get in. I am really confused about that.

Thank you for all the help. Like I said everyone that lives here and has chickens says to just throw up sides and leave them be. Man I couldn't see not having at least some kind of insulation.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Oops, yes, that is what I meant but I never did actually say that did I

will change the liquid nail plan then as well.

Liquid nails isn't that bad as long as you use sensible modest amounts and let things air well.

? about the venting. At the top there is a gap of about 1/2 inch between the last framing board and the roof. I was going to close that up but from the other thread, I am not sure, do I close that up or leave it open for venting and cover it with that 1/2 inch hardware cloth so predators can't get in.

It is up to you whether you close it up permanently, or merely add a weatherstripped snug flap (in segments, probably) so that you can open or close it as you choose. It is unlikely to be sufficient ventilation for your coop however so hopefully you have built some other ventilation openings, preferably high on the walls and protected by overhangs, that will have adjustible covers? You'll want to fiddle with how much, and which, vents you have open depending on the temperature and the wind direction and speed.

If the opening is *truly* 1/2 wide, btw, it is probably pointless to put hardwarecloth over it, although you do want to make sure the siding can't be pried back to make the opening larger.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​

 

[Zookeeper9000]

There is at least a 1 foot over hang all around this lean too. The ceiling would not be insulated but it has about 2 inches of wood on it before they put the metal roofing material.

I will allow for more venting then and not worry too much about that strip if it is too much I can have the daughter's boyfriend stop in and fix it.

Come to think of it I am putting the windows so that they open from the ceiling down. That way the draft from them shouldn't hit the chickens, so if I need more venting would that work as a vent for now? That would be just until the daughter's BF could get there to put more in.

Next summer I am adding to this lean too. I will add 2 more 7 x 8 foot pens. And I will be building another coop from scratch.

Thanks again for your help. Do you think that this will work now?

 

[Schroeder]

If you are worried about drafts, you could use "house wrap" for this purpose. Its like wrapping paper that covers all the studs before you put on the siding. I bought a brand called "Gorilla Wrap" from Menard's. I think a roll 3' x 100' was $22.