My Chicken Coop for 5 or 6

[jetdog]

When it comes to moving the coop I took 2 2x4's slid them under the coop and called 3 of my larger american friends and the four of us just picked it up evenly and walked.

 

[christinamae5]

Nice job!

Are you going to add some ventilation? Ventilation is much more important than Insulation for deterring frostbite.
Where are you located? You can put it in your profile, helps folks make suggestions.

Yes, the door (now wire) will be open all summer for ventilation. It's on the south facing wall, so shouldn't get rain in, but will get the sun! In the winter, I planned on placing a board over the top 2/3. The bottom one third will be open, but if you look at the pics, I have a 2x4 in front of the door to keep the sand (or Sweet PDZ- haven't decided) inside and from falling out when I open the door- Hoping this will allow some ventilation, but not let the weather in. There is also a hole in the floor that will allow for venting (their ramp to the ground) that will be open year round and then on one of the unsided sides I'm going to put a round vent about 6 or 8 inches across (the kind for houses) that will let air in/out but not let weather in. I think this will be enough....I hope!

 

[aart]

Yes, the door (now wire) will be open all summer for ventilation. It's on the south facing wall, so shouldn't get rain in, but will get the sun! In the winter, I planned on placing a board over the top 2/3. The bottom one third will be open, but if you look at the pics, I have a 2x4 in front of the door to keep the sand (or Sweet PDZ- haven't decided) inside and from falling out when I open the door- Hoping this will allow some ventilation, but not let the weather in. There is also a hole in the floor that will allow for venting (their ramp to the ground) that will be open year round and then on one of the unsided sides I'm going to put a round vent about 6 or 8 inches across (the kind for houses) that will let air in/out but not let weather in. I think this will be enough....I hope!

You need most the ventilation up high well above the roost area...for warm moisture and ammonia laden air to escape.
Here's a good article on ventilation.

You can mix a nice coarse sandDZ in a 2or3:1 ratio to stretch the PDZ granules.
I use this mix in my brooder ad on my roost boards, it works great in reducing odor and makes for pretty easy sifting of poops to go to compost.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

I assumed Christinamae did her homework and was going to put in some ventilation. Put it in the highest portion of the roof line. The warm moist air will climb to that point and then out. Looks like the wall with the nest boxes is your highest. I'd put a vent up there on the high part of the wall. Then you'll get some cross ventilation going from your door. That single slant roof is also a good design for frost bite prevention (just some mental notes following winter threads this year). Better than a peaked roof (which I have)

Insulating vs. not insulating is a hot topic on BYC. LOL. But living where I live, I'm glad I put it in. Just sayin'.

 

[aart]

Insulating vs. not insulating is a hot topic on BYC. LOL. But living where I live, I'm glad I put it in. Just sayin'.

It's a toughy.....

I really don't think it does much in the winter as your ventilation is going to make the temp inside the coop pretty much the same as outside

....but in summer, especially if the coop is not in the shade, it can probably do a lot to slow down the sun from heating up the inside of the coop to a higher temp than the outside. I'm thinking of insulating the south wall and ceiling because of that in my situation.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

This winter it made a lot of difference. About 25 degrees.

 

[aart]

This winter it made a lot of difference. About 25 degrees.

With no heat source?

 

[Bogtown Chick]

on and off with a heat source depending on the night and how cold the dip was. And chickens are a heat source.

 

[Blueline]

With no heat source?

You have a heat source, chickens. They are little balls of HEAT, it's amazing how warm to the touch they are, try it ... awesome! We picked our 'Rosie' off the coop roost pole in Feb. to treat her for "poopy butt', she was very warm to the touch. Wrapped her in a towel and in the basement removed the nasty feathers. Then washed the rest of the muck off, rubbing her rear-end with paper towels in a drying attempt. As a recommendation ... scissors are actually the wrong tool, use side nippers instead because the feather cuticles are tough going for scissors. Wrapped in a towel she was easy to control and my wife did the surgery. Placed her back on the roost pole that night none the worse for the experience.

Guess I got carried away, main point your chickens are a great source of heat all by themselves.

Charlie

 

[aart]

Quote: But taken in context of our discussion, my point was that with enough ventilation, insulation of the coop would not make the interior temp any higher than the exterior....
no matter how many chickens - whose temp is about 107, but that heat is held by the feathers.

My coop temp was the same inside as outside most this frigid winter as I have lots of ventilation.