Insulated coop get too hot in Summer?

[lolita117]

I'm designing my coop to be 12x18ft shed style coop. Right now I only have 6 girls, and plan to build them a small coop for now (that I may use as a brooding coop or juvenile coop when I expand my flock) but I'm already planning ahead for when I expand my flock to 25-30 birds in the next few months to a year. My question is can insulated coops get too hot in the summer time? I live in South Central Kentucky. We get every type of weather. HOTT summers and COLD winters. I plan for my coop to be 7-8 feet in height with a 9/12 pitch roof (pretty steep) The ceiling will be open to the roof and I plan to do a metal roof. Trees will be shading the coop for the most part with foliage on the trees in the summer. I also plan to put two fans with vent openings in both gabled ends and windows (plenty of ventilation). Should I not insulate my coop or will insulation be fine in the summer time?

 

[GJ_Kate]

I would think that the insulation would help keep heat out during the summer, just like in your home. Hopefully someone with more building/construction/life experience will chime in!

 

[lolita117]

They already have, lol. My husband and his father build houses, barns, you name it, for a living. They want to put the least amount of cost into my coop as possible. Even if that means no insulation. That's why I need some definite answers, so that I can decide if I should save my money or invest now.

-Has anyone that put insulation in their coop, found it to be hotter than they would like for it to be, in the summer time?

 

[drumstick diva]

I would think ventilation is more important than insulation and it sounds like you have that well covered.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
x2

 

[elmo]

As it happens, I can answer your question directly from my own experience. Our latest coop is insulated, has radiant roof sheathing, has plenty of ventilation and is in the afternoon shade in the summer. It's cooler inside the coop for most of the day, and you can feel it when you step inside (I also have a thermometer in there). By the end of the day, the temperature has pretty much equalized between indoors and outdoors, but the inside of the coop isn't getting any hotter than the outside temperature in the shade, which is what I was hoping for. We're in Texas, and we regularly get 100 degrees and over, so it was really critical not to be adding to that with heat buildup inside the coop.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=32217-the-just-right-coop

I would say for sure insulate the roof, because in addition to radiating summer heat, I've read that metal roofs can tend to build condensation on them in the winter without insulation. And that's where most of your heat would be lost in the winter, anyway.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
Actually, I have a roofed, open sided coop (all 4 walls are hardware cloth), but I foolishly sited it somewhere in our yard that gets afternoon summer sun. Even with that much ventilation, it's regularly much hotter in that coop than it is inside our conventional, closed wall, insulated coop on the other side of our yard. The difference, I think, is mostly the fact that the second coop is in the shade, but I think the insulation helps slow down the heat build up inside the coop.

 

[ChickenAlgebra]

We go from sub zero temps with a worse windchill to 90+ with 90% humidity.

Insulation is our best friend. Insulate the walls AND roof.

If you have enough ventilation, in the summer the coop stays cooler by a few degrees for us. Sometimes it might equal outside temps. The kids might be warm, but not uncomfortable.

In the winter, that sucker stays toasty! It was -25 with -40* windchill, with the heater that kicks on at 35*, that sucker was WARM and the chooks were roaming the coop like normal. Plus, the heater kicks on at 35* and kicks off at 45*. It'd usually run at night, but once the sun was up, it'd turn off and it'd stay at 45* - 48* on it's own just fine.

 

[lolita117]

Thanks everyone, this has really helped with my decision. I'm definitely going to insulate now both roof and wall

 

[lolita117]

Quote:
What kind of heater do you have?