Winterizing our coop

[MaritimeFlock]

This will be my second winter with our chickens, but the first with our silkies. They were Decmber & January hatches, so they grew up in the house. I am afraid of them getting too cold this winter.
is there anything more I can do to keep my flock warm?

We are located in the northern maritimes (canada). Usually our winter temps are -25 to -32C with the wind chill. Our coop is a large shed (8x10ft), with insulated walls. There are two wall vents for air flow. They are situated across from each other, on the upper apart of the walls. I keep 2-3 big bags of shavings on the floor. There in a “bench“ that the silkies get up on at night time to get off the floor.

Last year when I went out often I could see my breath while visiting in the coop. Does this mean we aren’t keeping it warm enough?

 

[linguini]

How many chickens? If you have enough ventilation for the chickens, and make sure there is no draft, chickens should be fine in the shed!

 

[MaritimeFlock]

How many chickens? If you have enough ventilation for the chickens, and make sure there is no draft, chickens should be fine in the shed!

We have 10.

 

[Callender Girl]

First of all, I don't have any experience with silkies. But, here in North Central Iowa, there is almost endless wind and plenty of days with wind chills in the single digits; It's not unheard of to have double-digit below zero wind chill.

I was initially concerned about getting a Red Frizzle Cochin Bantam because I had read that the Frizzles, with their unusual feather configuration, didn't do well in severely cold weather. Her previous owner assured me that was not the case, and little Gabby has now made it through three winters just fine.

And, your set-up sounds much better than the small coop Gabby shares with her non-frizzle sister.

I agree with @linguini. As long as there is ventilation and no draft, I would think your birds will be fine. But it is hard not to worry when the weather is so extreme.

 

[AGeese]

This will be my second winter with our chickens, but the first with our silkies. They were Decmber & January hatches, so they grew up in the house. I am afraid of them getting too cold this winter.
is there anything more I can do to keep my flock warm?

We are located in the northern maritimes (canada). Usually our winter temps are -25 to -32C with the wind chill. Our coop is a large shed (8x10ft), with insulated walls. There are two wall vents for air flow. They are situated across from each other, on the upper apart of the walls. I keep 2-3 big bags of shavings on the floor. There in a “bench“ that the silkies get up on at night time to get off the floor.

Last year when I went out often I could see my breath while visiting in the coop. Does this mean we aren’t keeping it warm enough?

The wind chill sounds about right. I hate it and not looking forward to it even if it's brief. I agree with everyone they should be fine in that set up unless the vents are too small to replace the air and release humidity (however many birds are producing it).

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Here are 10 chicks that hatched sometime the first week of November eating and drinking at 7 am. Snow is dusting down, winds are picking up and it's -4 C without wind chill.

...and that's all I have to say about that.

 

[3KillerBs]

...and that's all I have to say about that.

I had 5 1/2-week-old chicks off heat in 23F this past week.

It's going down to 20F tonight and I'm much more worried about the lost hunting dog that can't be picked up by Animal Control until Monday than I am about the 6-week-old chicks.