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  1. CanaDawn

    looking for fellow Alberta chicken freaks!

    I posted these in the winter coop thread, but these are Seramas, each about a pound, outside by choice in the snow this morning at about -3C, in Alberta. If there is a snow-free area, they are outside most of the day at -10C. This is winter #2, and last year it was -40C a few times. One comb...
  2. CanaDawn

    Preparing Your Flock & Coop for WINTER

    they aren't the hothouse flowers they are reputed to be. I did avoid using a heat lamp until about -10C, but that's what you should do with any animal that's going to be outside for the winter (avoid keeping them artificially warm in the fall) and even with the option, they don't use it much...
  3. CanaDawn

    Preparing Your Flock & Coop for WINTER

    These birds weigh about a pound a piece. They are NOT supposed to be hardy at all. eta: just did a quick search for your posts re what you have, and those breeds should be just fine through a winter, and it wouldn't surprise me not to need a heat lamp.
  4. CanaDawn

    Preparing Your Flock & Coop for WINTER

    Just wanted to pop on here to post this photo of my "hot house flowers". Serama hens outside by choice (there is a lamp and bedding and places to scratch/feed in the shed behind them, and snow free area in their run to the left of the shed (just a narrow strip, since the cover is off but wide...
  5. CanaDawn

    Broody Hen Thread!

    OH! That's a long time. No, she gets up sooner than that, seems to be up the last two days now (I expect the rather cold weather here finished her resolve) and it seems to me its been about 2 weeks this time, although I should check......yes...Aug 27 I have noted that she is broody, so it may...
  6. CanaDawn

    Broody Hen Thread!

    silkie seems to be up and about much of the day today. Maybe the very cold couple of days and nights have made her decide this invisible batch of eggs is hopeless. At least she's not kicking the other hens around and charging at the dog like some demented little bolster cushion.
  7. CanaDawn

    Broody Hen Thread!

    I would say the grey chick is about the cutest little thing I've seen in a long time! sigh.....I'm going to end up putting eggs under my silkie next year, I just know it (they are pretty obsessed with the effort, aren't they?)
  8. CanaDawn

    The Front Porch Swing

    Wow Blooie, I just looked up those two procedures. That is some seriously fascinating medical stuff, and from what little I know of such things, it looks like an improvement in quality of life for her after it's all healed up and done. Happy Birthday Kendra!
  9. CanaDawn

    Broody Hen Thread!

    I'd just pull them when I got home, or get someone to come get them over the weekend if I really didn't want chicks, but that's me. Can you block her off from the roos or the other birds so that she at least won't have fertile eggs? She probably isn't laying if she's already broody, right? I...
  10. CanaDawn

    Broody Hen Thread!

    I guess she doesn't get to keep any eggs then!
  11. CanaDawn

    Broody Hen Thread!

    My Silkie is BACK on the nest....third time since June iirc
  12. CanaDawn

    Broody Hen Thread!

  13. CanaDawn

    Preparing Your Flock & Coop for WINTER

    http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/avian/pfs14.htm Apparently the continuous light is also something of dogma, and there's quite a few variations that have been tried and successfully used.
  14. CanaDawn

    Preparing Your Flock & Coop for WINTER

    Ok, so...deeply technical question: I have just learned that some plants require long spells or short spells of darkness in a 24 hrs period to bloom (ie....summer blooming in Northern Hemisphere need short dark, fall need long dark.) In the short dark situation, a brief amount of light that...
  15. CanaDawn

    Preparing Your Flock & Coop for WINTER

    Sorry 'bout the missed guess on gender, I did pause before I typed wondering if I actually knew which pronoun to use...
  16. CanaDawn

    Broody Hen Thread!

    Can hens count? Geese (at least the wild ones) don't seem to be able to, and abandon goslings that don't keep up without a look back (although they do also accept any gosling at all near the same ages as the ones they hatched, without question).
  17. CanaDawn

    Preparing Your Flock & Coop for WINTER

    I tried mine with yogurt after someone else here said their hens went nuts for it and got a mediocre response. Might try it again as they are a bit older and have spent the summer free range - do chicken palates develop? lol We don't have raccoons here (yet...) but the dog is sure interested...
  18. CanaDawn

    Preparing Your Flock & Coop for WINTER

    lol, mine LOVE to get the little bone from a ham steak to pick at but that's a rare treat as I'm sure the salt and nitrate isn't good for them. They don't like carrots or peas (weirdos) and seem to have gone off tomatoes as well. We don't really get much in the way of leftovers around...
  19. CanaDawn

    Preparing Your Flock & Coop for WINTER

    What foods would be good for adding some fall weight on birds?
  20. CanaDawn

    Preparing Your Flock & Coop for WINTER

    What's next?
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