Upstate NY Coop - Insulate or Not to Insulate

[aart]

I actually think that insulation is more needed for summer heat rather than winter cold....but ventilation is ALWAYS key!!

 

[jamie7100]

I also live in NY (western NY) and we get a lot of snow and a lot of wind. The wind is much worse than the snow IMHO. We have two smallish coops right now - 6X8's. Neither of our coops are insulated. I keep the windows closed in the winter, I put vasaline on the rooster's comb, and I nailed a burlap cloth over one of the vents to stop the snow from blowing in (the side that faces the prevailing wind). Other than that, we don't do anything to compensate for the cold - no heat, no lights. Chickens have been raised for thousands of years without insulated buildings. I did shop for "cold hardy" breeds when I got my chickens though. That's about it. We are upgrading to a large shed/small barn this summer and we won't be insulating that one either. I think making it predator proof is more important than the insulation.

 

[pappy1264]

I have mostly cold hearty birds, but I have two cochins, one of which is a bantam, and I have been told they have a harder time with the cold, which is why we were going to put some insulation in the walls (which we are using pallets for). But with 4 windows (our coop is 8x6) which are very big, there won't be alot of 'walls' as it is.

 

[Alden Chickens]

We were new to the chicken world last Spring and I wondered what to do for the chickens over the winter. We are near Buffalo, Ny and I was worried the chickens would have a rough time over the winter. They had no problem in the block building their coop is in. We did keep a regular light on them to keep them laying and used a heat lamp over the waterer to keep it from freezing. When we got the outside run put up there was still snow on the ground which didn't bother them a bit.