Chicken Coop / Sheds For Canadian Winter

Countrymanfowl · Jun 7, 2019

I currently have a plastic DIY shed that is 10' by 12'. When we tried to insulate it we didn't do that good of a job but tired our best. What we did was get those pink insulation panels, cut them appropriately and then wrapped them in a tarp. On the walls it works fine, but at the roof it won't hold and keeps falling down.

I'm looking for ideas on both how to fix the coop I have and am looking for ideas on what else I could use as a coop to hold 50 chickens max. I can't afford $5,000+ for a prebuilt shed or coop and am not all that handy when it comes to building. Any ideas?

MadisonOde · Jun 7, 2019

Do you have a heat lamp? I know some people are against using them, but I think here in Wisconsin it’s needed for some of the -50° days.

Countrymanfowl · Jun 7, 2019

MadisonOde said:
Do you have a heat lamp? I know some people are against using them, but I think here in Wisconsin it’s needed for some of the -50° days.

I do have some heat lamps. Would I set them above the roosts? Or more towards the ground?

Ted Brown · Jun 8, 2019

How about putting the insulation panels for the roof on the outside?

50-45-1 · Jun 8, 2019

My husband says you could try construction adheasive or liquid nails. Make sure to get the kind that is compatable with foam insulation. The wrong kind will eat your insulation.
Use some type of prop to firmly press the foam to the surface of the ceiling for enough time for the adheasive to set up.
Chickens will eat that foam, so covering it is necessary, but i think the movement of the tarps when it is windy or drafty might freak the chickens out.
Instead of tarps to cover you could use thin masonite or some type of paneling to cover the foam. You could glue that right to the foam
If you insall the ceiling first, the walls will support the roof all the way around.
Good luck!

aart · Jun 8, 2019

Countrymanfowl said:
I currently have a plastic DIY shed that is 10' by 12'. When we tried to insulate it we didn't do that good of a job but tired our best. What we did was get those pink insulation panels, cut them appropriately and then wrapped them in a tarp. On the walls it works fine, but at the roof it won't hold and keeps falling down.

Please post some pics of coop, inside and out.

Countrymanfowl · Jun 8, 2019

aart said:
Please post some pics of coop, inside and out.

They now have a bunch of stuff in them at the moment. I'll try to take the best pics I can. Keep in mind the roof area will have to be all redone and currently they are just "hanging", blocking access to the rafters.

aart · Jun 8, 2019

Remember that ventilation is more important the insulation.

Countrymanfowl · Jun 8, 2019

aart said:
Remember that ventilation is more important the insulation.

So I took pictures of the two sheds I have. Not the best pictures. The ones with the tarp covered insulation is the one I used for the coop. The one with bare walls is the other one. Tried to show what's behind the tarps.

And as you can see the tarps for the roof are just simply blocking the rafters. This has to be redone somehow.