2018 Newbie Chat!

[Cbarr00]

I had my little with me today (and it's already sundown here) so I didnt get great pictures but the green in his tail is so shiny and bright. Just looking over the pictures I took and they seriously don't do him justice. I'll get better ones tomorrow.

Ok I found an older picture of Casper that shows his feathering so much better.

I decided to get some of Big Red and the girls too.
Top left is Meredith. Next to her is Kat. The one with the white head is Cricket.
Speckled at the bottom is Lil Taco. Lastly the red at the bottom is Patsy.

This picture has Dak on the furthest left. She was the only one missing from the first picture.

And...

 

[llombardo]

I went and visited the stray rooster from last fall today. I feel like he remembers me and knows I fed him and took care of him. He even came out of his yard to come by me. He looks so different. My neighbor that kept him came and helped me figure out how to put electric fencing around the top of the enclosure that I'm worried about. It was almost dark but I ran out and got the insulators and wired a ground and above it at an angle the hot wire, there is no way they can touch only one. I might even do the whole top but I'm happy with the two sides. I just got to go get another ground rod tomorrow. I love working around the coop because Prince follows me talking to me. It's like he's asking me what I'm doing and he cocks his head when I talk back.

When the neighbor was over he was talking to the faverolle, that little girl did not take her eyes off me the whole time. Such a mamas girl. My neighbor couldn't believe the size of Prince. He said "that rooster is magnificent" and I couldn't agree more. That is my boy. It's weird how you get something by surprise that you never thought you wanted but it all turns out ok.

 

[llombardo]

I had my little with me today (and it's already sundown here) so I didnt get great pictures but the green in his tail is so shiny and bright. Just looking over the pictures I took and they seriously don't do him justice. I'll get better ones tomorrow.
View attachment 1509212
Ok I found an older picture of Casper that shows his feathering so much better.
View attachment 1509233
I decided to get some of Big Red and the girls too.
Top left is Meredith. Next to her is Kat. The one with the white head is Cricket.
Speckled at the bottom is Lil Taco. Lastly the red at the bottom is Patsy.
View attachment 1509219
This picture has Dak on the furthest left. She was the only one missing from the first picture.
View attachment 1509220
And...
View attachment 1509221

What do you use on the ground?

 

[Cbarr00]

What do you use on the ground?

My husband put some hay down.

 

[CannedMonster]

The funny thing about Big Red is he couldn't care less when I'm out with my husband. It's when I'm alone that he has a problem with me. I guess he knows DH is the keeper of the chickens and my time handling them went to basically zero when I had my little. They don't remember all the care I used to give. So I guess when I'm with the chicken keeper I'm ok because he's ok. Seriously when I'm at the fence he walks wherever I do and never takes his eyes off me. When I'm with my husband he goes about his duties with the girls never approaching me.

OH so you have to be reintegrated lol!
It’s like when an injured bird hasn’t been in the flock and when they come back the flock doesn’t remember them.

That makes me wonder what would happen if I was gone for a week...

Angus actually rushed my DH a couple of times but my husband doesn’t play lol. I think Angus knew he better rethink that.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

You want to consider the fact that chickens are furnished by nature with what they need to survive.
If we give them supplemental heat and things like that what happens if the power goes out?
The birds will be acclimated to the extra warmth and will be shocked when they don’t have it.
I want my birds to be acclimated to natural conditions.
Ventilation in the coop is key.
You want the ventilation to be above the roosts near the roof.
The moist air will be drawn out in winter.
Condensation in the coop is very bad!
That is what really causes a lot of frostbite.
Windows are really more for light and extra airflow in the summer months.
Other than ventilation and roosts that don’t conduct cold (no metal roosts) you really only need a draft free space for them and that’s it.
Mine were perfectly fine last winter in the prefab coop with the sliding windows open a couple of inches even at night.
I would’ve opened them more but they’re poorly positioned closer to the roosts than I like.
Our winters here are probably similar to yours.
Our lows can be around zero (F) or even less and our winter highs can sometimes be in the teens but they’re usually in the 20s.

Good point I hadn't thought of that! Yeah, I think I'll stick with nature only - I read an article about using cardboard and straw as natural insulators I am thinking of giving that a go.
The hutch we sleep our flock in is a rabbit/guinea pig hutch, there is a winter cover specially designed for the hutch which has vent holes in all the right places - we are thinking of buying one, we just got to find out if it will cause condensation, although most the hutches here are suitable for poultry too, so I'm thinking they would have taken that in account.

 

[JMotuzick]

Most pre-fab coops/hutches don’t have enough ventilation. If it’s a cover or blanket for the whole coop I would not use it.

 

[Chickassan]

I'm really getting attached to this cute little turkey, I've named him Jack. My husband is still calling him Thanksgiving. 
View attachment 1508895
He's so friendly. I never imagined I'd want a pet turkey. Lol. Looking forward to watching him grow.

Anyone else have turkeys? Will they need a much larger pop door?

So jealous of you! I love turkeys but hubs won't let me have one because it will die of old age.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

Anna
My temps where Fahrenheit is your -5c? We have no heat in our coop, just a water heater so they always have fresh water. I’ve read a lot here and have gone the route of no heat and lots of ventilation. We where maxed at the old soffit vents, 12’x6”=12 hens. We still got some frost bite on there combs. This winter I cut a hole in the side of the coop, 3’x7’ or about 2 meters x 1. I covered the area above the new “window” and the grills have a small covered run.

Hi, yeah we Celsius - minus five is the lowest I've ever known us to get, and it isn't usual - our coldest months are usually Dec/Jan however we do get very wet and windy winters, which usually lasts from Oct to April - I've read that chickens don't like wind?
We only got two chickens, so there's no flock to help keep them warm. We plan to add to our flock by next year but at the mo we got the 2 chicken hens, 2 drakes, 2 duck hens - I'm undecided as to whether to get two more chicken hens now so they'l be a flock of 4 for the winter, or to put the duck hens in with the hens for the winter but then that would mean the boys only 2 on there own - any suggestions?

 

[Anna Ranieri]

Hey yall! My six eggs just hatched yesterday. That was my first time hatching eggs!

Congratulations!