Northerners - insulating coops?

[andythescot]

I'm in Massachusetts and we just had the snowiest winter in a looooong time. We just cut a tarp to staple onto the coop to help keep it drier, as well as stocking up the coop with straw before a big storm. The walls of the coop are just made of plywood, and the girls did great! Granted, we have BOs, RIRs, and EEs... All of which are very cold hearty.

 

[alhanse77]

We live in Idaho and have very cold, windy winters. We have an ark-style coop that is not insulated and our four chickens did just fine this year even as the temps dipped to -20 deg. F for a couple of nights.

 

[Sorin]

I have a small coop, 4 x 5 x 4 and what I did was line the inside of my coop with these sheets of corrugated plastic I found at lowes. They look like white corrugated cardboard except made out of plastic. You don't have to worry about mice in the walls, I just stapled it between the studs. The air pockets in it offer just enough extra insulation and on top of that, it cleans up great!

 

[kelidei]

Quote:
Hi... I am north of you in Wauconda! We are about 20 miles south of the WI border in Lake county. I have 3 coops and we just insulated the roofs. I also have radiant heat panels in the coops over the roosts. They do not effect air temp too much but they provide a warm spot to roost. Most of my chickens are cold hardy but I have a few roos with single combs and rather than trying to chase them around to put vaseline on their combs for frosbite protection I put the panel heaters in... the panels get warm but they cannot start a fire and you can touch them with your bare hand--- no worries about burns.

BTW

 

[hstommel]

I agree with Fred, if you insulate you end up having moisture issues in the winter if you don't have ventilation...I had a bird bath heater in my chicken's water, and at 0 to -10, it vaporized and got my chickens all wet. I took the water out, put in dry bedding, and started just giving them fresh cold water twice a day. We have just a plywood coop, out of the wind, and other than that vaporized water episode, we have never lost a banty polish, game, or Leghorn, or any standard Red Stars or Polish. I use Christmas tree lights in a jar to heat the coop - it is just a little heat, not warm in any way. We live in the "mitten" above you, about 25 miles west of Lake Michigan and 30 minutes from Milwaukee..

 

[Double-0 Chicken]

We live in Maine and have some pretty cold winters. We do not insulate our coop. I turn on some light for those really cold nights and they seem happy. No frostbite on the combs. We have cold hardy chickens, 4 barred rocks and 4 Ameracaunas. They are starting to like the snow

 

[FarmerMack]

Quote:
I lost 3 in New Hampshire to cold so some insulation is good.... I moved to kentucky LOL solved that problem

 

[newchicks5]

i live 60 mins north of milwaukee no coop yet but working on it.thinking of foam no heaters maybe for the water.

 

[jackson41]

My coop is not insulated. We had 20% below zero this winter and no frostbite. My coop is well ventilated and I do cover most of my run with plastic. I think ventilation is the key.

 

[henney penny]

I also live in Maine and my coop is insulated with good ventilation