Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[GranolaGirl72]

Hello all,
I found BYC quite a while ago, but the kids and I are finally in negotiations with my husband to get chickens this spring, possibly this week at Marathon Town and Country. Won't need to worry about a coop for a little bit, but given the weather here this week we are starting to think ahead about its construction. Do you any of you insulate your coops, are lamps encouraged at all knowing fire risk, how excited are you really to walk every morning through 3 foot drifts in the middle of winter out to the coop? Super excited about this whole project, had Rhode Island Reds when I was a little girl.
Sonja

 

[chickendreams24]

Hello all,
I found BYC quite a while ago, but the kids and I are finally in negotiations with my husband to get chickens this spring.  Won't need to worry about a coop for a little bit, but given the weather here this week we are starting to think ahead about its construction.  Do you any of you insulate your coops, are lamps encouraged at all knowing fire risk, how excited are you really to walk every morning through 3 foot drifts in the middle of winter out to the coop?  Super excited about this whole project, had Rhode Island Reds when I was a little girl.
Sonja

Hi what are you planning on getting?

Some people insulate some don't. Also some people use heat lamps some don't. There is a member from the Easter hatch-a-long that was using a lamp for 16 three week old chicks that had just been moved to the coop. Their coop burned to nothing killing the chicks that couldn't escape. The only reason their adult birds lived is because the door to the run hadn't gotten closed that night. Sorry I don't mean to scare you. We do have the ability to have a heater or lamp on out there. However we only plug it in if we're out there and only if it's below zero.

 

[RooBeeC]

Hello all,
I found BYC quite a while ago, but the kids and I are finally in negotiations with my husband to get chickens this spring. Won't need to worry about a coop for a little bit, but given the weather here this week we are starting to think ahead about its construction. Do you any of you insulate your coops, are lamps encouraged at all knowing fire risk, how excited are you really to walk every morning through 3 foot drifts in the middle of winter out to the coop? Super excited about this whole project, had Rhode Island Reds when I was a little girl.
Sonja

Hi! I'm new at this too so I'll be watching out for the replies to this as well! I didn't insulate my coop but I have my coop inside a shed, so there are two layers of wood protecting the chickens from drafts. The shed also has windows, for airflow. I'm not sure how I'm going to winterize my coop yet, but I don't really like the thought of the heat lamp in there, with all the dust and shavings. I may look into alternative types of heating for the really cold days. Reading on here it seems like chickens adapt well to the cold if you get the right breeds. How many are you planning on getting?

 

[GranolaGirl72]

I just edited my post to include that we are looking to get the chicks from Marathon Town and Country. I believe they have six or seven varieties coming in on Thursday. My stepsister in Eau Claire has speckled sussex, barred rock and golden comets. She said that if they had it to do again, they would get all comets as the sussex have been rather lazy layers. I love the look of the barred rock, but all the kids have requested ameraucanas for sure. Any other suggestions? Originally we were planning to only get 3 or 4 but it seems chicken math is a real thing even before you buy them. Soooo maybe 6 at this point....

 

[jvls1942]

GG72 It sounds like you are real close to me.
I live just 8 miles from F&F , and the Marathon Feed Store.

Golden Comets, Red Stars, and several other names of the same type of chicken are Hybrids. Lay like crazy for about 2 years and then they are worn out and usually die. Just real good egg making machines.

Rhode Island Reds are good chickens for this area.

Americauna and the EE colored egg layers are kind of seasonal layers.

I for one, am dead set against heat lamps. also for other reasons than the fire hazard.. they are expensive and burn out in a short time..
I use small milk house heaters, (ceramic heaters) they have a fan and a thermostat.. cost less than $20.oo and last for years..

I have one insulated coop and one not.

You are welcome to come check them out for ideas.
(don't look at the mess, please).

I just came in from the shop. no heat and my hands are so cold I can hardly type.

I did get the base of the feeder all done. all I have to make are the 2 end pieces. then after 24 hours for the glue to dry, I can finish assembling the rest of it.

..........jiminwisc........

.

 

[birds4kids]

If you have adequate ventilation then insulation is a waste of time and money. I would save the idea of heat for fragile or large comb breeds and then a heat lamp would be the last source I would look at preferring a soft infrared heat that will warm objects not the air you are ventilating and without the fire risk of lamps.

If long term I get the more exotic birds I want and am keeping roosters I would get a Sweeter Heater, made in WI and a soft infrared heat. Not cheap though.

I have some meat birds under a Preimer brooder panel and I will never use a heat lamp even for chicks ever again.

 

[RooBeeC]

GG72 It sounds like you are real close to me.
I live just 8 miles from F&F , and the Marathon Feed Store.

Golden Comets, Red Stars, and several other names of the same type of chicken are Hybrids. Lay like crazy for about 2 years and then they are worn out and usually die. Just real good egg making machines.

Rhode Island Reds are good chickens for this area.

Americauna and the EE colored egg layers are kind of seasonal layers.

I for one, am dead set against heat lamps. also for other reasons than the fire hazard.. they are expensive and burn out in a short time..
I use small milk house heaters, (ceramic heaters) they have a fan and a thermostat.. cost less than $20.oo and last for years..

I have one insulated coop and one not.

You are welcome to come check them out for ideas.
(don't look at the mess, please).

I just came in from the shop. no heat and my hands are so cold I can hardly type.

I did get the base of the feeder all done. all I have to make are the 2 end pieces. then after 24 hours for the glue to dry, I can finish assembling the rest of it.

..........jiminwisc........

.

Where do you get the small milk house heaters?

 

[wyoDreamer]

My coop is a concrete room that connects the barn to the silo. It has a concrete floor, concrete walls and a concrete ceiling. One wall is a shared wall with the barn, one is an exterior wall with a window and the other 2 are "underground" - they back up to the dirt ramp from the hayloft. Not my first choice for location, but it is what I have to work with. I do not heat the space, but I do supplement light and have a heated waterer.
This was my first winter with chickens, I figured I would have a problem with humidity in the coop - yep, we got some frost-bite on a couple of combs. I found out partway through the winter that my metal waterer had pinholes and was leaking, so the bedding was staying damp. I bought a new waterer and it will be better next winter. It stays cool in there during the summer though.

Last June, I bought chicks from the local feed store that gets them delivered from Sunny-side. I brooded them with a heating pad and had all 16 thrive. 3 black pullets, 3 brown pullets and 9 Sagitta straight-run. I also got 1 mystery chick. I ended up with 12 hens and 4 roosters in the freezer. The Sagitta make a nice meat bird and I have been getting 10 to 12 eggs a day for the last month. The blacks can be a little mean, the browns are pretty sweet but are a really light bodied bird.

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
I get them from either Fleet & Farm or Menard's ..
they are about 6 inches wide and deep and about 10 inches tall..

I sometimes plug them into a thermalcube .. It will turn them on when it gets down to about 35F and off again at about 45F . I get the thermalcubes from Menard's or Amazon..

 

[Cindlady]

Hi All!

Nothing New today.

Night All.