The why's of NOT insulating a coop

[Yukonchick]

too cute. Ya i've got an open laying box concept. My hens are supposed to be fairly docile and I believe they will keep each other warm if they're together in one long nesting box. Hopefully no eggs will get broken. We,ll see. I'm thinking on putting some little curtains in front of the nesting box to hold the heat in and it will be nice and dim in the box. My hens are too young to lay eggs yet but hopefully in about a month or two. All my meat birds are now in the freezer so my 11 Red sussex layers and two rooster got the whole 8by 10 henhouse and 30 foot outside run to themselves.

 

[rikithemonk]

The correct answer is..............It depends on your situation.

The reason people don't generally insulate coops is because chickens produce a lot of heat, moisture, and ammonia. All of this will get them sick if not vented properly. My recommendation is to hit a hardware store and get a thermometer. Not a basic thermometer, but a little bit nicer one that records the highest temp and the lowest temp for the day. These are so important because it lets you know whats going on when your not paying attention. For example, mine tells me that my greenhouse reaches 140 degrees and 14% humidity at its highest point in the day, and 75 degrees and 89% humidity at night.

Get one for your coop and record the highs and lows for a few weeks. This will give you the information you need to make an informed decision. Then its a fine balance between insulation, ventilation and procrastination.

Riki

 

[Yukonchick]

I've only got 11 hens and 2 roosters so I'm not too worried about the ammonia. Their house is 8 by 10 with alot of ventilation. I'm going to fill the cracks between the plywood though to keep out the cold winter wind. It gets very windy up here in the Yukon.

 

[TN wildman]

TO Kathy JB cut out under the two by and get some hard expanded metal from home depot u can use a jig saw to cut it and even notch it for the 2x

 

[Yukonchick]

Well that was a mistake not insulating mine. My roosters combs froze and i almost lost one hen due to a big ice ball that formed on her butt. brought her in, gave her a warm bath and blowdry and she was a happy hen again. I immediatly insulated the walls best i could and put a small heater along with the heat lamp that was already on in there. The temp warmed to minus 8 cesius and they were happy again.The roosters comb will never look the same though. Its healed and is nice and pink again but it has no points. Just a round shaped cone. looks odd.

 

[Time-Out]

This is an old thread, but I would just like to point out that the sweeping statements shouldn't be issued willy nilly. Yes, chickens have been around for thousands of years, so have dogs. You wouldn't put a pug out in an uninsulated kennel all winter. Chickens have undergone the same human selection. It is important to know what breeds people have and their climate before telling them that they will survive anything. If I'd listened to the advice on here and put my sebrights in a wooden shed with 1sqft of vent per bird and no insulation in this cold weather, I'd be sending some people the bill. So please, guys, be careful with generalisations.

Riki gave the best advice.

If you'd have had a metal roof, you'd have wanted to insulate that to help prevent condensation on cold mornings - if you get cold mornings.