First winter....wondering if the coop is warm enough

[NBwriter]

Hi all, I'm in my first winter of chickens, and I'm concerned about keeping them warm enough. There aren't many for body warmth; what started as 6 chicks became 3 hens when half of them matured into roosters, which we can't have in our town.

We built an 8-bird coop from Tractor Supply Company, basic thin pine walls in the roosting box opening onto wire areas and an expansion run we built. We have breeds meant for New England winters (RI reds, barred rock), but still, do you think this is warm enough? (pics below: the red is how it started, the expanded version on top)

As we all know, it can get cooooold. Our coop's enclosed space (2 roosting perches and three nesting boxes) has decent ventilation, but thin boards and no insulation. I plan to pile up extra hay in the box and the open walking areas. We don't have an outlet nearby but I'll be running a cord to the house do drop a heating coil in the waterer. And putting up a covered string of LED lights with a timer to increase daylight hours to keep up eggs through the winter (my 5 kids love them), but weren't planning on putting extra heating source that they might get too used to and suffer during power outages.

I've been reading about vaseline and cracked corn and other stay-warm tips, but am focused first on our setup. Are the birds really ok without insulation?

Thanks cold-climate folks!
Nichole


PS: I meant to post this in "Massachusetts" — apologies if this is the wrong place!

 

[wamtazlady]

You might want to look at this topic. It's all about sharing ideas for the winter.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ks-for-coping-the-elements-with-your-chickens

Chickens don't need to be in a warm coop to stay warm. They are wearing their own down comforter. They do need to be kept dry. Dry chickens are warm chickens. To keep them dry you need ventilation in the coop. However, you don't want a breeze blowing on the birds. You need ventilation to remove moisture from the birds breathing and pooing and also remove ammonia fumes from the pooing.

You might find a lot of good information in that other post..

 

[NBwriter]

Thank you! A great thread.
Do you know how I can delete this here? I posted here accidentally and don't want to be off-topic. Thanks!