Insulate?

[ksct]

I'm In Upstate Ny. I Figuring We Will Be Getting A Cold Snow Filled Winter This Year.... However..... Our Coop Is Not Insulated. Anyone Think This Is A Bad Idea? Or Think This Will Be Ok? We Will Have A Heat Lamp On In The Coop As Needed

 

[patandchickens]

If you insulate it will save you a lot of money on your electric bill

You do not absolutely NEED to insulate, but IMHO it is always a good idea if you have the material and ambition. I would certainly do it in your location. It makes the chickens more comfortable and management easier. Make sure the carpentry is tight so that mice cannot easily set up shop in the walls; and make sure to cover the insulation with something peckproof (thin plywood or panelling, or whatever else you have around) so the chickens don't eat it, cuz otherwise they will.

You may not need that heat lamp, not very often anyhow -- if your coop is well ventilated so the air is dry not humid, and the ventilation is designed so the coop is not drafty, chickens tend to be quite cold hardy. It is good to have electricity *available* if necessary (and of course it's useful to run a heated waterer or waterer base, to keep the water from freezing), but you may not need to use it much if at all.

Put a max-min thermometer in the coop so you can see what the indoor temperature does (it will stay warmer than the outdoors on the coldest nights) and just play it by ear, according to how the chickens seem.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Monk]

I live in Upstate NY myself. My coop is insulated and would recommend it also. I have never needed or used a heat lamp. I do use a 100w bulb on a timer to extend the daylight hours in the winter. It come on about 3:00-4:00am til 8:00am or so, probably takes the edge off the early morning chill some??? My heated waterer may also contribute taking that edge off a little too. And as always keep it well ventilated and dry...

 

[ksct]

up where the rafters are.... it's open. i mean theres probably about 2 inches from where the walls stop to where the roof begins. currently we have textured 1-11 on the outside. (i gotta get pictures posted) and visible studs on the inside. there is room for some insulation and I would much prefer to have less of an electric bill..... perhaps we can get some plywood etc.

I do have a question about the heated waterers...... Does it make the water warm or just warm enough to keep it from freezing? Can you put one outside? AND does it need to be elevated etc so it's away from the wood chips so it doesn't catch fire or something. That's the last thing I would want to come home to! Thanks!!!!

 

[sashurlow]

"I do have a question about the heated waterers...... Does it make the water warm or just warm enough to keep it from freezing? Can you put one outside? AND does it need to be elevated etc so it's away from the wood chips so it doesn't catch fire or something. That's the last thing I would want to come home to! Thanks!!!!"

Can I add to your list of questions?...
Does the heated waterer provide enough heat to help keep the coop "less cold"?
Scott

 

[kathyinmo]

I was just asking, on another thread, if it would work to use cardboard as insulation. It is available, free, at lumber yards and furniture stores. I have torn up boxes and have strips that are 4 foot wide and ten foot long. I have been tearing down a couple buildings (for free lumber), and saw they had used cardboard boxes for insulation. Will that work????

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
The ones I'm familiar with, just warm enough to keep it from freezing.

Can you put one outside?

Some of them.

AND does it need to be elevated etc so it's away from the wood chips so it doesn't catch fire or something.

Some of them.

Does the heated waterer provide enough heat to help keep the coop "less cold"?

Not meaningfully.

I have used a heated dogbowl (for just a few chcikens in a pen) and one of those heated waterers with the element built into the base (on a shared dividing wall between 2 larger pens), and liked them both; although the heated waterer is a pain in the butt to fill until you figure out suitable tricks.

I will probably have to build a lightbulb-in-a-cookie-tin-or-cinderblock one for the turkeys' waterer this winter.

Pat​

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
I wouldn't do it - see other thread for explanation (mold and very low R-value) and alternative suggestion.

Pat

 

[hinkjc]

We don't insulate here and our chickens do well through winter. We also do not heat our coops. One thing to remember when providing supplemental heat is what happens when the power goes out. Chickens need to be accliimated to their environment in order to sustain the climate and it's many changes. We lose power often during ice/snow storms, so heat doesn't make sense for us as it would just shock our birds and weaken them during power outages.

I use heated dog dishes for our turkeys and pheasants in outdoor aviaries over winter. We also use the steel water bases for large chicken waterers which work well to keep the water from freezing. Inside the coops we use our own home made cookin tin heaters under one gallon waterers. It keep the water cool, but doesn't allow it to freeze. All of our water heaters are placed securely on concrete blocks to ensure they do not touch bedding materials or produce fire hazzards.

 

[Tony K T]

Quote:
Well said.
In N.H.,Tony.