Insulate for young chicks

[Airean]

I am building a smaller version of the attached pic of a chickshaw for my younger 6 chick's that are about 2.5 months old. I am in North Mississippi, we don't get super super cold but we will be in the 20's this week. I worry that temp is a bit cold at night for them.
To insulate or not only for the cold.

I will not be insulating my original chickshaw that house my 6 chickens that are about 6 months old
(I will be modifying my original build tho by adding about 3 to 4 inches of ventilation under the roof and closing the sides up)

Once I integrate the babies with the older gals I will not be worried about the cold.

 

[DobieLover]

Your 2.5 month old pullets are fully feathered and need no insulation other than what they already have. Their new feathers.

 

[Airean]

Your 2.5 month old pullets are fully feathered and need no insulation on than what they already have. Their new feathers.

Got it! I knew that was going to be the answer. It just seems so dang cold for how tiny they are and having an open bottom coop just makes me second guess their feathers.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC.

Looking at the garden zones map, you're in a very similar climate to mine (I am within a mile of the 7b/8a border). There is no need for insulation whatsoever.

All your chickens need is to be dry and out of the wind.

having an open bottom coop just makes me second guess their feathers.

This could be a concern, however, because of that "out of the wind" thing. Have you seen my article on ventilation? https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/repecka-illustrates-coop-ventilation.77659/

If the air moves up from the bottom enough to ruffle their feathers and rob their heat then you do have a problem that needs to be solved.

 

[DobieLover]

Got it! I knew that was going to be the answer. It just seems so dang cold for how tiny they are and having an open bottom coop just makes me second guess their feathers.

In my early days of getting to know chickens when I thought about how cold it was and wanting them to be comfortable, I thought about the chickadees and sparrows that winter here. They are MUCH smaller and don't have the shelter and easy access to a good meal before roost that my birds do. And yet they still survive.
If I protect my flock from drafts against them when roosted and make sure they go to roost with a nice full crops so they can digest food throughout the night to maintain body heat, I rest assured they will do well. That being said, I make sure they have food available as soon as they come off the roost too.