What kind of insulation to use? and is it worht the money to insulate it?

[Shandina]

I am getting 4 or maybe 6 silkie soon. I have a 12x8 shed for them. I know it's a big shed for just 4 of them but I plan on letting them hatch chicks in the spring to get more! but since I don't have many I am worried about them in the cold in such a big building for them. but I am thinking of insulating my shed, is it worth the money? what should I use? I was half thinking of maybe just getting cardboard or Styrofoam from my work left overs from shipments to insulate it was a cost effective way, I would buy paneling or something to cover it up. Or should I go and buy real fiberglass insulation or Styrofoam insulation for them? I just would die if I went out and one was frozen to death or really really cold! I am not heating it. I just want my first babies to stay worm. They will be 3 months old when I get them. I heard about piling hay or straw around the outside of your coop, does this work? I am going to use pine shavings deep litter method for inside the coop floor and I am wrapping the run in plastic for the winter and the run has a roof so not much snow should get in, its draft free and has ventilation as well. I Live in the maritimes and our winters get bitter cold sometimes. Thank you guys!!

 

[aart]

bitter cold

Please describe in F or C.

@oldhenlikesdogs knows silkies and cold.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I've had silkies here in Wisconsin. It can get bitterly cold here. -20's with -40's Fahrenheit wind chills for weeks on end. My bantam coop is insulated with batting between the walls. The outside wall is cider blocks. It keeps it slightly warmer than outside. My silkies did fine. They did prefer to stay inside more than other breeds, so a bigger coop will help them have room to move around. I didn't find them any less hardy than other breeds. I currently keep frizzles, and they are fine too in the same situation.

 

[Howard E]

Only answer to your question is "it depends". The need for insulation does depend on a great many things.

In general, most chicken breeds are able to cope in unheated buildings down to around 0F. After that, depending on the breed and conditions, frostbite of combs, waddles and perhaps toes, can become an issue for some of them. Long combed birds, like leghorns, for example. For those with rose or pea combs, they go much lower. So don't be too worried about your babies getting cold. They are like their wild counterparts......they wear a thick coat of insulation in the form of feathers and can take care of themselves very well........if you let them. More important than heat or insulation is a constant supply of fresh water, constant access to high caloric foods to run their furnace (they have one) and shelter from drafts and wind (wind chill).....and that shelter must also be dry, meaning well ventilated.

But the issue with insulation revolves around several other factors, one of the more import ones being dealing with metal sides and roof. Metal siding is popular as it is relatively cheap, easy to install, is durable and low maintenance. So metal gets used a lot. Metal siding and roofs also do a good job of radiating heat. So a building clad with uninsulated metal siding will generally be hot in the summer, cold in the winter and is subject to condensation issues most of the time. This is especially true in chicken houses. So in my opinion, insulation should be used on metal clad chicken houses in USDA plant zone 6b or colder. Roof and all sides with exposed metal.

So it also turns out the birds themselves generate a lot of radiant heat. A group of them huddled together take advantage of this to keep warm, but some escapes. Radiant heat flows line of sight.......like sunlight does.......until it hits something that either absorbs it and radiates it on, or reflects it back to the source. Metal siding will absorb and radiate it on to the outside. Insulation stops it and reflects it back inside the house. An insulated house may be as much as 5 to 10 degrees warmer inside than out, and again, the heat comes from the birds themselves. So much below Zone 6b, which is 0F to -5F, might want to consider insulation, and especially so if using metal on the sides and roof.

Metal, and some painted woods, will also allow for condensation to form inside the house. Source of the moisture is the birds themselves.......mostly from their breath and from their moisture laden droppings. Tight chicken houses are wet houses and wet houses are death traps. When frostbite occurs, most likely it was due to an excess of moisture built up inside. So ventilation is needed to move the warm moisture laden air out, and is replaced with cool dry air, which then dries out even more as it warms up.

So all metal roofs, in almost any climate, should be insulated to prevent condensation.

Birds are no different from people, in that they have to acclimate to the cold. One of the very worst things you can do is provide supplemental heat to the coop. That does not force them to acclimate. With supplemental heat, you could be one power failure away from losing your entire flock. A flock acclimated to the cold would not know or care if the power goes out. Makes no difference to them at all.

 

[chickens really]

Here in Alberta my Coop is insulated with pink insulation and plywood over it....I Run heat here...Never too warm, water does ice up...Although it sure is not -28C in my Coop either ...My Pal with Silkies also runs a bit of heat for them...