Preparing Your Flock & Coop for WINTER

[Skeeter10]

didnt think about the ceiling mine is tin so i think it would be cold

 

[NTBugtraq]

Montana too...I live in Helena which is known for beautiful clear skies, and sometimes a warm flash in January or February where it's in the 50's to 70's. But the wind! And it can also be -20 or colder at night for weeks on end.

My goal is to close drafts and give them a dry place outside during the day. My husband neglected to add insulation to the roof (really? he insulated all the walls and the floor though)...so I may get some insulation board, cut it just a bit too big and have the teenager wedge it up in the coop ceiling between the rafters.

didnt think about the ceiling mine is tin so i think it would be cold

Folks, @TalkALittle hinted at (I think?), some of you folks are thinking like the coop is for people and not chickens. Chickens do not care about the temperature as much as people do. They have down to provide personal insulation, and external feathers which act as a windbreaker, so imagine they are wearing the best down filled ski jacket you have ever seen...

Digesting food gives them the energy to create their internal furnaces, so make sure they always have lots of fresh water if you are giving them dry feed. Without water, they can't digest the food and turn it into energy.

Beyond that, they need a place to help them with the harshest winds. Imagine that the feathers are good to like 15-20mph winds, beyond that they need a wall of some sort. In the wild they'd just use a bush or tree.

Now when you start building your coop like a house, you create all sorts of problems chickens cannot readily cope with. The biggest of these is humidity. In our human homes, we are comfortable with high humidity in the winter...but if chickens get damp, the exposed skin (combs, waddles, and feet) can very quickly get frostbite. You think you want to block all wind coming in, and save all heat being created, and in doing so you make the place air-tight, and therefore highly susceptible to too high humidity.

So, whatever you do, make sure there is a way for the humidity to escape your coop. Make sure your birds are not sitting in areas that are humid. And to put a number on it, let's say you are aiming for 20-30% humidity maximum.

And just to remind folks...hot air rises, so the air above chickens will be rising, and with it the humid air. So intake should be near the ceiling away from the roosts (cause cool air drops) and output should be near the roof near the roosts. Think of it like the letter "V". In high, drops low, and exists high again. You can even put a baffle over the intake side to direct the cool air down faster. But whatever you do, ensure you have circulation, as without it you trap humidity and cause frostbite.

Insulating a ceiling serves no purpose whatsoever as any form of such an installation is also likely going to prevent humid air from escaping. Consider the air near the roof as having already given you all the heat you can get from it, and just let it go...;-]

 

[cricketmt]

Folks, @TalkALittle hinted at (I think?), some of you folks are thinking like the coop is for people and not chickens. Chickens do not care about the temperature as much as people do. They have down to provide personal insulation, and external feathers which act as a windbreaker, so imagine they are wearing the best down filled ski jacket you have ever seen...

Digesting food gives them the energy to create their internal furnaces, so make sure they always have lots of fresh water if you are giving them dry feed. Without water, they can't digest the food and turn it into energy.

Beyond that, they need a place to help them with the harshest winds. Imagine that the feathers are good to like 15-20mph winds, beyond that they need a wall of some sort. In the wild they'd just use a bush or tree.

Now when you start building your coop like a house, you create all sorts of problems chickens cannot readily cope with. The biggest of these is humidity. In our human homes, we are comfortable with high humidity in the winter...but if chickens get damp, the exposed skin (combs, waddles, and feet) can very quickly get frostbite. You think you want to block all wind coming in, and save all heat being created, and in doing so you make the place air-tight, and therefore highly susceptible to too high humidity.

So, whatever you do, make sure there is a way for the humidity to escape your coop. Make sure your birds are not sitting in areas that are humid. And to put a number on it, let's say you are aiming for 20-30% humidity maximum.

And just to remind folks...hot air rises, so the air above chickens will be rising, and with it the humid air. So intake should be near the ceiling away from the roosts (cause cool air drops) and output should be near the roof near the roosts. Think of it like the letter "V". In high, drops low, and exists high again. You can even put a baffle over the intake side to direct the cool air down faster. But whatever you do, ensure you have circulation, as without it you trap humidity and cause frostbite.

Insulating a ceiling serves no purpose whatsoever as any form of such an installation is also likely going to prevent humid air from escaping. Consider the air near the roof as having already given you all the heat you can get from it, and just let it go...;-]

Oh I get what you're saying, but hadn't thought about the ceiling insulation that way, so we'll see how it goes without that.

We get high winds, often 40+ mph, with gusts in the 60-70 range often enough. At -20 to -30F that turns into some pretty awful windchills....which is why I'm closing up draft spots around the roosts and nest boxes on the west wall. All of them if possible. They east side has the entire 8 foot wall at the eaves open--4 inches by 8 feet--with just hardware cloth and we have one more vent to install down by the floor--a cold sink more than anything--on the east wall.

ETA: One question...while we have a ceramic reptile heater in there on a thermoblock that kicks on at 35F and shuts off at 40F, how cold IS too cold? We have a remote thermometer in the coop and it generally registers at or just a couple of degrees above ambient outdoor temps... while we haven't gotten colder than 22 yet this fall, I know it's coming. No humidity showing on walls or window as of yet so we're good on the humidity side of things.

 

[NTBugtraq]

Oh I get what you're saying, but hadn't thought about the ceiling insulation that way, so we'll see how it goes without that.

We get high winds, often 40+ mph, with gusts in the 60-70 range often enough. At -20 to -30F that turns into some pretty awful windchills....which is why I'm closing up draft spots around the roosts and nest boxes on the west wall. All of them if possible. They east side has the entire 8 foot wall at the eaves open--4 inches by 8 feet--with just hardware cloth and we have one more vent to install down by the floor--a cold sink more than anything--on the east wall.

ETA: One question...while we have a ceramic reptile heater in there on a thermoblock that kicks on at 35F and shuts off at 40F, how cold IS too cold? We have a remote thermometer in the coop and it generally registers at or just a couple of degrees above ambient outdoor temps... while we haven't gotten colder than 22 yet this fall, I know it's coming. No humidity showing on walls or window as of yet so we're good on the humidity side of things.

With an opening on the east wall, sounds like you have a good plan, but do ask yourself where the air that is escaping there is coming from. If it turns out to be the same eave vent, you could end up trapping humidity.

What is the reptile heater trying to heat?

 

[sylviecolin]

we have a the big winds covered here and have left the door way opened and the back of the car tent also have a nice breeze coming through which we can control. and good ventilation in the coop also. that was one of the things we were told from the beginning. good luck to all for this winter. with all this unpredictable weather we have...

 

[cricketmt]

With an opening on the east wall, sounds like you have a good plan, but do ask yourself where the air that is escaping there is coming from. If it turns out to be the same eave vent, you could end up trapping humidity.

What is the reptile heater trying to heat?

Maybe I'll pull out the block on the west side on the end furthest from the roost...it's about 18" by 4", also up under the eaves. Thanks for helping reason it out! The reptile heater is just there as backup, to create a warm spot if they want it. We only have the 4 hens, so I hope they'll snuggle up when it gets bitter.

I have considered cutting a vent hole in the garage wall that is the coop's north wall. That would be buffered temperature for one thing, just haven't convinced the spousal unit that it would be better than another outside source vent.

 

[NTBugtraq]

we have a the big winds covered here and have left the door way opened and the back of the car tent also have a nice breeze coming through which we can control. and good ventilation in the coop also. that was one of the things we were told from the beginning. good luck to all for this winter. with all this unpredictable weather we have...

Good luck to you too!

Quote:

Maybe I'll pull out the block on the west side on the end furthest from the roost...it's about 18" by 4", also up under the eaves. Thanks for helping reason it out! The reptile heater is just there as backup, to create a warm spot if they want it. We only have the 4 hens, so I hope they'll snuggle up when it gets bitter.

I have considered cutting a vent hole in the garage wall that is the coop's north wall. That would be buffered temperature for one thing, just haven't convinced the spousal unit that it would be better than another outside source vent.

I'm not sure if you read my post about my problems last winter, but one thing is for sure, despite everything, I didn't lose a single bird of the 15 I had at that time. No insulation, too much dampness, no wind protection for the highest roosts, and still...no dead birds...and we here in middle Ontario, Canada, get some pretty cold times (easily more than a few -20F +20mph days and nights).

One thought about a hole through your garage wall...try to make it such that a mouse or whatever has to go through your chickens to get into it...that way they'll be your rodent protection (well, them and a fine hard mesh)...

 

[cicknmama]

My tin is up on a couple of concrete pavers. Mice can't get under that.  

Lol....mine was on a concrete block, little stinkers.

 

[cicknmama]

how well does permanent isalation work is it hot in the summr moonths is there a insulation that keeps it cool in summer and warm in winter can i get feedback

I use 6 ml plastic in winter. It absorbs the heat from the sun when its out and warms the run. I use burlap in the summer to create shade and keep the run cool. My ladies and Roo seem to like it. This is for my run only, I don't insulate my coop.

 

[cicknmama]

HI, I used the nipple waterers in the summer this year and it worked great,  chickens caught on really quickly and they seemed to think it was fun to make water drip on the ground so they could dig at it.  Took it out for winter as I was not sure of a good way to keep it from freezing.  Definately kept the run a lot cleaner and I didn't have to worry about changing the water all the time because they walked through it.

I put a bucket warmer in mine. So far so good, although we have not as yet had a hard freeze. We will see.