I take it this will be your first winter with the chickens? I was a wreck the first winter, worrying about everything. I'm your neighbor over in Rochester, Minnesota. I have gone through two winters now with my chickens, and they survived it just fine. No heat, no insulation. I did have an issue with frostbite the first winter (Jan 2019), but we were having temps -15 to -35f for a week or two, and there just isn't much you can do when that happens in this neck of the woods. Nobody has died, and my chickens all spent their days in the run, no matter what the temperature was. This past winter they sailed through it without a single frostbite issue.
I do cover the run with polycarbonate panels to block out the wind, but it is still very ventilated to avoid any moisture buildup. That said, I only had four chickens. I now have 10 that I will be caring for this next winter. Even now I am thinking about what I will need to do to care for this many through winter. However, now that it isn't my first winter, it's easier to consider what I will do. My biggest issue might be related to ventilation, with so many more birds. I have time to figure it out. I may add heat..but not in the sense of actually heating the coop itself. I have a sweeter heater I used to brood my latest batch in the coop, so I may hang that above them this next winter, and only turn it on when the temps get below zero. I think it would help keep their combs from getting frostbite on those really cold and still somewhat humid winter days. The new chicks will have those nice new pointy combs that frostbite loves. The older hens I have, now have rounded over points, which is probably why they did so much better this year.
. Winter 2019 was brutal! I too have thought about getting a sweeter heater just for any successive days of very cold temps. The biggest thing I've learned is to have good ventilation and so as you - with 12 birds - it will be important. So glad I've asked this forum for their input - I've learned A LOTwhen I took this pic, I had a few of the winterize panels on the front part of the coop. I have more for the sides of the coop and would leave top open for ventilation. Would put clear poly or drop cloth on bottom edge of run, run has door I would keep uncovered. Would put straw and/or leaves on coop floor along with my current deep litter method.
