We live in Michigan and this will be our first winter with our chickens outside (they weren't fully feathered to go outside last winter). We currently have 4 Rhode Island Reds that are all now 1 year old. My question is... Do I need to do something special to their coop for them to be outside? I was originally planning on installing some insulation but after reading some posts in this thread am second guessing it. What I will do either way is put a nice layer of pine shavings down to help insulate their raised floor. I did put a couple vent holes in the roof of their coop to allow air movement. Are these enough or do I need some sort of fan to help circulate and remove the humid air? I am also going to install a vapor tight light fixture in the coop so they get a full days light to help with winter egg production. Should I put some sort of light in the run part too? Lastly, their food and water are currently in the run area. Should either of these be moved into the coop itself (water has a heater and the feeder is protected from the rain/snow)? Below are some pics of the coop I built. Thanks for any help you can provide.
(vent hole)
Last edited:
