I'm up in Northern Wyoming, not too far from Yellowstone Park. Here our big issue, winter and summer, is wind. It's not unusual for a few days to go by with sustained winds in the 40mph range, gusting to 60. Clark, Wyoming recorded a wind gust of over 115mph a couple of winters ago. Yeah, that kind of wind. Snow can get driven in through cracks that aren't even visible to the naked eye!
Initially I planned to heat and insulate my coop. Yeah, well, smarter folks than me helped me drop that notion. I don't insulate, I don't heat. I leave their ventilation (which consists of windows on 3 sides, operable vents, a gable vent, their pop door open 24/7, and an exhaust fan that can either be just open or open and running) open all year round. Chickens have all they need to survive harsh environments
as long as they are strong and healthy going into it, and a good dose of common sense is employed by the owners. In a space as large as what you are talking about, insulation doesn't do much good. The only concessions I make to winter temperatures are closing the window on the windy side of the coop - depending on which direction that's coming from - and putting greenhouse plastic over most of their run. But the plastic on the south side can be rolled up or down like a window shade. On really nasty, nasty days I can roll it most of the way up. Warmer days it's down and stays down. But it's never closed all the way up - runs need ventilation too. There is also a gap on the west side and on the east side. Otherwise the condensation buildup would be counter-productive to what I am trying to achieve....a ventilated, dry, airy run they can use even on the coldest days, with the plastic keeping out most weather and allowing the sun to warm the space enough to encourage them to go out but not to heat it.
If it's windy enough in the coop to ruffle their feathers, cut back on it a bit. Imagine the warmth and comfort of the perfect, top of the line down coat. Keeps you toasty by trapping all your warm air inside, next to your body. But you need ventilation to be able to function in that coat without overheating. You sure wouldn't be able to wear it comfortably in a house kept at 70 degrees. Now imagine that coat with a broken zipper....yeah, you lose heat. If it's drafty enough to lift the feathers on a chicken then their trapped body heat escapes, just like that broken zipper on your coat. So as long as whatever air is coming into the coop isn't enough to ruffle, it's all good.
Insulation is trickier. It's essential in a house where you have heat artificially produced and circulating throughout the house, because it provides a barrier between the warmed air and the outside. But in a chicken coop with good ventilation, it's just a place where mice can set up house. Dryness and good air exchange is what I want, and that's what I get. Also dry, loose litter is good - my birds dig holes in it in the summer, lay in the holes and spread their wings around the upper edge of the holes to cool down, and they dig holes in it in the winter and burrow down into it, like cozy little nests, in the sun shining through the plastic. Egg production drops in winter. Some folks use supplemental light to keep production up, but I figure that natural drop in eggs is there for a reason, to give the birds a rest and to allow them to use their energy to survive, and it's a system that I ain't messing with!
Not that there's anything wrong with using lights - I just prefer not to.
You, of course, will make up your own mind about what you think is best for your chickens and your situation. I haven't lost a bird in winter yet. I don't have birds that are more suited to warmer climates, preferring all around chickens that are suited for our hot, dry summers and cold, windy winters. That said, this will be my first winter with some Silkies (for my little granddaughter) so I plan to make them a huddle box, since they don't care if they roost or not. I'll pile some straw on the floor of the coop, put an upside down box with a Silkie sized hole in the side on the straw, and they'll cuddle in there at night. They already use something similar since they prefer that to roosting, so there won't be any training required.
Oh, and welcome to BYC!
