Barn Isulation

Ventilation is way more important than 'holding heat'....for chickens for sure and probably for rabbits too. Heating the barn is not needed and would be expensive with the ventilation needed.

I completely agree. To hold heat you need to seal it off. Chicken poop is one of the worst out there for fumes and you need air ventilation to move that off with them protected from direct winds.

All of the animals you listed will make it through the winter fine with protection from the wind, weather and predators. Sealing and heating the building would likely give them respiratory problems
 
Your pole barn sounds big! Will it’s use be for more than bunnies and chickens? If so, can you explain more about your set up.

as for a metal building, there can be drafts coming between the panels in higher winds. If you are setting up cages around the wall, you are looking to mitigate the drafts. You could staple heavy shower curtains or plastic sheeting around the walls, to the height of cages and replace as needed. Our birds don’t pay much mind to plastic like that. If you are looking for a more permanent solution, metal panels aren’t too expensive and can be cut to the length you want for no extra charge - you are paying based on sqft. You can add paper backed Fiberglass insulation or styrofoam rigid insulation behind a durable material such as Corrugated metal or OSB.

ventilation is important. With that large of a building, I’m guessing the roof is up higher, and there are roof vents etc. but can you tell us how it is ventilated?

we are finishing a project of insulating a workshop in a metal building. We first stuffed stainless steel wool into all spaces created by the corrugated metal at the bottom of the framing to help prevent rodents from coming in for the winter and cozying up inside the insulation. We stapled paper backed fiberglass insulation to the studs. The lower wall has corrugated metal siding, the upper part has painted OSB. However, no animals (except the barn cat) are in the workshop.
 
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Ventilation is way more important than 'holding heat'....for chickens for sure and probably for rabbits too. Heating the barn is not needed and would be expensive with the ventilation needed.

In your climate insulation is not necessary, except because of the metal building maybe on the roof so condensation doesn't form and drip on the animals.

@wallpejl Please post some pics of your barn inside and out.
 
Beautiful building. The animals should all be fine without heat, but they do need ventilation. Ammonia builds up from the poop, and causes respiratory problems in birds.

If I’m not mistaken, the rule of thumb is 1 sq ft per chicken. Those turkeys and guinea fowl are even bigger, and might need more.

People keep chickens and rabbits in Indiana safely without heating their coop. Heck, they keep chickens in Canada and Alaska without heating the coop!
 
beautiful set-up! you have overcome the main “winter” challenges of indiana winters which is wind and rain/flooding coupled with cold. deep litter method with adequate ventilation, dry, and draft-free is more than adequate for surviving in this area. during period of extended below zero windchills last year, I locked mine in the coop with supplemental heat (cozy coop). my birds didn’t like it one bit!! i had 100% survival, but a couple instances of frostbite when they managed to push open the door to escape. unfortunately, we are getting the winter scare early this year with the rain last 2 days and the wind/freezing temps coming in tonight and through the weekend :hit:barnie
 
I made a thread about this same issue. My metal shed isn’t nearly as nice but i am looking for ideas to ventilate it. I wish now we wouldn’t have went with the metal shed due to all the gaps in between the sheets. I have thought about using 1x1s and attaching plywood throughout the inside. I’ve heard about drilling small holes in one corner of the roof to help with ventilation. I’ll be honest there isn’t much ventilation and I’m worried my girls will get sick. The temps have dropped drastically in KY and the winds are crazy today. I added more bedding and there is no heat source just a small fan to circulate the air out which I’m sure I’m going to find out that’s a horrible idea... HELP!
 

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