Cold Climate Coop- What do I do?

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OldMacDonald

OldMacDonald

In the Brooder
8 Years
Apr 2, 2011
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I'm new at this, and have been designing & building my coop this week as my chicks are toasting themselves under the heat lamp in the garage. My question is simple- In a cold climate (Michigan gets pretty cold in the winter) how do I balance the need to keep the coop warm with the need to keep in ventilated?

My design has a wire floor in the coop so that droppings can fall through to the run underneath. I have vents on the top so that air can come up through the floor and exit out the top. Ventilation should not be a problem. But when it gets cold, do I close the vents and put a cover over the wire floor floor so that the chickens' body heat will keep the small coop warm? That would kill the ventilation. But if I leave the floor open or the vents open it will be impossible to keep warm.

What to do...
 
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Nix on the wire floor, I guarantee it will get clogged with poop. It WILL be too cold in winter too. Just use a regular floor, and with ventilation at the eaves, and the chicken door near the bottom, possibly a window you can vent too, you will get good ventilation. Chickens are much happier with bedding, and won't be impressed with that wire floor.

It's hard to know what is really best other than that, just review the topics here like, Patandchickens' Big Ol' Ventilation Page is at https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-VENTILATION as well as, Patandchickens' Cold Coop (winter design) page at https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-winter-coop-temperatures

Nifty's got a list of other good threads on the first post in the Coop & Run Design section... which I bet you know so I'll leave it there. Not sure I was much help but I hope so.
 
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Extra room, vents on top, and a deep litter bedding is how we roll
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When the snow flies, you might find the chickens have NO interest in going out at all. You'll want your coop big enough to be comfy for them to stay in for months on end. Some folks shovel out a the run to get them out of the coop, but I was laid up most of the winter, so no shoveling for me. I did throw scratch and sunflower seed on the bedding to keep them occupied and to scratch the litter up, and I did get them flock blocks for some entertainment as well. Everyone came through happy and laying most of the winter (if they weren't molting).

I have a BIG "window" cut out for summer ventilation, and we leave the shed door open for cross winds in the summer to keep them cool. In the winter, we just put a sheet of Tyvec we had laying around over most of the window, and left the main top vents open. We still had to heat the water (bucket with a livestock water heater in it), and we provided a light with a simple 60W bulb in it to keep them laying (and so we could see!)

I'm also located in MI
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I agree with this wholeheartedly..though...I've never been too good at Deep Litter. I keep getting frustrated with it and clean out the coop, lol. We use a heated waterer base, no heat in the coop. We have a simple light bulb on a timer for winter (like the christmas light timers) to keep them laying. I'm in Canada. It gets cold.
 
All I can advise you to do is this. Ventilation means air coming in through the eaves and passing out the highest point of the coop. The same way your house is ventilated. Ventilation does not mean drafty side walls at the level of the hens.

I use no heat and no insulation because the mice will simply take up residence. In the end, to my thinking, it is all about keeping hardy breeds. Breeds that were developed in cold climates and are bred for it. The list is long and well known. Rocks, Wyandottes, RIR, etc. BTW, from one Michigander to another. I live in the coldest area of the L.P. and our climate is tougher than the eastern UP. The AuSable Valley.

Also agree on deep liter, if you can. HUGE space. My hens were cooped up this year for an incredible long period. They will not wade through snow. OK, we had a horrid winter, but planning for the worse winters is prudent. Enjoy your planning and best wishes.
 
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I realize what ventilation means (BTW- many say that good ventilation comes from near the floor and out the roof because it moves air from the entire space whereas air moving from the eves out the peak is efficient mostly at the top of the coop- and air coming from the floor and out the top is not drafty like air coming from the walls); my question has been, and still remains-

Do you close your vents in order to keep it warm or do you leave them open? If you leave them open, doesn't the heat in the coop go up and out the vents??
 
I live in Wi it got down to 20 below zero last winter. My coop is not insulated but has ventilation in the ceiling and I leave my pop door open every night . I have a very secure run 16 guage 1/2 x 1 inch cage wire with a 2 foot apron around the bottom of the run. I cover my run with plastic in the winter but leave one section open. I have a covered run with metal roofing. My predators are raccoons, opposum, coyotes, and weasels I have never had a problem. Ventilation is the Key . I use a one gallon bucket with nipple waters and a bird bath heater in the bucket. Twice I had to unfreeze the nipple waters.
 
My vents were closed down for storms and at night. By closed down, I mean that they hung down but were still open a little bit. Every day I would prop them open unless it was really really windy. My coop stayed about 10 to 20 degrees warmer than the outside temp. The pop door was opened every day unless it was storming out. Most of the time the girls would go out, no matter how cold.
 
No offense intended on my description of ventilation. I was merely describing how my barn/coop is ventilated. To my thinking, any air "flowing" in at floor level is a draft.


Your original question was, "How do I balance the need for adequate ventilation with keeping heat in the coop". My follow up question is simply, What heat are you trying to keep in the coop?
 

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