First time chicken Mama. The big question is about insulation, will my chickens die, or not lay anymore.?

[Mountaintop Homestead]

Chickens love love love foam insulation. It won't kill them. You will either need to move it out of reach or cover it with plywood.
Where are you that you need to insulate the coop?

We are in Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny mountains. The insulation will be in between 2 sheets of ply wood, just to keep the cold breeze out.

 

[Mountaintop Homestead]

It was just sheets of foam insulation, I'll just keep an eye on them.

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[Mountaintop Homestead]

How are they doing today?

They're fine no strange behavior or loss of appetite. Thanks for asking. I guess I just need to be patient for the eggs at this point. The insulation I believe is now out of reach. ( they can be quite resourceful little critters)

 

[Flockincrazy]

First welcome to BYC its a great place to be
Second how cold is it where you live that insulation is needed chickens are very good adapters to weather changing you shouldn't need insulation

 

[Flockincrazy]

It was just sheets of foam insulation, I'll just keep an eye on them.

They should be fine but you really don't need it

 

[Mountaintop Homestead]

We are in Pennsylvania in the Allegheny mountains, it gets cold. Ice storms are not uncommon. I'm hearing that I may not even need the insulation, if that's the case then great. This is my first flock so maybe I was going a bit over board. I just didn't want my feather babies to get cold.

 

[Mountaintop Homestead]

Welcome to Backyard Chickens so do they have a done coop?
Birds will be fine they eat worse than that

Yes, I worked very hard on it and even hired a contractor to help with the electrical and erect the walls. Okay, thanks!

 

[TwoCrows]

We are in Pennsylvania in the Allegheny mountains, it gets cold. Ice storms are not uncommon. I'm hearing that I may not even need the insulation, if that's the case then great. This is my first flock so maybe I was going a bit over board. I just didn't want my feather babies to get cold.

The problem with insulation is that their bodies won't adapt to the cold properly and will not be able to go outside in the winter. Birds stuck in the coop all winter are susceptible to respiratory diseases. Chickens can tolerate temps well below zero as long as they are dry. You need to make sure to put proper venting in your eaves/ceiling, chickens produce a ton of moisture and it needs to rise up and out and not fall back down as frost giving them frostbite. 1/2 to 1sq foot per bird of vent space. You can close some of them on windy nights but never close them all. Chickens roosting closer to the floor stay warmer than those high up.

 

[Flockincrazy]

We are in Pennsylvania in the Allegheny mountains, it gets cold. Ice storms are not uncommon. I'm hearing that I may not even need the insulation, if that's the case then great. This is my first flock so maybe I was going a bit over board. I just didn't want my feather babies to get cold.

I live in Northern Ohio it gets here to no need for insulation chickens are very good adapters they are great at weather changes my coop is totally open for summer and I have inserts for winter but you still need ventilation for winter you can't totally close your coop up they need ventilation all the time different amounts yes but it is still needed all year round

 

[Mountaintop Homestead]

The problem with insulation is that their bodies won't adapt to the cold properly and will not be able to go outside in the winter. Birds stuck in the coop all winter are susceptible to respiratory diseases. Chickens can tolerate temps well below zero as long as they are dry. You need to make sure to put proper venting in your eaves/ceiling, chickens produce a ton of moisture and it needs to rise up and out and not fall back down as frost giving them frostbite. 1/2 to 1sq foot per bird of vent space. You can close some of them on windy nights but never close them all. Chickens roosting closer to the floor stay warmer than those high up.

The problem with insulation is that their bodies won't adapt to the cold properly and will not be able to go outside in the winter. Birds stuck in the coop all winter are susceptible to respiratory diseases. Chickens can tolerate temps well below zero as long as they are dry. You need to make sure to put proper venting in your eaves/ceiling, chickens produce a ton of moisture and it needs to rise up and out and not fall back down as frost giving them frostbite. 1/2 to 1sq foot per bird of vent space. You can close some of them on windy nights but never close them all. Chickens roosting closer to the floor stay warmer than those high up.

Oh my goodness, did we just become best friends? I should have joined this site months ago. I need to go out and take a few photos to share. The whole upper roof area is open for ventilation I used hardware cloth to keep unwanted critters out. I was going to use cardboard as a temporary vent cover the keep the chill out for the winter and just take it down for the summer but now I may not even do that. I'm realizing I was definitely over thinking things.