I need help knowing what to do with the chickens in the winter!!

[SunnyChic]

BYC member patandchickens has some great info; here's a link to one of her pages:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-winter-coop-temperatures

 

[johny]

Gogfan, I live a bit north of Minnesota.
-40C is a real possibility every winter.
Most people around here do not heat their coops. Some of their birds have missing toes and bits of comb from frostbite. That seems nasty to me.

Ventilation is another issue
Most of the backyard coops, I have seen locally, have leaky construction. There are multiple small tiny drafts that are equivalent to venting.

I am new to chickens too. This will be my first winter for 10 Buff Orps in an 8x8 foot shed and 6 foot high ceiling.
My coop is well vented in the summer with window opening north and south. The south window is a glass window with slider pane.
The north opening has 1/4 welded wire but I'll fill it with 2 inch Certifoam and put a 4x8 inch central heating vent to permit water vapour to diffuse out. I can close it on extremely nasty cold days.
There is 2 inch Certifoam in the walls and floor. The ceiling has 4 inches. Once I install weather stripping around the door, it will be a well sealed.
The floor litter, wood shavings from a local saw mill, will be kept deep. They can nestle into it to keep warm and it is another layer of insulation for the floor.

I will use an electric heater to keep the water from freezing. Available at BerryHill in St Thomas, Ontario by mail order. Check out the website. I would love to go to the store but live to far away.
When it blows -40 in January I will turn on a 250 Watt heat lamp, same one as I used in the brooder.

I think I'll be OK
Big chickens produce about 10 Watts each.
The water heater is 125 Watts
The heat lamp is 250 Watts
That totals almost 500 Watts in a small, insulated building so I think they will be cozy.