Hi Everyone,
I'll just start with this: First real post and I've read so much in the last few days that now I'm having trouble making sense of it all. I'm probably going to ask a couple of ridiculous questions - please bear with me. And if you are kind enough to offer advice I beg you - please talk to me as if I were a very slow toddler, I am really overwhelmed!
My DH and I bought a home with a larger yard a couple of years ago, and despite being very excited to own a chicken coop/yard, we have yet to actually put birds in it. I'm hoping that this is the year we get our stuff together and get some chickens but first I have to figure out if what we have existing is okay.
The coop itself I think is fine, aside from needing a really good disinfection (or maybe a few rounds with disinfectant, it was left pretty gross). It is insulated but only the bottom half of the walls had the insulation covered by plywood so you can see that birds and probably many other animals have picked at the insulation the last few years. So my next job after cleaning will be to finish covering the insulation. First potentially stupid question: Do I use vapor barrier just as if I was finishing a wall in my home? Obviously I'm not drywalling, but I am wondering if insulation, vapor barrier, panelling/plywood is the right idea? The existing insulation has vapor barrier, if that's wrong I want to know now so I can redo it all at once, but I'm thinking it can be a good thing to help prevent drafts?
My next questions have to do with climate and cold temperatures. I live in Northern BC, and it's common for us to have temperatures anywhere from -15 to -25 Celsius (5 to -13F) throughout winter. Usually in January we will have at least one cold spell that dips down to -36 C or so (-33F). This doesn't include wind chill, but if I know that if my coop is draft-free and ventilated properly then wind-chill shouldn't be a factor. See? I have been reading, I do know something.
So on to my cold weather questions:
1. I need to add more ventilation, which I plan to do by cutting holes that will be covered by hardware cloth. I was thinking of building a "channel" on the outside of the coop that would allow air to circulate freely but also prevent wind from blowing directly in. I thought if I build it from opaque coroplast this might also help generate some heat on the sunny days we do get. If the ends of the channel are open does that provide enough ventilation? And am I over-thinking this? I just can't see another way to have good ventilation without drafts...
2. I have no way of getting electricity to the existing coop, and it's too far from the house to even consider wiring it (probably $500 or more just for the cable if I do it to code, and that's assuming I can get it at cost, not retail). From what I've read it's better not to heat the coop anyway, but of course I will be schlepping warm water out there A LOT. And it's not just the carrying of water, we get a lot of snow so I estimate another 30-45 minutes of snow blowing and shovelling to keep a path clear every time we get a dump of snow. There is a small part of me (okay, maybe a really big part of me) wondering if it would be better to relocate and build a new coop closer to the house, even if it's just a winter coop so that I can snow blow less and occasionally plug in a heated water container when the weather's really bad.
I have more questions, but I'm going to stop now and try to figure this stuff out first. Any help is appreciated! I am making my way through the articles for a second time, so I'm sure I will have more questions soon...
Thanks!
I'll just start with this: First real post and I've read so much in the last few days that now I'm having trouble making sense of it all. I'm probably going to ask a couple of ridiculous questions - please bear with me. And if you are kind enough to offer advice I beg you - please talk to me as if I were a very slow toddler, I am really overwhelmed!
My DH and I bought a home with a larger yard a couple of years ago, and despite being very excited to own a chicken coop/yard, we have yet to actually put birds in it. I'm hoping that this is the year we get our stuff together and get some chickens but first I have to figure out if what we have existing is okay.
The coop itself I think is fine, aside from needing a really good disinfection (or maybe a few rounds with disinfectant, it was left pretty gross). It is insulated but only the bottom half of the walls had the insulation covered by plywood so you can see that birds and probably many other animals have picked at the insulation the last few years. So my next job after cleaning will be to finish covering the insulation. First potentially stupid question: Do I use vapor barrier just as if I was finishing a wall in my home? Obviously I'm not drywalling, but I am wondering if insulation, vapor barrier, panelling/plywood is the right idea? The existing insulation has vapor barrier, if that's wrong I want to know now so I can redo it all at once, but I'm thinking it can be a good thing to help prevent drafts?
My next questions have to do with climate and cold temperatures. I live in Northern BC, and it's common for us to have temperatures anywhere from -15 to -25 Celsius (5 to -13F) throughout winter. Usually in January we will have at least one cold spell that dips down to -36 C or so (-33F). This doesn't include wind chill, but if I know that if my coop is draft-free and ventilated properly then wind-chill shouldn't be a factor. See? I have been reading, I do know something.
So on to my cold weather questions:
1. I need to add more ventilation, which I plan to do by cutting holes that will be covered by hardware cloth. I was thinking of building a "channel" on the outside of the coop that would allow air to circulate freely but also prevent wind from blowing directly in. I thought if I build it from opaque coroplast this might also help generate some heat on the sunny days we do get. If the ends of the channel are open does that provide enough ventilation? And am I over-thinking this? I just can't see another way to have good ventilation without drafts...
2. I have no way of getting electricity to the existing coop, and it's too far from the house to even consider wiring it (probably $500 or more just for the cable if I do it to code, and that's assuming I can get it at cost, not retail). From what I've read it's better not to heat the coop anyway, but of course I will be schlepping warm water out there A LOT. And it's not just the carrying of water, we get a lot of snow so I estimate another 30-45 minutes of snow blowing and shovelling to keep a path clear every time we get a dump of snow. There is a small part of me (okay, maybe a really big part of me) wondering if it would be better to relocate and build a new coop closer to the house, even if it's just a winter coop so that I can snow blow less and occasionally plug in a heated water container when the weather's really bad.
I have more questions, but I'm going to stop now and try to figure this stuff out first. Any help is appreciated! I am making my way through the articles for a second time, so I'm sure I will have more questions soon...
Thanks!
