Winterize coop questions

[Bostongrl]

You're welcome! No problem. This is what we did to our coop. We are by absolutely no means an expert, so hopefully someone else can chime in with what they did. Good luck!

What is the silver material that you used on the ceiling? I was thinking of insulating the ceiling, if only to protect them from the roofing nails.

 

[RootedTogetherHomestead]

What is the silver material that you used on the ceiling? I was thinking of insulating the ceiling, if only to protect them from the roofing nails.

It's a double reflective insulation radiant barrier, we got from Home Depot for about $20. It is supposed to help keep the coop warm in the winter and cooler in the summer. So far, it does seem to keep it about 10 degrees warmer in there at night.

 

[Bostongrl]

That is FAR cheaper than the insulation panels!

 

[RootedTogetherHomestead]

That is FAR cheaper than the insulation panels!

For sure! You do need to install them a particular way, with an "air gap" but it's not hard, and with a few YouTube videos, we figured it out pretty easily. We are just winging this whole thing and hoping for the best!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I've heard of people putting towels or air filters over the window. Would that stop a draft and allow ventilation?

It may be easier just to cut some holes on the side of the coop that are already in the secured run. Thank you again!!

Air filter material should let some air pass through while slowing any draft, so I'd opt for that. Simply cutting holes doesn't add nearly as much ventilation as people might think... you'd need something like 50 2" holes to equal 1 sq ft of ventilation.

 

[Bostongrl]

The only other thing I can think to do is use a small fan to draw out the air. I may use a combo of all three. LOL

 

[RootedTogetherHomestead]

Surprisingly the humidity level in our coop stays below 50%. From our research humidity/ammonia build up also depends on your set up. We have a larger coop but not many girls in there, and we clean the coop almost daily. So our ventilation works well for our set up. Last night it was raining/snowing at like 91% outside and in the coop 49%. So our ventilation works, even with it not being the "standard".. but I completely understand how folks err on having more than not enough.

 

[Bostongrl]

Surprisingly the humidity level in our coop stays below 50%. From our research humidity/ammonia build up also depends on your set up. We have a larger coop but not many girls in there, and we clean the coop almost daily. So our ventilation works well for our set up. Last night it was raining/snowing at like 91% outside and in the coop 49%. So our ventilation works, even with it not being the "standard".. but I completely understand how folks err on having more than not enough.

I bought the reflective radiant barrier yesterday and am going to add some ventilation holes tomorrow. I try to keep the coop as clean as possible but the Littles make a mess! LOL I use hemp bedding so at least it's absorbent. I'm just really worried because it's supposed to get down to right around 5 degrees here on Saturday/Sunday.

 

[2 Acres]

For our ventilation, my husband drilled several 2.5-inch holes along the top part of the walls, just the highest and lowest walls, and covered them with hard-wire cloth. This has seemed to help our humidity a lot, and we clean out their coop every day or every other day, depending on how cold it gets, and I think that also cuts out a lot of humidity. We also installed some reflective insulation on the roof (we have a metal roof), and I noticed our coop stays warmer/dryer. The coop has consistently reads 10 or so degrees above the outside temperature, and humidity varies between 40-60% depending on whether it is snowing. We also have 2 radiant heaters for extremely cold nights, just to prevent frostbite.

Two of my girls always, always, always end up nesting on the bedding floor by the end of the night, and they are our golden lace wyandottes, so I know they are NOT cold in there. I think some chickens just prefer the floor. We tried training them to stay on the roost, and they just always jump down by 3 AM. Nobody bullies them off the roost bar, they just jump down and cuddle in their corners.

I am not sure about the towels to stop a draft, and hopefully someone chimes in with suggestions.

All my birds prefer the floor now. It never used to be that way.