There should be no wind chill factor inside your coop. Design it so there is lots of ventilation but no breezes should blow on the birds. No reason to have heat in there. Every single year that I have been a member here someone has had a coop burn down due to using a heat lamp. Even securely attached heat lamps can cause a fire due to dust in the air.
Chickens have more trouble dealing with heat than with cold. They do wear a nice down coat year round. Those little sparrows outside do fine during the winter in their down coats.
I live in NW Montana where it gets rather chilly during the winter. Temperatures in the -20s F are very normal. My chickens love it. There is no heat in the coop. There is no insulation where mice can spend the winters. There is 10 square feet of ventilation up high under the eaves that is never closed. Roosts down low away from any breezes that might sneak into the coop. A dry chicken is a warm chicken. Vent all that moisture for chickens pooping and breathing out of that coop.
Chickens have more trouble dealing with heat than with cold. They do wear a nice down coat year round. Those little sparrows outside do fine during the winter in their down coats.
I live in NW Montana where it gets rather chilly during the winter. Temperatures in the -20s F are very normal. My chickens love it. There is no heat in the coop. There is no insulation where mice can spend the winters. There is 10 square feet of ventilation up high under the eaves that is never closed. Roosts down low away from any breezes that might sneak into the coop. A dry chicken is a warm chicken. Vent all that moisture for chickens pooping and breathing out of that coop.
Last edited: