Think it's too cold for your chickens? Think again...

[ChickieBooBoo]

Quote:
Not necessarily, wild jungle fowl live in hot climates, not cold climates like Canada and the northern US. Some breeds will not do well in the cold, no matter what coop you have. I would never keep my Sebrights in an unheated coop during the winter, they wouldn't last until spring. If you plan on keeping birds through the winter its always a good idea to get birds more suited to your climate.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

That's a good point. You just don't see the sustainable feral chicken populations in colder areas that you do in the warmer areas of the US. It's the same with parrots, although the quakers are a little more hardy than all the others.

I usually try to choose cold hardy breeds and smaller combs. I don't heat the coop, but I do provide some draft free zones in the coop.

 

[laseterlass]

My hens are set with a timed light now. I used a florescent shop light. I set it from 4 am to 6 pm. I read somewhere to utilize your morning hours as to avoid evening egg laying. Shortly here in Anchorage we will be down to 4 hours of light from noon to 4 pm.

I also understand that the shortened days sends them into a molt and with freezing started already I do not want that. Is there anything else to be done to help avoid a serious molt at this time of year?

 

[toofarout]

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Funny you should say that ChickenCanoe! I have 6 Chanteclers and the 4 others are Buff Orpingtons. I will be now be checking out the Jaerhons and Swedish Flower Hens. Thanks!

 

[vmdanielsen]

Buckeyes also do well in the cold!

 

[Wolfwoman]

Quote:
Funny you should say that ChickenCanoe! I have 6 Chanteclers and the 4 others are Buff Orpingtons. I will be now be checking out the Jaerhons and Swedish Flower Hens. Thanks!

I have Norwegian Jaerhons and I love them. Going to start hatching in January I think!

 

[toofarout]

Quote:
Funny you should say that ChickenCanoe! I have 6 Chanteclers and the 4 others are Buff Orpingtons. I will be now be checking out the Jaerhons and Swedish Flower Hens. Thanks!

I have Norwegian Jaerhons and I love them. Going to start hatching in January I think!

How do their combs fair in the winter? It looks as if the roos have quite large single combs.

 

[frostbite]

The exotic and rare breeds are beautiful, but expensive and/or difficult to obtain up here in Alaska. Most hatcheries don't ship here, or don't ship except in quantities, or don't ship these particular breeds.

So unless we're in it for breeding and showing, and have a bunch of money to invest, most of us who want a small flock of laying hens will have to settle for what's readily available.

 

[Mrs MIA]

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You can go in on an order with other people to meet the minimum orders on most hatcheries. The only one that doesn't ship regular chicks up here now is Welp, that I know of. They'll ship Cornish Cross, but not other chicks. But Ideal ships, MMH, and many others.

I'm in it for breeding, but do not have a lot of money. I've shipped in eggs to hatch for the breeds I wanted. Sometimes it's a bust, but usually I get enough chicks to get started. It's not really that hard.

 

[chicknmania]

It is amazing how much body heat the birds generate. When I walk into the closed barn on a cold winters day, most days I'm saying "oooh! It's warm in here!" We don't provide any heat for ours either, except maybe a milkhouse heater during the day when we can keep an eye on it, and then only if temps are well below zero. Or if we have chicks in the winter with their mother, we may give them a heat light for part of the daylight hours. Heat sources of any kind are so dangerous! In the news last winter was a story of someone who had a heatlight on for their newborn calf. It caught something on fire and burned the barn down and killed ALL the livestock...cows, horses, chickens, dog with pups, everything. It was heartbreaking.