Insulation Ideas

[cavemanrich]

I'm also in Colorado at about 10,000 feet up in the mountains. It's been windy and snowy here for the past week or two already. I've had my chickens and ducks up here for a few years now. I neither heat nor insulate my coops.

Just curious of the breed of your chickens you keep. Do you also have silkies?

 

[PirateGirl]

I do not have silkies as they aren't particularly known to be prolific layers. I have an ameraucana, a delaware, a bielefelder, and a wyandotte. I also have swedish ducks and khaki campbell ducks.

 

[Bushastead]

Hello and welcome! I'm also in Colorado at about 10,000 feet up in the mountains. It's been windy and snowy here for the past week or two already. I've had my chickens and ducks up here for a few years now. I neither heat nor insulate my coops. I find the wind to be the biggest problem, followed by the snow, and lastly the cold. The birds really don't seem to mind the cold much and I always put their food and water outside and they come out pretty much every day of the year (barring ground blizzards). They will come out on days when there is fresh snow, but tend to stare nervously through the window for awhile first. I just put the food dish near their ramp to lure them out and once they realize the snow won't kill them they hang out outside. They seem to have re-learn that snow isn't deadly on a near daily basis. They hate the wind however. It doesn't matter the temperature, when the wind gets howling the birds hide in their coop. So my biggest advice is to make sure your coop is free of drafts. Make sure your door is not on a side that faces into the prevailing winds, so you don't have the wind blowing in the coop door all day every day. Make sure there is a wind block of some sort in the run. I like to have a wind block right by their ramp out of their coop so that when they are first checking the weather in the morning they have some shelter, then I feel they are more likely to come out. I also try to keep the food/water behind the wind block. I have learned that the intense UV at high altitude really destroys plastic so wrapping the run in plastic doesn't work well, bowls/containers/rubbermade bins etc. tend to get brittle and shatter eventually. My flocks have secure runs so in summer they can go in and out of their coops at will, 24/7, but in winter I lock them in their coops at night, mostly to eliminate a draft from the door. It was windy last night and my ducks were being quite noisy and they got quiet as soon as I went and shut their door and they were more protected. Also, as others have mentioned, lots of dry bedding. If a cold front is coming through I'll add a few inches of fresh bedding in the coops. I think that's all I've got for now feel free to ask any questions!

Oh my, thank you so much! I appreciate all the information you gave me!

 

[Bushastead]

Please don't use a heat lamp. There are safer heat sources. Here is an infographic on the subject -http://www.poultrydvm.com/featured-infographic/dangers-of-heat-lamps-in-chicken-coops

I do not want to ise a heat lamp! Trying to learn alternative options!