When deciding to insulate you have to take a few things into consideration.
1. Birds do fluff up there feathers to stay warm. They will also tuck there head under there wings to keep
there Combs from freezing at night. But the wind will move the cold air
up next to there bodies and rob them of heat. So you have to eliminate drafts. You still need
some ventilation, as the moisture in the air along with Methane and Ammonia from there waste is
harmfully to the coop and chickens.
2. How hardy are is the variety of Chickens you have? Some handle low and high
tempetures better then others. I can remember seeing where buff orghtinons, Barbed Rocks,
Red sex links, and Black sex links are considered hardy. Many Hatcheries will list if a Chicken
variety is Hardy.
3. How many birds do you have? Usually they can gather together and share heat.
But you have enough birds for the space you have. I don't recall seeing any magic numbers
on how many chickens per square foot for in the winter.
4. How cold does it really get? Most poultry can handle 20 degree temps fine, but -20 degrees is another
question. If the above conditions are not correct you could loose a few or all of your flock.
Wind chill is another factor that does need to be considered. Both of my Uncles who were Farmers, have lost chickens
to cold weather, they did not have insulated or heated coops. But they had a lot of chickens so loosing a few
was not that bad for them.
5. How much do you want to pamper you chickens? Chickens seem to like temps above 40 better then
-20, They will be much more active. Small flock owners tend to pamper the flocks, so continuing
along this line, insulating and heating is something that is done where it's really needed or not.
6. Even if you don't heat, insulating the coop may be a good idea. The chickens are there own heat
source for the most part. The more there are the more heat. Heat also rises, so having roosts that go
up to near the ceiling allows then to get closer to the warm air.
7.Do you have some other method of keeping there water from freezing? Unless you want to take water to them several
times a day. Or have heated waterier then you heed to keep the temp up in the coop. It's is not fun, to haul water
and have it splash on you when it's -20 outside.
8. During the winter if they are to cold, they will use the energy from the feed, they would have used for eggs
to keep warm, You might only see a little drop off, sometimes so little you won't know it's happening.
The bottom line is you need to look at these items to see if you will Insulate and or heat your coop. Remember what
works for some may not work for you.
Tip:
How do you know if you pamper or spoil your Poultry:
How any of them have names?
Do you have Chickens toys for them?
Do you feed them treats?
Do you use baby talk when you are around them?
