Race against time: Building an insulated coop before the arctic air arrives.

[Rangergord]

Here it is now with the loft stuffed with straw. If I had side walls on the loft gables I could get more in there. I also put 12 inches of straw on the floor inside the coop.

 

[Rangergord]

What bedding will you use? I mulch all my own twigs and branches and fill coffee bean bags with so much mulch. I use the deep litter method. With shaving on top for added softness. They do have straw in their nest boxes though.

Yes deep litter all the way!
I thought it might be a good idea to use some wood shavings to insulate from the frozen ground so I put a couple bales down. Well a few days was all it took to find that both me and the birds hated them. The shavings got into the food, they were thrown out of the nesting box with disdain, they stuck to everything, including me when I went back to the house. If you think finding a needle in a haystack is hard, you should try wood shavings!
So back to straw, I like straw especially in my vegetable garden. The hens love straw. It is readily available and cheap.
I do like wood pellets and wood chips. I prefer hardwood chips for my fruit trees. I have a lot of chips but they were all wet and frozen by the time I needed them.

I should add that your mulch bagging is a great idea. Next year.

 

[Thetinyfarm]

Yes deep litter all the way!
I thought it might be a good idea to use some wood shavings to insulate from the frozen ground so I put a couple bales down. Well a few days was all it took to find that both me and the birds hated them. The shavings got into the food, they were thrown out of the nesting box with disdain, they stuck to everything, including me when I went back to the house. If you think finding a needle in a haystack is hard, you should try wood shavings!
So back to straw, I like straw especially in my vegetable garden. The hens love straw. It is readily available and cheap.
I do like wood pellets and wood chips. I prefer hardwood chips for my fruit trees. I have a lot of chips but they were all wet and frozen by the time I needed them.

Yes, shavings do get EVERYWHERE I had so many little bits in one pair of socks that I threw the socks away!

 

[3KillerBs]

I personally, have triple insulated my coop. I spoke with other poultry keepers in my area ( western Alberta Canada) and they have insulation and nearly all have ceramic heat lamps too. They also only use them after -20/25. When it gets below those and dips into the -35’s -40’s on the prairies here, a little heat never killed anyone. It’s not near the birds, it’s more ambient. I have a heated drinker too but that only goes to -25, so the ceramic lamp will assist with keeping that warm.

You're making my "90F is a cool day" summers sound good!

 

[Rangergord]

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You're making my "90F is a cool day" summers sound good!

It’s Z2 here. Minus 50 C plus windchill happens most winters for a few days. The humidity is low here making the cold feel less cold and hot sunny days feel less hot.

 

[Shezadandy]

Yes deep litter all the way!
I thought it might be a good idea to use some wood shavings to insulate from the frozen ground so I put a couple bales down. Well a few days was all it took to find that both me and the birds hated them. The shavings got into the food, they were thrown out of the nesting box with disdain, they stuck to everything, including me when I went back to the house. If you think finding a needle in a haystack is hard, you should try wood shavings!
So back to straw, I like straw especially in my vegetable garden. The hens love straw. It is readily available and cheap.
I do like wood pellets and wood chips. I prefer hardwood chips for my fruit trees. I have a lot of chips but they were all wet and frozen by the time I needed them.

I should add that your mulch bagging is a great idea. Next year.

Yep, shavings do suck! I love how they look for the first day or two. Love how they smell. And that's where it ends as picking shavings out of food and water containers gets really old! We've switched to exclusively wood pellet bedding in our coop with sweet PDZ powder for the roost tables. They absorb that extra moisture from poop and then deteriorate into awesome dust bathing material in the coop when outside is mud with more mud. Any time during the day there are 5-10 chickens inside dust bathing. Then at night it turns into a mosh pit, every inch of floor and bedding used for the big dust bath party. And it breaks into such small itty bitty pieces that composting with it is a breeze once it wears out. Does great in the goat pen too, containing all that goat pee when they refuse to go out in the rain. =)

 

[saysfaa]

Are your wood pellets made for bedding? Are they the same as the pellets made for pellet stoves?

 

[Rangergord]

Hmm... not 100% sure. I have not seen bedding pellets for sale. The farm supply store puts the fuel pellets in the feed section. Fuel pellets are high quality woods that leave behind little ash so as not to clog the stove. Bedding pellets could be made of absorbent materials that might not burn so cleanly. Are bedding pellets cheaper than fuel pellets? If so some people would burn them. Vice versa and fuel pellets are used for bedding.

 

[saysfaa]

Here, fuel pellets are much cheaper than bedding pellets. The question was because the label for bedding pellets says there is no additives such as binders. The fuel pellets didn't say but it sounds like they are ok too. Thank you

 

[Rangergord]

Here, fuel pellets are much cheaper than bedding pellets. The question was because the label for bedding pellets says there is no additives such as binders. The fuel pellets didn't say but it sounds like they are ok too. Thank you

OK yes there are no additives in the fuel pellets, the pellet mills use pressure that creates heat and reacts with any moisture in the wood to fuse the pellet together.