Keeping The Coop Warm In The Winter

I have an insulated coop with double pane windows. If the outside temperature is 20 F, inside is 21 F, same humidity level inside and outside. Why? Because 3 out of 4 windows plus the poop door are always opened. I would lower the window depending on which direction the wind is blowing. The chickens are fine inside; so far, no frost bite. If and when there is a blizzard condition, then I will close the window on the prevailing side of the wind, but there are still plenty of vents on each wall. An insulated coop is great...in the summer to keep the inside cool. During the winter, my girls are outside in the run all day long except when laying eggs. As long as they are shield from the wind, they don't seem to mind the cold or the snow.

Btw, I used an infrared thermometer to check their body temperature at night, they were a balmy 99 F, no matter how cold it was outside.
 
Same here. Our coop is really solid. The girls just hop up on the roosts and snuggle ... or not depending on what they want to do. We just let them be chickens ... and thank them for the eggs!
 
My coop is unheated, and uninsulated, and as you can see in the pic below, the whole front wall is open. We can get temps down into the single digits, and the chickens have no problems at all. And even with the open front, the temp is usually 10 degrees or so higher than the outside temp.


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My coop is unheated, and uninsulated, and as you can see in the pic below, the whole front wall is open. We can get temps down into the single digits, and the chickens have no problems at all. And even with the open front, the temp is usually 10 degrees or so higher than the outside temp.


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The next coop we build is going to be just like that. I love the way it looks and from what I've read that thing is just as good at keeping the chickens cool in the summer as it is warm in the winter. Love it!
 
The next coop we build is going to be just like that. I love the way it looks and from what I've read that thing is just as good at keeping the chickens cool in the summer as it is warm in the winter. Love it!


Thanks, it is a great coop. A proven 100yr old design. But this is the northern design, built for northern climes. In Texas, you would want an even more open coop, for your summers, with that Texas heat. You would build your coop with removable wall panels for the summer. Of course, you would have hardware cloth screening under those panels, for pred protection, when they are removed. But other than that, the coop would work good for you.
 
Ours in Nebraska also does not have insulation or heat. We wrap the run to keep the wind and snow out then leave the coop door and top vent open 24/7. Like others have said the coop temp is usually only .5 to 1 degree warmer than the run temperature. I checked on them recently when the temp was down to 3 degrees and they were all on the roost puffed up looking at me like they were ready to move over and let me join them. I have an IR gun but never thought to use it on the chickens, I'll have to give that a shot tonight as it gets down to near zero again.

Ditto to the dry chickens = happy chickens.
 
When I lived in the country never had heat in my coop for 8 ladies.Only a light bulb to help laying in the dark winter times. On a time 1700-2100 and the on again from 0500 till just past sun rise. About a 75 w bulb. Be sure to keep the side that does not a lot of wind open they like and need fresh air.
Will start again with a new coop in green country this late Feb. My chicks will arrive March 03 2015 and have a nice warm place for then inside till the coop in built. Photo to come hope to start late Feb if ground is not frozen. Mo weather.I will start inside on the bed of my truck and then go outside to finish it. PP
 
The design of my coop has three sides exposed to the elements. The back is protected as it faces the side of a structure and blocks the North and North West air currents, the NE and East side is open to air circulation and the West is fully enclosed with the Laying boxes on a second level (enclosed on all sides).

Two things that help me manage the very cold temps are: I use two infrared het lamps located at the top of the coop facing down on the floor below. The lamps keep the water from freezing up and when the hens are in need of warming up, they sit in the heated spots and absorb the warm rays of the lamps. I also found that when I wrapped some black plastic around the water container, it retained more heat and warmed the water. (Cut plastic from a large black trash bag).

The coop floor was important. The normal floor is made up of 50% Contractors sand and top soil/ PDZ mixed in. I took shredded paper from my wife's paper shredder and mixed 50% of that with equal parts of Hay and tossed it onto the dirt floor. The Girls arrange the floor covering to suite themselves after that. The way it is now, very little floor material gets scattered and spread up and into the feeder or water reserve.

With the floor somewhat heated from the lamps, it warms the underside of the hens and the mixture seems act as insulation also.

Seems to be working well in freezing temps. On very cold days, I turn my lamps on 24/7 and on 40 degree and above I use the lamps from dusk to dawn only.
 
If the birds haven't been artificially heated / lighted, they've likely acclimated to your weather pretty well. It seems easy for us as humans to go with the "I'm cold; you put on a coat" theory of temperature control. How cold is cold in your area?

I'd hesitate to seal up the coop too tightly for fear of the moisture buildup. Keeping the wind out makes great sense.

As far as bedding goes, are your birds sleeping on the floor? If they're on roosts as would be normal, the bedding may not make much difference. We have sand / PDZ on our coop floor for easy cleaning. Our girls sleep on the roosts, so we don't worry about what's on the floor.
The older hens sleep on the roost and the pullets are sleeping inside of the nest boxes.
 

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