Winterizing

[chris10sen]

OK, so my 4 babies don't even come for another week but I have become completly obsessed with this chicken thing. Who knew? Anyway, we are getting a free chicken tractor built for us in June because my brother-in-law works for a publishing company who is doing a book on urban homsteading and I have my brooder all ready in the garage. The thing is, I live in MN and I know I need a permanent coop by October.

What I can't figure out is the whole insulating thing. I know the chickies can't handle drafts. But if we make it super insulated, what about air flow? What is the right balance of being insulated, yet allow for good air quality in the coop?

We are trying to get started on building, the summer goes so fast and I know we still might be scrambling come October.

Thanks,

Lisa

 

[turbokev]

I found this article to be very helpful~

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-VENTILATION

 

[patandchickens]

You might also take a look at my "cold coop" page, link from ventilation page or in my .sig below, which addresses the sort of questions you're raising.

Insulation does NOT in any way interfere with ventilation; you leave ventilation openings, and insulate *around* them

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[toletiquesbysam]

I'm in Nebraska and my coop is a "shed" we purchased off craigslist. It is 8 x 16 and has no insulation in it, and at some points during winter when we had "blizzard" like conditions, I did have snow blown into the coop. We have no electricity to the coop and I ran an extension cord out so I could hang a heat lamp over their waterer to keep it from freezing. I closed up the windows and only left the top vent open for ventilation purposes. My chickens survived just fine, their bodies acclimate to the cold. I use wide lumber for their roosts and kept their roosting area away from the drafts/snow that did blow in. Temperature in the coop was always 10-15 degrees warmer than outside, drafts are the biggest issue, so you want to make sure you contain that as much as possible!!

 

[chris10sen]

Thanks for the articles...my hubby has some studying to do!