Does ANYBODY out there insulate their duck house?

[jclu16]

With straw but we are in Tennessee so the temps are up and down .

 

[thomasboyle]

I live in CT and am building a 4' x 6' duck house now, and am using 2"x2" construction with 1/2" plywood on the exterior, and 1/4" plywood on the interior. In between is 2" pink insulation sheets I had left over from another project. My chicken coop is much bigger, 12' x 16' and has 2"x4" construction with pink fiberglass insulation. I know they probably don't need it, but I sleep much better knowing I have done as much as I can to keep them warm in the winter. My insulated chicken coop typically stays 10-15 degrees warmer than the outside air in the winter. So my vote is to insulate, remembering to allow for plenty of ventilation. I have working windows in the coop, and they are always 2" open, even on the coldest nights. The birds all stay nice and warm.

 

[Caitlin2013]

I live and Maine and we get some cold winters. I insulate both my chicken and duck coops because I want all of my birds to be nice and toasty during the winters.

I do many things to help insulate my coops in the winter. When my dad and I built it, we put insulation in the walls and on the floor. I don't remember what kind we used though, I'm not really good with stuff like that anyways. That helps keep the coop nice in warm to begin with but I go the extra mile to make my coop even warmer. My duck coop is pretty big, I have lots of space so I use it for storage for my basic bird supplies. I keep roughly 20+ bags of sawdust in there which seems to help keep the heat in really good. I also stock up on hay bales right before the snow hits which not only helps keep the coop warm but it is also the primary bedding I use for my birds in the winter. They love to snuggle in it which they are unable to do with the sawdust. I also put plastic on the windows and stick a heat lamp in their. My coops average temperature remains around 70 degrees which makes me and my birds happy

 

[Haunted55]

I live and Maine and we get some cold winters. I insulate both my chicken and duck coops because I want all of my birds to be nice and toasty during the winters.

I do many things to help insulate my coops in the winter. When my dad and I built it, we put insulation in the walls and on the floor. I don't remember what kind we used though, I'm not really good with stuff like that anyways. That helps keep the coop nice in warm to begin with but I go the extra mile to make my coop even warmer. My duck coop is pretty big, I have lots of space so I use it for storage for my basic bird supplies. I keep roughly 20+ bags of sawdust in there which seems to help keep the heat in really good. I also stock up on hay bales right before the snow hits which not only helps keep the coop warm but it is also the primary bedding I use for my birds in the winter. They love to snuggle in it which they are unable to do with the sawdust. I also put plastic on the windows and stick a heat lamp in their. My coops average temperature remains around 70 degrees which makes me and my birds happy

I agree with you about the insulation. We never know up here what we are going to have to deal with! I will caution you about the 70 degrees though. Not a good idea, been there, done that my first year with chickens. this past year I kept their windows open all the time until it was staying down in the 20's. The windows faced the South so no drafts coming in, but they were being conditioned for the colder weather. When I did 'close' the coop for the winter, I too wrapped with plastic and the West and N East windows as well. Two windows on the South were kept usable and everday when I went in to care for them, I opened them as well as the door, N.E. side, to air the whole building out. I found the lower the overall temps were in the coop, the less moisture there was. Moisture is your enemy up here in the Winter. It can make your birds more suseptible to respiratory problems that you don't want. Now I am not saying you should keep your coop at just above 32 degrees. I think between 38 - 50 degrees is perfect for them. Ducks, chickens or any birds seem to thrive with these temps in my experience. Even my special needs Peafowl, who were housed in the same building as my Heritage Turkeys, did not have a heat lamp, but did have a heated roost and I would run a propane heater out there morning and evening. There was one morning after a night of minus 30 degrees and screaming winds when their house was 16 degrees when I checked the thermometer. It couldn't have been for very long as there was just barely a skim of ice on water dishes in that building. Running the heater for the 45 minutes I needed to care for them got their building up to 50 degrees and held it for most of the day, even though the day time highs didn't get out of the minus numbers. I think there is a lot to be said for total insulation of bird housing if you live in areas where you face temperature extremes. You just have to be careful of the moisture build up or you will have problems.

 

[ducky4]

i live in northern MI and mine duck house is insulated! It gets rely cold in the winter!! i thought it would be best!!

 

[bornfree]

I can't find anyone who insulates their duck house (mine will be for Muscovy only). I live in lower Michigan and get very cold winters. If it is recommended to insulate your chicken coop, then why not the duck house? Believe me, I 'd rather not (more work & $) but want to do what is necessary, but hate to do it if it's totally unnecessary. Please tell me your opinion

 

[Amiga]

The duck shelter is in the walkout basement - not heated, but well insulated. The original duckhouse is double-walled, insulated with perlite and vermiculite.

 

[DuckMom2022]

I can't find anyone who insulates their duck house (mine will be for Muscovy only). I live in lower Michigan and get very cold winters. If it is recommended to insulate your chicken coop, then why not the duck house? Believe me, I 'd rather not (more work & $) but want to do what is necessary, but hate to do it if it's totally unnecessary. Please tell me your opinion

This is our first Michigan winter with ducks. We have 2. The house is made just from plywood. For winter, we have some of that 2inch thick styrofoam board for house walls and roofs. That is on 3 walls. The 3rd wall is insulated with a straw bale. You will need to cover the styrofoam, as the little snots like to peck at it. A flaw we found the hard way. lol. But we intend to put a very thin piece of plywood over the interior so they can't peck at it. So far, we find as long as they have wind block, they are doing well.

 

[Huntmaster]

Old thread that person has not been on BYC since 2018

 

[Miss Lydia]

@New duck mommy 2021 has insulated her duck house I'm pretty sure.