noob questions

[Garbear]

I have 15 hens and winter is coming to my neck of the woods. I was admiring the snow on the mountians to the west while reloading bullet. My coop is visible from there and now I am worried about the cold. The hens starte laying in July and some in Aug. All the birds are laying now and once the garden is finished they'll free range. So here is my problem. I am in the middle of building a 12x14 coop.I don't knwo if I'll have enough money to insulate the coop this year. . The temps out here in the Great Basin can get down right cold.-20 some years. I am going to put the lamps in the coop wil it matter to them if it is light all the time. Also will my lamp keep the coop from freezing. Oh breeds are rhode island reds one plymouth buff some ameicanas and one aricana. What can I expect my egg production to do? I am totally unprepared and don't want my birds to suffer. I am hoping to maintane a 40F in coop if possible.
Garbear

 

[Judy]

Let me give you a link that will tell you a lot about this -- it also has links to other pages by this author, who lives in Canada

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-VENTILATION

 

[Impress]

You can buy red bulbs that don't really add "light" if having the lights on 24-7 is a worry of yours. My chickens lived just fine through a blizzard, by the time I had shoveled the coop out, I found them all in there in a corner, the roof had collapsed so they were literally hunkered into a corner, but were fine! It took me 4 days to get out to them, and they all survived it, they seem to be much hardier than we give them credit for. If you have a heat lamp in there for them, they should be super foxy fine.

 

[Garbear]

We get snow but not a lot of it here in the valley. The cold can be brutal though. but also can be very mild during the days also. Thanks for teh article. I worked at an egg farm out here and the venilation was horrible. The ammonia levels when monitroed was off the chart. I would spend hours in a resparator serving feed motors or fixing the ventilation baffles if teh temps weren't correct. I fugured I had no way to keep my girls warm but after reading alot of what I learned out there can work for me. These birds meet and exceed our egg needs and they are a theraputic for the days when my depression is a bit much. So they are more then just egg layers for me. I just want to do what is best for them and protect the girls. I'll keep that in mind and do more ventilation then I was figureing on. Thanks
Garbear