9 weeks til I'm hangin with my peeps!

[Mammahen71]

Hello all! I have been reading posts on BYC for 3 months now, and finally convinced the hubby to go forward with chickens on the homestead. We have 2 acres, and we are starting with 9 hens. Due to arrive the week of April 8th! I can't wait to be hangin with my peeps... We ordered 3 Rhode Island Reds, 3 Barred Plymouth Rocks, and 3 Easter Eggers.

My big question is... To insulate the coop, or not to insulate the coop? I am in upstate NY (Schenectady/Albany)... What do you think?

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, MotherFlocker, and

! Great to have you with us and that BYC was helpful in your research! To insulate or not is a hot (pardon the pun) topic on BYC. More important than insulation is a well constructed and draft free coop. Chickens generate a lot of heat and with the 9 you will have in the coop, it will be warm enough without insulation. Below is an exhaustive thread on the subject - lots of reading! Good luck to you!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/421122/think-its-too-cold-for-your-chickens-think-again

 

[sourland]

Great resources and advice from redsoxs. Welcome to BYC.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

Hi and from Ohio. So glad to have you aboard.

 

[S&N Livestock]

from Ohio

 

[weimarmama]

&

from Alabama. Glad you joined us.

 

[sumi]

Hello and welcome to BYC

Glad you joined us!

 

[DDNONIN2016]

Hello and welcome from Ohio...so glad you joined BYC

 

[Mammahen71]

Thanks, redsoxs! That was very helpful. And thanks, everyone, for the "warm" welcome. (All puns intended.)

My husband is a contractor, so I am trying to convince him that this is a CHICKEN COOP, not a "people coop," so he doesn't have to follow all the human building requirements as far as insulation and being "air tight." Convincing him about the ventilation needs of a chicken coop has him looking at me funny. I might have to grab the hammer and thunk him on the head a little.

 

[redsoxs]

You are welcome. With regards to the coop being "airtight" be careful! Chicken poop is high in methane and while you don't want a draft, ventilation is necessary - even in winter. Usually the tiniest cracks or holes from the (often recycled) materials used to construct the coop serve the purpose of giving the coop adequate ventilation and a means for the foul (or is that fowl

) air to escape!