Just insulating the nesting box area?

[Alaskan]

Super long answer:

Well, last year I had no insulation in the coop, but I had lots of different nesting spots. (I had about 40 layers)

Some nests were the plastic feed buckets on their sides...those were terrible, the eggs froze pretty quickly.

I also had two kind of hidden corners with lots of wood chips in them where they would also lay, the eggs were safest in those two spots. And then they would on occasion just lay where ever on the floor, the floor was the worst possible place.

When I insulated my coop, I set it up so that I could put in exterior nest boxes (never had those before, just nest boxes inside the coop). I spent quite some time trying to build them myself, insulated exterior nest boxes....I couldn't manage to make them pretty. I am not that capable building wise, and don't have many tools.

So, right now, my 20 chickens have only one nest box. They lay most of their eggs on the back of the poop board, which works great for right now, but I am not sure how that will work once we start getting really cold. My chickens are right now in my uninsulated chicken shed. My brooding Muscovy right now has my insulated chicken coop.

Anyway....I plan some day on paying someone actual money to build me an attractive, exterior insulated nest box.

In the meantime, I am in the next month or so, going to have to add one more perch and poop tray to my chicken shed, and at the same time I will put in some nest boxes.

So, this winter at least, my chickens will be in my un-insulated chicken shed, and I plan on making them some nest boxes out of two inch thick lumber on some walls, and some other walls insulated.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: I wouldn't heat "the coop"
I'd heat the BOTTOM of the nest boxes by enclosing a space underneath and installing enough lights to do the job

I wouldn't try to raise the temps of the entire enclosure, just the actual space where the eggs are

 

[Irishhenman]

My only worry would be is that the hens would start to sleep in the nest boxes and you would not be getting such clean eggs anymore

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

My only worry would be is that the hens would start to sleep in the nest boxes and you would not be getting such clean eggs anymore

Put it on a timer so it's only on during the day, and plug a Thermocube into the timer so it's only on if the temps are low enough

They won't be laying any eggs at night so it doesn't need to be warm then

 

[willrev]

Don't do what I did. I used the two inch thick foil backed foam insulation under the roof and gable ends in the coop. My coop is not tall. Maybe four feet from floor to ceiling. Well, I put a permanent heat lamp in the ceiling with wires in conduit so they would not chew them. Put the foil towards the chickens. Well, they decided to start eating the insulation. Had to rip it all out. Made the eggs taste nasty. They still have the lamp but no insulation. They will just have to live with it. I hate nasty tasting eggs.

 

[Zonatron]

Insulation in Michigan would likely be a very good idea. Chickens rarely need additional heat but the insulation can keep "deep litter" heat and body heat in to keep the over all temperature up. I am out on the plains in Colorado and did insulate the coop. I am from Michigan and that wet, cold winter weather could be pretty tough on them.

 

[Kernel Cluck]

So here is what I did last winter. I bought a hard plastic heat mat made for dogs that sleep in outdoor kennels. It just gets warm, not hot. I slid it into the floor area of the nesting boxes and covered it with shavings.. (my dividing walls are removable) This applied a light amount of warmth to the nesting boxes. Worked like a charm. Very low voltage to, so it wasn't an electricity hog. No frozen eggs either and last winter was one of the coldest on record in Wisconsin.

 

[Kernel Cluck]

one more thing.. this year I bought one more mat and put it the bottom of the sleeping area for my 4 barn cats. Basically a large box made of plywood with an opening for them to come and go.They love it. I put some old blankets in the box and they love it!

 

[Jrose]

This last winter was my first winter with chickens. I had 7 birds roosting in a 3x3x3.5 simple wooden structure and free ranging during the day. I only had 3 girls when I built it, the other 4 came just as winter hit. I'm no carpenter either- It was super drafty, a little lopsided, and was just made of basic 4x8 pieces of particle board, shingled roof, and 3" rounded posts for roosting bars. I used pine bedding inside. That winter was -20 or so at night and 10 during the day, which is much harsher than usual here. We had a foot of snow frozen solid on the ground. Not much compared to many states, but in the desert of SW Idaho that's pretty bad. In the mornings when I would go to check on the girls, their coop would be warmer than my house! 7 little bodies steaming up that little box! Honestly, they're wearing their own little insulated jackets. Birds in the wild, like pheasants, sleep right out in the elements with very little shelter. The chickens can handle a little cold. And I only had freezing problems when I left eggs over night. I just made sure to check for them periodically throughout the day.

Perhaps if egg freezing is a very bothersome problem, don't encourage them to lay in the winter. Let them rest and continue again in spring.

 

[turtleguy]

Kernel Clucks idea sounds the best in my opinion, I was actually thinking of heated cords that are normally sold for reptile enviorments, good ones won't set bedding on fire, won't electrocute your animals, and are made to work safely even in humid environments.
In my case, insulating the nest boxes would make them too small for a chicken to comfortably fit in there. A half inch layer of insulation and a half in layer of plywood would make the boxes about 9 1/2" square, but hopefully yours are bigger boxes in the first place.
The next point is if all this work with either insulating or heating is worth non frozen eggs for breakfast everyday for the winter.
This is my first year with chickens and they are yet to live through their first winter, so I'm not going to do anything about the eggs until I find a problem and if I do, I'll first figure if it's worth fixing.
It's up to you, and maybe you should consult your spouse if you haven't already, he might have something figured out.