Insulated Coop

[Alaskan]

Oh...snow.... a covered run is a huge blessing in the north....so nice....

Also, if the chickens are going to be locked up in their coop for 9 months of the year, make it BIG. But an insulated coop attached to a greenhouse also works, or a roofed run with a wall or two of wind block....

 

[chickisoup]

Northern WI here and tho we have never hit -40 F (not counting windchill) -30 and a bit lower happens with -20's not all that unusual. I too believe it has to do with our dry air. I have top vent that can be opened or closed as Alaskan described as well as a sliding thermoglass window that opens into (a soon to be tighter) enclosed "breezeway" that allows the birds to go from the coop to the greenhouse during inclement weather without touching snow or being too heavily exposed to wind and cold. It also has a greenhouse type roof so this area acts an effective solar heating unit for the coop as long as I can keep the snow cleared off the roof. It has dutch doors on both sides that allow for great airflow thru the sliding window into the coop for cooling in summer. The roof vent from the greenhouse also opens into this area for added solar heating in winter. I "scoop the poop" daily so the ammonia is kept to a minimum even with the thickening layer of hay on the floor in winter. Oh, and my coop has double walls and floor and is better insulated than my house.
Added note; we just finished an addition doubling the size of our little coop that sectioned by a wire wall and sliding door that can be left open or closed to create a brooder, isolation or grow out pen. It also has it's own pophole and small run.