Colorado

[acdev]

Thanks for the reply. Obviously with such a small flock, we're part of the trend of backyard chicken owners who have chickens as pets. I thought we had a pretty original idea, but apparently not.

Both my wife and and I grew up in the city, so we don't have a large frame of reference when it comes to taking care of the chickens. I'd say we're overprotective of them, at least I am. We treat them like any other pet we could have, like a dog; in fact, I might be a little more relaxed with a dog because I know what to expect owning one.

This winter, the garage worked, but like you said, it's not ideal. We put up a fairly large outdoor screened canopy in the garage to keep them corralled, and they had a portable coop to sleep in. They still got out. There was a second cold snap, a shorter one, a few weeks later. That time we kept them outside in the coop and one of our hens got mild frostbite on her comb. At least we have a few more weeks to figure out a better plan!

 

[Percheron chick]

At least we have a few more weeks to figure out a better plan!

Bite your tongue!

Honestly, I don't really worry about the chickens in the cold. Mine are kept in a converted horse stall. I'll put plastic up on the sides to help keep the breeze down and block the snow from blowing in sideways but that's it. I think I have 5/20 single combs and 2 had minor freezing on the tips but not enough to notice. I won't run power to the barn because it is so old and I have a few cars stored inside. My chickens do love to sit in the window and soak up the sun on the coldest days. Frozen water is a bigger problem but I just dump the water in the evening and start fresh in the morning. I do go through about 50% more feed but they also aren't getting much out of free ranging.

On the hay front, I went to Centennial yesterday. Hay prices were up compared to last month but still got out of the for $100/ton. No straw whatsoever. Maybe nest month.

 

[COChix]

Cochix- that's great you have peace in your flock again! How much did your roos end up dressing out at? How long did it take you to process the 2 rir?

I'm so lucky my 1 rooster Lenny is so great to his ladies. He's a salmon favorelle x wellsummer x light brahma, and super mellow.

I think the rest of my pullets are about ready to start laying, but only 4 of the 9 are old enough to lay eggs.

hey DK, I weighed the birds dressed out yesterday. Rojo was 4.9 pounds and Little Red was a respective 4.5. I was shocked that Rojo didn't weigh that much more than Little Red. I got one sitting in a brine as I type this, we will be roasting it tonight. I read up on eating the liver, heart and gallbladder, of course the organ meats are high in vitamins and minerals. I soaked their feet in white wine vinegar for 20 minutes, to clean them, then rinsed and they went into a stock with a carcass we had left from dinner. That will be put into containers and frozen for the winter. I am still pulling off tomatoes daily....

Glad Lenny is sweet, having a good rooster makes all the difference. Sounds like you are swamped as well. I agree that the chickens are better than therapy. If I get upset or frustrated a lot of times I will take a chicken break. Meaning I go out and visit the gang, they always make me feel better!

My wife and I live in Littleton proper, not far from downtown Littleton. We've been keeping a small flock in our backyard for just a year.

I'm glad I finally looked for a thread for Colorado. There are a lot of questions I could've posted in the past year, especially winter, like what do you all do when the temperature drops to fifteen below? (We were so scared they would get frostbite, we put them in the garage.)

welcome to the Colorado thread, in general BYC has a lot of great info. So I have been reading about preparing the coop and flock for winter. I read for those breeds that are susceptible to frost bite you can put Vaseline on their combs to help protect them. We have all cold hardy breeds so they should winter ok. I have read and will be following the advice to not add more insulation to the coop as it can increase the perspiration that the flock releases thus making the coop more damp. A damp coop is a problem and can lead to respiratory issues. Of course wether to add a light/heat is a hot topic on here, I think unless we have a long cold streak we will not be adding additional light and heat. We are trying to raise our flock naturally, so if they decrease in egg production in the winter, that is ok and natural due the decreased hours of sunlight. Anyway, glad you are utilizing this site, lots of very experienced chicken folks on here.

What breeds do you have?

No!!!!! Don't say that! I want a very mild winter! Our road is horrible when it's wet and I can't imagine what it will be like with snow on it. 

That cold snap was TOUGH! My girls all made it fine with just a halogen work lamp shining on the outside of the coop. But I don't think it really did much for them, I think they just toughed it out. 
The new coop came with a heat lamp but I don't like using those. If the coop gets below freezing multiple nights I might turn it on though. 

Are you in a rural area? I was just curious based on the fact you have chickens and horses.

Also I made home made Chili Rellenos using fresh roasted peppers from our garden, all I can say is we feel completely spoiled being able to eat so fresh. We have 22 pepper plants all of different varieties, we have Poblanos, Chimayo, New Mexican #6 (or hatch chilli's, Bulgarian Carrot, bell peppers, hot thai and I can remember what else. I will be roasting some, dehydrating some for making enchiladas, making sauces and whatever else I can think of. Glad we put in a garden, thinking of how to make it better for next year!

 

[COChix]

Anybody here experienced a false egg song? I was just out in the garden and herd a girl that I thought was being hurt. So I ran over to see and it was a BR hen standing outside the nest boxes clucking away, unlike anything I have ever heard. I did out fake eggs in all the nest boxes now that the rooster drama has settled down. I am hoping that means eggs will start flowing soon!

 

[trsturself]

Bite your tongue!

Honestly, I don't really worry about the chickens in the cold. Mine are kept in a converted horse stall. I'll put plastic up on the sides to help keep the breeze down and block the snow from blowing in sideways but that's it. I think I have 5/20 single combs and 2 had minor freezing on the tips but not enough to notice. I won't run power to the barn because it is so old and I have a few cars stored inside. My chickens do love to sit in the window and soak up the sun on the coldest days. Frozen water is a bigger problem but I just dump the water in the evening and start fresh in the morning. I do go through about 50% more feed but they also aren't getting much out of free ranging.

On the hay front, I went to Centennial yesterday. Hay prices were up compared to last month but still got out of the for $100/ton. No straw whatsoever. Maybe nest month.

Wow. That's a great price on the hay. When I get a truck eventually it will be worth the drive. The cheapest I could find it was $250/ton with delivery. I don't have the capability for round bales so that limited me to 4x4x8s

hey DK, I weighed the birds dressed out yesterday. Rojo was 4.9 pounds and Little Red was a respective 4.5. I was shocked that Rojo didn't weigh that much more than Little Red. I got one sitting in a brine as I type this, we will be roasting it tonight. I read up on eating the liver, heart and gallbladder, of course the organ meats are high in vitamins and minerals. I soaked their feet in white wine vinegar for 20 minutes, to clean them, then rinsed and they went into a stock with a carcass we had left from dinner. That will be put into containers and frozen for the winter. I am still pulling off tomatoes daily....

Glad Lenny is sweet, having a good rooster makes all the difference. Sounds like you are swamped as well. I agree that the chickens are better than therapy. If I get upset or frustrated a lot of times I will take a chicken break. Meaning I go out and visit the gang, they always make me feel better!


welcome to the Colorado thread, in general BYC has a lot of great info. So I have been reading about preparing the coop and flock for winter. I read for those breeds that are susceptible to frost bite you can put Vaseline on their combs to help protect them. We have all cold hardy breeds so they should winter ok. I have read and will be following the advice to not add more insulation to the coop as it can increase the perspiration that the flock releases thus making the coop more damp. A damp coop is a problem and can lead to respiratory issues. Of course wether to add a light/heat is a hot topic on here, I think unless we have a long cold streak we will not be adding additional light and heat. We are trying to raise our flock naturally, so if they decrease in egg production in the winter, that is ok and natural due the decreased hours of sunlight. Anyway, glad you are utilizing this site, lots of very experienced chicken folks on here.

What breeds do you have?


Are you in a rural area? I was just curious based on the fact you have chickens and horses.

Also I made home made Chili Rellenos using fresh roasted peppers from our garden, all I can say is we feel completely spoiled being able to eat so fresh. We have 22 pepper plants all of different varieties, we have Poblanos, Chimayo, New Mexican #6 (or hatch chilli's, Bulgarian Carrot, bell peppers, hot thai and I can remember what else. I will be roasting some, dehydrating some for making enchiladas, making sauces and whatever else I can think of. Glad we put in a garden, thinking of how to make it better for next year!

Yes, we are rural. We have 5 acres. We also have 2 goats, 3 dogs, a cat, and a rabbit.
A hawk flew over real low today checking the yard out and the chickens were nowhere to be seen until it had moved on. A rooster then called everyone out of hiding and they were all over the place again. Luckily they weren't free ranging, just in their covered run, so there was no danger, but it was nice to see them behave appropriately!

 

[suncatcher]

Quote: Oh, I hope we have more than a few weeks!!!! lol I am in the process of insulating our coop, it does help some........ Change in the wind for sure though!

Big R has some nice straw as does Barlets, I bought a bale from Divide Feed last week that was totally unusable, full of mold, will not be going back there for straw.

 

[Percheron chick]

Wow. That's a great price on the hay. When I get a truck eventually it will be worth the drive. The cheapest I could find it was $250/ton with delivery. I don't have the capability for round bales so that limited me to 4x4x8s

I just want people to know that there are other options out there for reasonable hay. That guy in Franktown drove me batty with his poor quality high priced hay that people were still buying because they didn't know better the past few years. I don't have a problem with people making a living but...

Rounds are a PIA and my last resort for hay. At one time that was the cheapest way to go but anymore you have to be able to do the math and calculate it by the ton. 3x3 (typically 650-800#) are the handiest and fairly easy to deal with even without a tractor. If you don't need your trailer, you just leave the hay on the trailer and feed off of it.

There are 2 other hay auctions in the metro area every month. Pancost is the 1st Sat at HWY 85 and 126th and Producers is the 2nd Sat HWY 85 NE side of Greeley.

 

[Double Kindness]

Cochix- 1 if my girls is crazy loud and egg songed for 2 weeks before laying anything. My others are far more quiet, but I noticed Gertrude getting a comb on her and she egg songed today and laid her first egg too! Today was a 4 egg day! I can't wait for all 9 to be laying.

Any ayam cemani x orpington chicks I have that are girls might move to my layer flock. Seems like the svart honas eggs didn't make it thru the candeling. Bummer.

So idk wtd about that situation yet. I'm very bummed. I guess put the $ towards my bresse order.

I made a gluten-free angel food cake again today and a loaf of gluten-free parmigiano garlic loaf bread and a peasant loaf of gluten-free garlic confit bread with reggiano cheese rising waiting for my dutch oven to preheat. Yeah, I am baking today, but stuff doesn't seem to be rising as well as usual today??

 

[suncatcher]

Smart chickens to run and hide at the sign of a hawk!!!

Sorry your chicks did now work out, it all happens for a reason, you just have to go with it! Breads sound YUMMY!

Wind is from the south today, and blowing hard!!

Wow, that is a great price on hay, is that horse hay??? Wish we had a trailer, would be able to travel and pick up enough to make the trip worthwhile.

 

[trsturself]

I wish I had a trailer too. We are stuck for now with stuff we can get delivered. Even the stuff you pick up out here the cheapest I could find was $235/ton. I had a whole spreadsheet going to figure out tonage prices. lol

Thought I'd share a few pics from today of our chickens from fellow CO BYCers.

This is our head roo, Carter. He's a BCM/Barnevelder mix from Suncatcher's eggs. Except for the leakage on his chest he looks like a great BCM. He is a gentleman, I love this rooster.



Our silkies from Pozees eggs


Bantam cochin from Suncatcher's eggs


Dinner, another roo mix from Suncather's eggs. He has neat lacing on the front (can't see in this pic) but he's got wry tail and he's the mean one, to people and chickens.


CCL from Ashdoes. She is very skittish. This is the first time I've been able to get a good pic of her. I didn't get one of the roo, he wouldn't come near me today. He's usually pretty inquisitive and follows me around though.