Insulation

[Chicken butler]

Hey! So I need to insulate my coop, but I can't spend a lot of money on it.. I would like to use what I have on hand, some people have said that you can use hay inside of the walls for insulation. My only concern is I have heard that hay can catch itself on fire if it gets wet????? How? So if I keep the hay from getting wet, am I good to go? The hay is old that I would be using and it's been inside a barn for no telling how long. Can I use it or no.

 

[TooCheep]

Why do you need insulation? Chickens have their own- feathers. Most breeds of chicken are perfectly fine in your climate.

Proper ventilation generally is much, much more important than insulation.

 

[skeeeter]

If it's kept dry, you can use hay, straw, dead leaves or wool for insulation. You would probably want to cover it. Old feed bags work well, or any other similar meshed fabric you have on hand. Just FYI, most places in the USA don't need insulated coops, except maybe Alaska, unless you are raising exotic birds.

 

[Chicken butler]

If it's kept dry, you can use hay, straw, dead leaves or wool for insulation. You would probably want to cover it. Old feed bags work well, or any other similar meshed fabric you have on hand. Just FYI, most places in the USA don't need insulated coops, except maybe Alaska, unless you are raising exotic birds.

Ok, thanks I have peacocks and guinea fowl with my chickens so I wanted to keep it as warm as possible in the winter.

 

[skeeeter]

Guineas and peafowl run around outside all winter in middle Tn. they sleep in barns or trees. I feel they would get sick if in an insulated coop with no air circulation unless perhaps you have a tin roof and the roosts are way up there. In that case, insulating just the roof would be good for them.
Remember, they need ventilation.

 

[DobieLover]

You don't need insulation. What you need is a huge amount of ventilation along with roost space that is protected from wind that is strong enough to open feathers.

What you want is the coop to be as dry as possible. And also make sure that your birds go to roost each night with a full crop that they will slowly digest through the night which provides heat through thermogenesis. The heat generated is then trapped in their down when they fluff up their outer feathers.

 

[aart]

My only concern is I have heard that hay can catch itself on fire if it gets wet?????

If hay is cut, bailed/piled, and stored 'wet' it can in fact spontaneously combust.

Why you don't need to insulate has been explained.
Not sure it was mentioned to stuff a wall cavity full of loose insulation is a perfect place for rodents to set up housekeeping.

 

[Chicken butler]

If hay is cut, bailed/piled, and stored 'wet' it can in fact spontaneously combust.

Why you don't need to insulate has been explained.
Not sure it was mentioned to stuff a wall cavity full of loose insulation is a perfect place for rodents to set up housekeeping.

Ok, thanks

 

[Chicken butler]

You don't need insulation. What you need is a huge amount of ventilation along with roost space that is protected from wind that is strong enough to open feathers.

What you want is the coop to be as dry as possible. And also make sure that your birds go to roost each night with a full crop that they will slowly digest through the night which provides heat through thermogenesis. The heat generated is then trapped in their down when they fluff up their outer feathers.

Ok thanks, I was just concerned because some of my chickens got cold last year when it was below 0 at night in a very small coop, my new coop is bigger and I wasn't sure if they needed an extra source of heat and I was told to insulate the coop instead of using heat lamps.

 

[Chicken butler]

Thank you all for your advice, I really appreciate it!