Canadian Winters - insulate?

[RavenEh]

Hi everyone,

I'm building a new coop for my four hens higher up off the ground and I'm wondering if I should be insulating? There will continue to be vents at the top of the coop for air flow but I'm in Canada and the winters can get real cold... I will use the deep litter method to hopefully add some heat, and I'm putting in a plexiglass window in the roof for light/heat.

So my question is to you fellow Canadians/northern US chicken people - do you insulate? And if you do, what kind? I want to decide on this before I build it as insulation will change my plan a bit!

 

[reptileink]

There are numerous topics on this topic already on the boards.

I live in Rhode Island, and winters get pretty darn cold here too (and lots of snow coming this year). I have no plans on insulating (just adding extra hay/bedding. I have a large 6 pane window basically the size of one side of the coop with vents in the roof (and a few construction gaps here and there..lol). The door opening is blocked with 3 layers of heavy shower curtain strips to block wind. Aslphalt shingle roof and it gets about 6 hours of direct sun a day. I will only have 3 birds, but hoping all of that will keep them snug.

 

[RavenEh]

Sorry! I don't know how to delete the thread but I'll go back and see if I can find something I haven't already read that will help.