How many chickens do I need for them to have enough heat in winter

[yesbabaem]

Hello from a newbie!

First, for everyone who wants to get chickens and figures they'll get the coop built in time don't do it life will intervene.
My girls were in the garage from the end of March until mid June.

Build the coop first.

I live in Parkesburg, PA (15 miles east of Lancaster so we get snow (most winters) and it gets down below 10 at nights.

I started w/ 12 chicks from TSC Chick days and am now down to 4 girls and 3 surprise boys.

My coop and run are finally complete, but at 10' x 8' with a sloping 8' to 6' roof I am concerned that even though I insulated with R13 that I don't have enough birds to be warm enough through winter,

Construction is hardware cloth reinforced pallets w/ 1/2" plywood over the pallets.
Walls are T-111 outside,R13 and then OSB inside (2x4s for the verticals inside the walls)
Roof is Clear plastic panels over 2x4 rafters.

There is a man door and a chicken door.

Nesting boxes will stick out the side of the coop and will have 1" Rboard insulating them.

I plan to use 1" R board to keep heat from leaking out the top during winter.

I'll post pics as soon as I get the 2nd 50' of fence up to double the run.

If this should live somewhere else tell me and I'll repost.

Ken

 

[chfite]

Chickens don't need insulated coops, they have their own down comforters. The need ventilation and protection from drafts. When the wind blows through the coop, they experience the draft. Having adequate ventilation allow the ammonia fumes to rise and be replaced with fresh air.

Those on the forum in Alaska don't insulate.

My chickens bunch up even in the summer at night. I bet one could keep itself warm in the absence of a draft.

Chris

 

[terryg]

I agree entirely with chfite. Heat kills, cold doesn't. What you DO have to worry about is making sure that their water is flowing at all times. If you have electricity you can use a heated base. If you don't, you'll have to swap out fresh water for the frozen fonts a couple of times a day. Hens don't drink at night, so it's not okay to put water in once in the morning and figure they'll have more after work, after dark. I know of several hens that died in the winter after only 2 days of no water (the owner was sick and no one knew.) There was snow, but that didn't help. For healthy hens, ventilation is the key - especially a well-insulated coop. Cupolas are ideal. I have more info on a cold weather FAQ here:
http://hencam.com/faq/cold-weather-care/
One other thing for those of you who are installing insulation - for some reason chickens love to peck and eat the foam boards. It can kill them, so be careful and don't leave scraps around or leave any exposed!

 

[Den in Penn]

As the others have said they can take the cold. I myself worry more about the heat is summer. Is you coop in a shady spot? I ask because those clear panels let in a lot of sun light, great in winter, bad in summer. My grow out coop has clear panels as part of the roof. They worked great to keep it warm in the early spring. Now with this heat, when the sun hits it the temperature goes up fast. Needless to say that during the day they rarely are in it. I missed the snow last winter.

 

[mistydbowen]

I don't know the answer to your question (I'm new to chickens too). But I wanted to say we did the same thing this year. We planned on having to coop ready before they needed it, but the poor things ended up being stuck in their brooder for much longer than they should have bring. I ended up putting them in a playpen outside during the day because the brooder was getting too small. But they survived and now they're happy in their own house.

I'd think if you were really worried about the heat you could put a lamp out there on the coldest nights. That's what I'm planning on doing, maybe just on the nights when it gets below zero or something.

 

[Johnboy78]

Last winter one of my Yokohamas age 9 mos did not join the others in returning to the coop.
It was dark when I locked it up, I didn't know. She's always been the runt of my little mixed flock
and Yokohama are not supposed to be coldhardy. That night it went below 15 degrees, I know it
isn't Arctic but for us it's pretty cold. Next morning I got up and she was walking back and forth on the deck in front
of the back door waiting for me to put out water. The others were milling in the little run, cackling to be let out.
She was fine. I have no idea where she chose to spend the night but she managed to keep warm enough by herself.

My coop is insulated but not heated. It's fairly well ventilated and I don't shut the coop door. Biggest hassle with
cold is making sure they have water that's not frozen over.
I have a mixed flock of 8 girls and just over a year's experience. I don't worry about cold anymore.