Insulation

[TooCheep]

Just make sure the ventilation doesn't allow wind/rain/snow to blow on to your chickens. Most or all of the open ventilation should be away from the prevailing winds.

What breed(s) of chickens do you have?

 

[Chicken butler]

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.

Ok thanks, the coop is inside a barn and we are going to make part of the hay loft into a place they can take shelter from storms, a two story coop!

 

[Chicken butler]

Just make sure the ventilation doesn't allow wind/rain/snow to blow on to your chickens. Most or all of the open ventilation should be away from the prevailing winds.

What breed(s) of chickens do you have?

I have lavender orpingtons, buff orpingtons, Rhode Island reds, a few mystery breeds , lavender and buff orpington mixs and Ameraucana's

 

[Debbie292d]

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.

I see you're in Missouri. I am sure it doesn't get subzero there too often. Like most of the posts are saying they need to be kept dry, out of drafts, and ventilated.

That said, here, most of the winter could be subzero. We heat our coop for our silkies who have poofy feathers or frizzled feathers, so feathers stick straight out. It's an oil-filled radiant heater that keeps it to 40F so water and eggs don't freeze. They are actually still pretty cold hearty, as most will come out and free-range for a while if it's 20F and up. Our coop is insulated and rocked, but I think you're going to be okay without it.

 

[aart]

the coop is inside a barn and we are going to make part of the hay loft into a place they can take shelter from storms, a two story coop!

How will they get up there?

 

[TooCheep]

I have lavender orpingtons, buff orpingtons, Rhode Island reds, a few mystery breeds , lavender and buff orpington mixs and Ameraucana's

Nice. I have several of those breeds. They should all be cold-hardy.

 

[skeeeter]

I just want to add:Although the cold never bothered them, the peafowl we had HATED snow... they refused to walk in it.
At feeding time, they just stayed up in the pines honking at me til I swept all the snow away from the feeding area. They then flew down, landing right on that 6x6ft area to feed.
Later, they flew over to the carport to preen then flew back up into the trees.
Luckily, middle Tn doesn't get but maybe three snowdays in a year.