Colorado

[lomine]

@COChix sorry to hear you are getting rid of your chickens. But it does sound like you have made the decision based on what is best for you. Hope it all works out for you.

@Regina67 Welcome to the Colorado thread! What kinds of chicks did you get?

To answer your question, I did insulate my coop. I haven't gone through a winter with chickens yet, just ducks. They didn't really use the coop during the day but my run was pretty well covered to keep the wind and snow out. I was actually pretty surprised how much warmer is was in the run with just a plastic corrugated roof and clear tarps on the walls. That was with one end completely open on top and sides. I think the insulation works on the hot days too. The insulated coop stays a lot cooler than my garden shed that isn't insulated. They get about the same amount of sun but the shed is a lot bigger. Though now that I think about it, it could also be that I have more ventilation in the coop.

 

[maggiemo]

That's crazy. Ewwwww. I saw the picture and thought it was a weird kind of bumble foot, phew...I was on the verge of being totally grossed out, now I'm just thinking ewww....

 

[21hens-incharge]

Hello Colorado

! I'm new to the BYC boards, to chicken-raising, and a long-time homeschooling mom with 2 children still at it. We live near Fountain, CO (btwn CS and Pueblo). We have 4 chicks we picked up at the local Big R a week ago and have 7 more coming from MyPetChicken next week.

Our coop/run/greenhouse is getting built slowly but surely and I am wondering if it's common to insulate the hen house portion considering Colorado's winter weather?

Thanks,
Regina

Welcome, Welcome!

To give my experience in Colorado winters with chickens....

The coops I have had have ranged from a 4x4 to the massive 8x14 coop I use now. I do not insulate for 2 reasons.
Reason one would be that if you have proper ventilation it negates the benefit of the insulation. It is a cost versus gain thing there as it would be money down the drain on insulation if the ventilation is doing its job. If the ventilation is NOT doing its job the results can be devastating.

Reason two would be that mice like to make homes in walls that have insulation. They stink, come out at night and chew feathers off chickens while they sleep and eat/poo in the chicken food.

My hens have been through several winters with only one hen ever getting minor frost bite. She was a leghorn and only lost the very tips of her comb. Remember that it has been -16 where I am at and they did fine when you think of insulating.

Best wishes with the chicken keeping adventure!

 

[Regina67]

Thank you so very much for your reply.

We had not planned to insulate initially, as I had read somewhere that chickens acclimate to their surrounding temperatures pretty well on their own. Then, of course, I had come across another article recently that emphasized how important it is to have it. Hearing from an actual chicken owner in my local state is very helpful and greatly appreciated. We have a walk-in 10x12 wood and shingled storage barn that we are converting over to house the chickens. As long as I can create proper ventilation without allowing too much of the winter wind from getting in, I think it will work out well.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

[Regina67]

The four at home now are (I think): one White Sex-Link, one Brown or Speckled Sussex, one Silver-laced Wyandotte (i hope, i hope, i hope!), and one chocolate brown mystery chick. Im pretty confident they are all females, but the sales girl at Big R wasnt too convincing regarding their breeds.

The stork arriving from MyPetChicken next week is bringing us two female Black Plymouth Rocks, two female Partridge Plymouth Rocks, and one male and two female Buff Orpingtons, so we'll have 11 all together I believe these are all cold-hardy, so that will help with winters too. It can get pretty windy where we live!

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings @Regina67 ! welcome to BYC and the Colorado thread

I have 2 coops, neither is insulated. you should ideally have low vents to let air in and high vents to let the nasty moist air out. In doing this, you want to try to keep drafts off the roost area where the birds will be all night. They wear down jackets, so most can easily handle temps to negative 10-20 with little problem, they just fluff themselves up and lower down to cover their feet with their feathers, and they're good to go... as long as there's no drafts/wind directly on them. It's the moisture that's the main issue in cold weather, from their breathing and their poop. It causes frostbite and freezing issues. If you plan to insulate and button up the coop, you'd best provide heaters to keep the trapped moisture from freezing on combs/wattles/toes.

 

[uzisuzuki]

Hello Colorado ! I'm new to the BYC boards, to chicken-raising, and a long-time homeschooling mom with 2 children still at it. We live near Fountain, CO (btwn CS and Pueblo). We have 4 chicks we picked up at the local Big R a week ago and have 7 more coming from MyPetChicken next week.

Our coop/run/greenhouse is getting built slowly but surely and I am wondering if it's common to insulate the hen house portion considering Colorado's winter weather?

Thanks,
Regina

I worried about this when I first started & the main thing I was told was that you don't have to insulate but you do want to make sure there's enough airflow to keep the humidity down. It's more likely the chickens will get frostbite from the humidity being too high in the coop during winter.

 

[Regina67]

@LateStarter - love the idea of putting vents near the bottom. I wouldnt have thought that a good idea, but with your explanation, it makes perfect sense! We'll definitely incorporate them in. Thanks for the tip!

@uzisuzuki - I never realized humidity could be such a problem for them here. It's always been the chilling wind that I've worried about most of all. Now I know better - my chickens thank you!

Thank you all very much for the valuable information!

 

[uzisuzuki]

@LateStarter - love the idea of putting vents near the bottom. I wouldnt have thought that a good idea, but with your explanation, it makes perfect sense! We'll definitely incorporate them in. Thanks for the tip!

@uzisuzuki - I never realized humidity could be such a problem for them here. It's always been the chilling wind that I've worried about most of all. Now I know better - my chickens thank you!

Thank you all very much for the valuable information!

Same here! I thought for sure that the wind (on the more eastern side of CO, so much wind!) was what I needed to worry about since it's so dry out here. I've had a few frostbite scares from too much humidity on 2 combs, but adding more ventilation stopped it from getting serious and no one lost a point.

 

[oshun55555]

Quote: What she said, Uzi can you tell me how to add emoji s to the message, I have forgotten, getting old here.