Maine

[Cknldy]

Amen to that!

 

[rbosdell]

Hi everyone! I am curious about insulating the coops. Would the pink insulation be toxic to my girls? Does anyone know? There will be a bit of chicken wire to hold them back from it, but otherwise I will need some type of insulation that will not be harmful. Any tips?

 

[lazy gardener]

RBOSDELL: I'd suggest not unless you have it sheathed with plywood or what ever on either side of it. My concern would be that mice would get into it, and the chickens would then get it from where ever they toted it to. I expect that the chickens would eat it just for the novelty of it.

ASH: I agree with you re: the work. Unfortunately, it goes with the territory of being female. We get to do it all... pregnancy, nursing, nurturing, bring home the bacon, and do our farming and construction projects!

 

[TAMMACLEAN]

Hi everyone! I am curious about insulating the coops. Would the pink insulation be toxic to my girls? Does anyone know? There will be a bit of chicken wire to hold them back from it, but otherwise I will need some type of insulation that will not be harmful. Any tips?

To be honest you probably don't need to insulate. As long as there are no drafts and ventilation you should be fine. I have one coop that is insulated, with plywood covering it, and one that is not. They both stayed the same temps during the winter.

 

[rbosdell]

I do have ventilation, so I suppose I will need to cover it up in the winter?

 

[mlowen]

I do have ventilation, so I suppose I will need to cover it up in the winter?

The more ventilation the better. There is a great article here on BYC about the importance of plenty of ventilation. You can see how I built my coop & run by clicking on "my coop" link. I had no insulation. I did cover the big windows in the coop end with plexiglass and plastic and covered the run end with plastic, but the eves were open all winter. It got down to -14 in there and the were just fine. Down works.

 

[Heatherschix]

The more ventilation the better. There is a great article here on BYC about the importance of plenty of ventilation. You can see how I built my coop & run by clicking on "my coop" link. I had no insulation. I did cover the big windows in the coop end with plexiglass and plastic and covered the run end with plastic, but the eves were open all winter. It got down to -14 in there and the were just fine. Down works.

Beautiful job on your coop...very nice. I was on the fence about putting in insulation...I don't think I will now, but I will add more ventilation to my coop.

 

[CoopChick719]

Hi everyone! I am curious about insulating the coops. Would the pink insulation be toxic to my girls? Does anyone know? There will be a bit of chicken wire to hold them back from it, but otherwise I will need some type of insulation that will not be harmful. Any tips?

RBOSDELL:  I'd suggest not unless you have it sheathed with plywood or what ever on either side of it.  My concern would be that mice would get into it, and the chickens would then get it from where ever they toted it to.  I expect that the chickens would eat it just for the novelty of it.

I have to agree with LG!! My coop is insulated. The previous owner covered the inside of the coop door with a piece shiny silver hard insulation. The chickens love it!!!

 

[rbosdell]

Thank you for the input! It's helpful because this will be my first year with my girls!

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I second that they will eat the pink styrofoam, unless covered. The basement of my house is covered in it (and then painted) and as soon as they discovered it, they've been "eating" it ever since. Not a lot, and they mostly spit it back out, but they love to destroy it.
We have rolled batting insulation in most of the coop and some styrofoam in the other sections, then covered with plywood. I keep all my vents and windows completely open in the winter unless there's a blowing blizzard, and then I shut them (sometimes, when I remember) to reduce snow blowing into the coop, melting and then freezing.
As long as your birds have somewhere to get out of the wind, and to keep their feet warm (a wide roost), they'll be fine.