Instructions on how to insulate a chicken coop for the winter with your own hands

With the arrival of winter cold, the egg production of chickens decreases. This is due to a decrease in daylight hours and a drop in temperature. By carrying out simple work on insulating the chicken coop, you can support the laying hens, create comfortable conditions for them, and thereby provide seven eggs even in the cold season. Let's consider what conditions chickens need for wintering and how to properly insulate a chicken coop.

Are chickens afraid of frost?

In winter, prices for eggs in stores are steadily rising, since in order to maintain egg production it is necessary to spend money on lighting and maintaining heat in chicken coops. Although chickens are unpretentious and can withstand a significant drop in temperature, they do not want to lay eggs in such conditions.

Features of the life of chickens at different temperatures:

1. Chickens can live comfortably at a room temperature of at least 15°.
2. It is permissible to release chickens for walks at temperatures down to -10 ° for no more than 1-2 hours.
3. Chickens lay eggs without reducing productivity at 23-25°. If the temperature is lower, the number of eggs decreases. Below 15° the egg production of chickens drops noticeably. Chickens do not lay eggs below 5°.

The costs of obtaining eggs in winter increase significantly; many consider keeping laying hens in the winter to be unprofitable. In order to have domestic eggs in cold weather, the chicken coop will have to be insulated for the winter.

Important: when preparing the chicken coop for winter, you will need to insulate, disinfect the room, provide lighting and ventilation.

How to insulate the floor?

Cold air sinks down, so insulating the floor in the chicken coop is the most important task. A thick layer of heat-insulating material will ensure a comfortable stay for chickens indoors. The cheapest and most effective way to make the floor warm is natural bedding. You should not spare the material - a thin layer will not cope with the task.

The layer should be 10-15 centimeters. The chickens will be happy, since they love to dig with their paws in the husks and soil.

moss peat

Swamp moss peat perfectly absorbs moisture and droppings. The chickens' feet remain dry and healthy, and fungal diseases and dermatitis develop less frequently. Peat absorbs the smell characteristic of chicken coops.

The use of peat protects against general unsanitary conditions indoors. After replacing the litter, the peat is saved; it will also become an excellent fertilizer for the beds.

Straw

Straw serves as an excellent thermal insulator for the floor. For chicken coops, it is combined with hay, which makes the layer soft and fragrant. Useful herbs will additionally protect chickens from infections. It is important to find clean, fresh straw and dry grass, without signs of rotting or high humidity.

It is recommended to lay a layer of 15-20 centimeters, regularly turn the litter, and add fresh straw when caking and chopping.

Wood shavings and sawdust

A pleasant material for chicken feet is wood shavings. They have a lot of useful properties:

• absorb moisture;
• scent the room;
• Coniferous tree shavings release essential oils - they disinfect chicken coops and protect laying hens from diseases.

The shavings are combined with sawdust in a ratio of 3 to 1. The litter in the chicken coop is regularly turned, and when caking, a new layer is added.

We insulate the walls

If the owners dream of receiving eggs all winter, they need to insulate the walls. Most chicken coops are built of wood; the thickness of the walls is usually determined by the climate of the region. Log and plank walls need insulation. The building is thermally insulated from the outside and inside using different types of materials.

The most effective way to retain heat in a chicken coop is to construct a sheathing of timber and lay insulating material inside. In modern conditions, these are usually synthetic fillers - mineral wool, polystyrene foam. You can use natural ones - straw, sawdust.

Hay and sawdust

Before laying in the walls, natural materials are thoroughly dried and mixed with slaked lime in the proportion of 1 part calcium hydroxide to 25 parts insulator.

A layer of vapor barrier is laid on the walls inside the chicken coop, and the seams are fastened. Then the boards are laid tightly butted on top. Between the boards and the vapor barrier, the main material is poured - hay, sawdust, straw, dry leaves, pine needles. Pack tightly.

Minvata

To fasten the mineral wool, install a lathing with a distance between the bars less than the width of the material by 1-2 centimeters. A vapor barrier is placed on the wall, mineral wool sheets are laid tightly end-to-end, and secured to the wall. Another layer of vapor barrier is covered with mineral wool on top; it will retain the moisture coming from the chicken coop.

Styrofoam

An excellent lightweight material with a fine-mesh structure that retains heat due to air bubbles inside the polymer. Available in sheets of convenient size. They are attached to the wall of the chicken coop with plastic “mushrooms” with wide caps that do not destroy the plastic material. For each sheet use 2 “mushrooms”.

A vapor barrier is laid on both sides of the foam; the sheets do not need to be connected to each other.

Polyurethane foam

Lightweight insulating material based on polyurethanes. It has low vapor permeability and high waterproofing properties. Available in the form of slabs, construction foam, which hardens quickly.

To insulate the chicken coop, you can use any option - the slabs are attached to the walls, and the gap between the wall and the board sheathing is filled with polyurethane foam.

Help: any type of finishing material is placed on top of the insulation and sheathing - non-corrugated slate, plasterboard, lining. The finish helps protect the insulation from chickens who like to peck at everything.

How to insulate windows and doors with your own hands?

Heat leaks out of the coop due to drafts and through poorly fitted doors and windows.In order not to freeze chickens, before the cold weather, work is carried out to seal cracks and restore the integrity of door and window frames.

During construction, a double frame is provided for the window. It is better to make the opening itself on the south or east side to increase the flow of light. When cold weather sets in, a sheet of dense polyethylene is attached to the frame, filling the cracks with foam rubber or felt.

The door frame is insulated around the perimeter with a tape of felt or thick fabric, and the threshold is raised so that it does not blow across the floor. The door is covered on both sides with insulation - an old carpet, rug, felt.

The main thing is not to overload the door so that it doesn’t move in the frame.

Insulation of ceiling and roof

To prevent the rising warm air from leaking through the ceiling and roof of the chicken coop, they are carefully sealed using hydro- and vapor barrier. Thermal insulation materials with a thickness of 5-15 centimeters are used.

Sequence of work for the roof:

1. Waterproofing is laid under the roofing material. It is attached to the beams with a construction stapler, and the joints are connected with tape.
2. Lay insulation (mineral wool, foam plastic) so that the sheets do not fall out, stretch rope or twine between the rafters.
3. Cover with vapor barrier fabric, sealing the joints with tape.
4. Decorative finishing – plasterboard, plywood – is laid on top of the insulating protection.

The same materials are used to insulate the ceiling. To prevent the insulation from getting wet, place a vapor barrier film. If the attic is not used, you can use cheap bulk materials for insulation - sawdust, shavings. Most often, mineral wool or polystyrene foam is used. The cracks are sealed with crumbs and polyurethane glue.

A ventilation gap is left on top of the thermal insulation and boards and sheets of plywood are laid on which you can walk or lay chicken feed, inventory.

Heating systems

Even in an insulated chicken coop, chickens will not be able to maintain the temperature necessary for egg production with their heat. In most regions, laying hens will delight you with an abundance of eggs only in heated rooms.

If the chicken coop is located near the house where the family permanently lives, the most cost-effective and safest option is to connect it to the home heating system. It is advisable to build a chicken coop near the house so as not to pull and insulate water pipes.

Let's consider which heating systems are advisable to use in chicken coops, and how experienced amateur poultry farmers heat their laying hens.

Potbelly stove or brick oven

The simplest and most affordable option is a brick oven or potbelly stove. Heating requires a boiler or stove and a chimney. Advantages:

• easy installation;
• simple inexpensive fuel;
• easy care.

The significant disadvantages of this type of heating are almost open fire and, as a result, low fire safety. An accidental spark can quickly cause the chicken coop litter to burst into flames. In addition, fuel has to be constantly added, which is only possible for those who are at home most of the time and can monitor the chickens.

Diesel stove

Diesel stoves for chicken coops are safer and have a temperature regulator, which allows you to maintain the heat at the desired level. They are smokeless and do not poison the air with an unpleasant odor.

When choosing a diesel stove, a power calculation is required to ensure the chicken coop is properly heated. It is necessary to constantly have a supply of fuel. For many, the price of diesel fuel is too high to operate diesel stoves.

Installing and purchasing a stove for heating chickens also requires significant costs.

Radiator

Radiators are a safe and convenient way to heat a chicken coop. Electric radiators do not require the constant presence of the owners; they supply a constant flow of heat, its intensity can be set with a regulator.

If necessary, an additional device for heating chickens is installed; the radiators are mobile, they can be moved to the desired location.

The obvious disadvantage is high electricity bills, which many cannot afford. When installing radiators, it is necessary to take all the wires into special boxes and install reliable electrical sockets so that curious chickens do not damage the equipment and do not get hurt themselves.

Infrared lamps

When using electrical appliances to heat your coop, the easiest way to reduce costs is with infrared lamps. These devices do not heat the air, but directly the objects at which they are directed. Advantages of infrared lamps:

• ease of installation;
• complete security;
• low energy consumption;
• have a positive effect on the health of chickens, protect against infections;
• a large selection of types - stationary and mobile, panel, film.

Using lamps it is convenient to heat individual places, directing them, for example, only at the chickens. Among the disadvantages, experienced poultry farmers note the high price, the need to have a constant supply, since lamps often fail.

Many people get chickens for the summer, but, having gotten used to tasty eggs from their laying hens, they decide to keep the birds in the winter. Insulating the chicken coop helps ensure that chickens have a comfortable and safe existence during the cold season, and that the owners can eat healthy and tasty eggs all year round.