Insulation on this particular coop.

[chicken995]

I've read several of the other threads on whether to insulate or not, but I wanted to see some opinions regarding my coop. Keep in mind I will only have a maximum of six birds this time around.

I live in Colorado. Winters can get fairly cold. My coop is very large (8' x 12'), but I will only have six birds in it.

The extent of the insulation right now is a few rags (and spider webs lol) stuffed in the gaps between the walls and the roof.

There is now insulation on the ceiling either. The roof is white corrugated metal. I imagine that material can get pretty warm in the summer. In this picture you can see the tar paper in-between the joists.

Also, where the roofs meets the joists, there is a large gap. What would be the best way to plug that up? Again the previous user just stuffed cloth and rags in there.

Hints, tips, suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

 

[rcentner]

I would insulate that and try to use the hole in the roof area as a ventilation hole. maybe you can put in a roof vent or something there. I insulated using regular house r-13 (I think) and covered the insulation with tarp (cheaper than drywall and osb and easy to clean poo off of). Just be sure to have adequate ventilation for the winter, better cold and dry than warm and damp.

nice coop...you really only gonna have 6 chickens?

we will see about that

 

[chicken995]

I said only 6 "this time around."

Just getting my feet wet this spring/summer.

 

[sunshineyarns]

I'm in Colorado too -- Personally, I would insulate with such a large space... you want it to stay dry in there in the winters. It looks big enough too that you could not insulate and get a smaller coop setup within?

 

[patandchickens]

It would not be a terrible idea to insulate under the exposed metal roofing; but if you are only going to have 6 chickens in there you *might* not have problems w/condensation even if you don't, if you are otherwise managing the coop in a dry sort of way. If you are intending to have a bunch mroe chickens in there in future years, you will want to get the underside of that roof insulated by then.

As for the walls, well, it would not be a bad idea but I certainly don't think you *have* to insulate. What yo might do is leave the walls open for now, but keep an eye out for cheap/free insulation (either batts or rigid) and as it, and plywood to cover it, becomes available, you can gradually insulate the thing.

It is not clear to me that your gap between (oddly laid!) rafters and the wall top is really large enough for anything to get in, but if it is, see if you can co ver it with hardwarecloth e.g. from the outside (you may be able to do it in one continuous piece from the outside, as opposed to a zillion teeny recessed holes to deal with from the inside)

What does this coop have in the way of ventilation? I ask b/c there is none visible in your pics except for the rafter gaps and windows. You NEED good ventilation, even in wintertime (and a LOT in summertime); if you need to add/modify/adjust the coop, best to figure that out now, rather than waiting for problems.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat