Insulating your coop?

[Ted Brown]

@Maugwa The discussion on insulation was predicated on a coop without heat.

If one chooses to heat then very clearly insulation is of value.

 

[Maugwa]

@Maugwa The discussion on insulation was predicated on a coop without heat.

If one chooses to heat then very clearly insulation is of value.

That is how you make chicken flavored Popsicles where I live.

 

[gtaus]

It was not my intention to ruffle feathers either but I could not resist a bit of push back on some of the 4H guy's points...

Understood. I am not taking it personal anyway. As I said, I have ZERO personal experience with raising chickens in over winter. This will be my first year.

 

[gtaus]

... But that first cold spell came and I saw several frostbit combs, particularly on my RIR rooster (actually the next day is when I bought the Kozey heater -- last one there, and I spoke with people at the farm store and heard several people had had it worse, even dead birds) ...

I was stationed in California for 2 years. Natives would talk about a cold spell when the nights dropped down into the +60'sF. When we talk about a cold spell here, we mean it was -30F, or colder, for about a week or more. Anyway, our local Fleet Supply had a big run on the Cozy heaters after that cold spell and sold out their stock. A lot of people changed their minds about providing some heat for their birds on that sustained cold spell. Glad to hear that you were able to get your birds through your winter.

 

[Ted Brown]

...

My Coup is 4' x 6' and 6' tall at the peak....

The two vents vent into the eves and were placed there specifically to be out of direct winds. they are 3" tall and about 15" long, but I covered the one on the side the wind comes from.
...
Out of 15 hens, I don't think I ever found less than a dozen eggs a day.

Your coop has 24 sq ft, rule of thumb is MINIMUM of 4 sq ft per bird AND 10 sq ft in the run. At best your coop will accommodate 6 birds, you say you have 15.

You have less than 1 sq ft of ventilation in your coop if both vents are open. Rule of thumb is 1 sq ft of ventilation PER BIRD.