We live in Wilson Wyoming often referred to as jackson hole and have a small farm, 5 acres, and we raise a variety of livestock. I have had chickens for years and have a mixed flock of RI reds, wyandottes,an orphington and 4 Sagittas. We recd 26 Buckeye chicks via the PO in Wilson from Cackle Hatechery in Lebanon MO and despite the 3 day trip only one died but a lot of them looked stressed and cold but I put them in the sauna heated to about 100 deg and gave them our incomparable well water and all are well this morning. I am trying to find out if there are any other folks who are raising buckeyes in our area which is NW Wy and SE ID. I might want to swap out cockerels to cut down on incest related issues. We have a bitterly cold climate with nights into the minus 30s in a normal winter and -40's in a cold winter. Our coldest night was in 1978 when it hit -67. During that snap I lost all my guineas but the chickens and the peacocks made it huddled under a light. We normally don't put any heat in the coop unless it is colder than -20. The combs may get frostbite and the eggs freeze quickly but the girls who are tough have made it. The ones that can't don't of course. We let them free range even in the winter with the deep snow. They hate walking on snow but we let them on the roads and they find things to do even in the winter like chasing mice and sunbathing. Predators are a real problem and my coop is surrounded by heavy 1.5" panels with welded mesh to 6'. We have had bears wolves and of course coyotes and foxes and racoons visit but so far, so good. Predators from the air like eagles hawks and owls have swiped our ducks geese and chickens but our chickens are now pretty wily and watch the skies and I only let them out when we are out. Our lab cross watches out for the chickens and chases away nasties.We had a terrible mouse population explosion with our mild winter so I am hoping that the buckeyes will help out. I will post a few pics when I can. We have a renter who wants to raise some of our buckeyes so I hope they are a good breed. Has anyone heard of any buckeye bantams? I had good luck with bantams in our early days when we had no good coop and they roosted in the trees which kept them out of the clutches of the coyotes and foxes.
Happy Chick Day
