2018 Newbie Chat!

[BBZZZZTT]

Hi: I'm in Richland Center which is half way between Spring Green and La Crosse. I'm embarrassed to say I don't know the breed other than they are brown laying hens ( that's how new I am). I did let the chicks out this afternoon for about an hour. All went well and it was a lovely experience for all of us until it was time to catch them and put them back in their box. Have to think a little more about that. The bigger chick is starting to almost fly out of the box so I had to put a screen door on top to keep her inside. I currently have the coop but am in the process of putting it on a concrete base and expanding the run for them so hope it will be ready in the next couple of weeks.
I'm concerned about our brutal winters and how to keep them comfortable and safe during that time. What are your thoughts about that as you will have the same situation?

Well, I only got mine recently so I haven't been through a whole winter yet. But they were outside in their coop with no heating during all the spring snowstorms. They weren't excited to walk on snow but they didn't seem cold. They hunkered down on their roost and kept warm in their feathers.

The funny thing is, I was stressing about putting them outside when it was still so cold. I kept checking the temps overnight, and they were only forecast to get down to 30/upper 20s. Well, one morning I woke up to a hard frost and saw on the weather that the temp had out of nowhere dropped to 15. But there they were, eating breakfast, preening feathers, and they had already broken the top layer of ice from their waterer to get a drink before I even got out there. XD

From what I read, chickens are mostly winter hardy naturally, given the right conditions (And also depending on breed). As long as their coop has enough ventilation to draw moisture out without putting them in a breeze they really keep themselves nice and toasty in their feather coats.
With moisture in the air can come frostbite to combs.
My coop walls are not insulated, I've heard some people say you need to insulate and others not. So I didn't. The coop is also in a relatively sheltered corner of my yard.

The only other consideration is keeping water free of ice. During spring it was at least getting above 30 in the daytime so if I knocked the ice off the surface in the morning, it stayed thawed all day. This is obviously not the case the rest of winter, so I am getting a heated stand to put my metal waterer on come winter.

 

[BBZZZZTT]

Did you get your chicks from a farm or a store/hatchery?
They may just be brown laying barnyard mixes, but if they are a specific breed, maybe someone on this site can help you identify them!

 

[CannedMonster]

Well, I only got mine recently so I haven't been through a whole winter yet. But they were outside in their coop with no heating during all the spring snowstorms. They weren't excited to walk on snow but they didn't seem cold. They hunkered down on their roost and kept warm in their feathers.

The funny thing is, I was stressing about putting them outside when it was still so cold. I kept checking the temps overnight, and they were only forecast to get down to 30/upper 20s. Well, one morning I woke up to a hard frost and saw on the weather that the temp had out of nowhere dropped to 15. But there they were, eating breakfast, preening feathers, and they had already broken the top layer of ice from their waterer to get a drink before I even got out there. XD

From what I read, chickens are mostly winter hardy naturally, given the right conditions (And also depending on breed). As long as their coop has enough ventilation to draw moisture out without putting them in a breeze they really keep themselves nice and toasty in their feather coats.
With moisture in the air can come frostbite to combs.
My coop walls are not insulated, I've heard some people say you need to insulate and others not. So I didn't. The coop is also in a relatively sheltered corner of my yard.

The only other consideration is keeping water free of ice. During spring it was at least getting above 30 in the daytime so if I knocked the ice off the surface in the morning, it stayed thawed all day. This is obviously not the case the rest of winter, so I am getting a heated stand to put my metal waterer on come winter.

 

[CannedMonster]

They have exactly what they need to keep warm.
In winter, ventilation is key!
It needs to be above the roosts near or just under the roof of the coop.
That way you don’t get moisture buildup which can cause frostbite and they aren’t getting drafts while roosting.

Providing supplemental heat in winter can be problematic when they get used to it and the power goes out...it can be quite a shock.
I like to help my birds be as independent of human intervention as possible and encourage nature instincts and behaviors.

 

[Whitepinefarm]

Thanks for all the reassuring info. I got my chicks from our local feed store from a guy I respect. I think you are probably right that they are brown laying barnyard mixes. Regardless, I love them. Very excited about what my chicken future holds. Will try to keep you updated. Thank you again.

 

[Whitepinefarm]

They have exactly what they need to keep warm.
In winter, ventilation is key!
It needs to be above the roosts near or just under the roof of the coop.
That way you don’t get moisture buildup which can cause frostbite and they aren’t getting drafts while roosting.

Providing supplemental heat in winter can be problematic when they get used to it and the power goes out...it can be quite a shock.
I like to help my birds be as independent of human intervention as possible and encourage nature instincts and behaviors.

Thanks. I like your idea of having the chicks as independent as possible. They have survived this long. Thanks also for pointing out the importance of ventilation. I can see how the lack of it could cause real problems for the chicks.

 

[BBZZZZTT]

The temps rose back into the mid 90s today- this time with little wind and high humidity.

All of the sudden we had a spontaneous downpour in the sun!
I ran outside to let the chickens out to cool off.
That was very refreshing for all!
They finally looked a bit less melty. Though I think they were a little confused as to why there was water falling on them. XD

 

[BBZZZZTT]

Phew. Well.
Lilo is currently in the 'sick bay' in my basement.
She was acting very lethargic yesterday and falling asleep standing up, in the middle of the run.
Im truly hoping the heat just got to her, which is what it is looking like. She is eating down there and hopefully drinking, though I haven't seen her drink yet. I gave her some food drenched in electrolyte water just in case.
She was still very sleepy this morning but has been making a racket down there whenever she hears us upstairs.
Pooping normally too, so that's a good sign.

 

[CannedMonster]

Well I’m sad to report that we went ahead and culled Conan this morning.

He was getting very aggressive and had started stalking me and sneaking up on me.
He was absolutely diabolical sometimes.
I’d watch him pretend to be foraging near my mature dominant sex link, Red.
Then when she wasn’t alert he’d strike and jump on her.
It seemed like he was trying to mate but it was also an attack.
He’d grab and pull feathers out. A lot of feathers!
He also was starting to attack my dog, Charlie.
Charlie is 10 years old and weighs 20 lbs and I won’t tolerate any harm to him.
Conan was also jumping on poor Frodo on a regular basis.
But the last straw was when he went after Silkie right in front of me and had gone after Charlie that morning!
No more!
Conan is processed and his carcass is resting in the fridge as I type this.
My husband butchered him and I plucked him (a pretty easy job on a Naked Neck, I must say).

Currently Loki and Angus are behaving themselves.
Angus is trying to mate the girls a lot but neither of them have shown aggression to us or the dog.
Interestingly, Loki doesn’t chase the girls much at all. He’s a pretty good boy.
He’s the one I called “Bubelah” as a chick.
Frodo is also a little horn dog right now lol. It irritates my husband when they won’t even give the girls a chance to get out of the coop in the morning.
Things have been relatively peaceful today. It might be that Conan is gone or it might be the heat. Maybe both!

Unfortunately when plucking this morning I noticed that my birds have lice!
They were crawling on me
Now to treat everyone for that.
I definitely don’t want lice when I have chicks coming next week!

 

[Cbarr00]

Well I’m sad to report that we went ahead and culled Conan this morning.

He was getting very aggressive and had started stalking me and sneaking up on me.
He was absolutely diabolical sometimes.
I’d watch him pretend to be foraging near my mature dominant sex link, Red.
Then when she wasn’t alert he’d strike and jump on her.
It seemed like he was trying to mate but it was also an attack.
He’d grab and pull feathers out. A lot of feathers!
He also was starting to attack my dog, Charlie.
Charlie is 10 years old and weighs 20 lbs and I won’t tolerate any harm to him.
Conan was also jumping on poor Frodo on a regular basis.
But the last straw was when he went after Silkie right in front of me and had gone after Charlie that morning!
No more!
Conan is processed and his carcass is resting in the fridge as I type this.
My husband butchered him and I plucked him (a pretty easy job on a Naked Neck, I must say).

Currently Loki and Angus are behaving themselves.
Angus is trying to mate the girls a lot but neither of them have shown aggression to us or the dog.
Interestingly, Loki doesn’t chase the girls much at all. He’s a pretty good boy.
He’s the one I called “Bubelah” as a chick.
Frodo is also a little horn dog right now lol. It irritates my husband when they won’t even give the girls a chance to get out of the coop in the morning.
Things have been relatively peaceful today. It might be that Conan is gone or it might be the heat. Maybe both!

Unfortunately when plucking this morning I noticed that my birds have lice!
They were crawling on me
Now to treat everyone for that.
I definitely don’t want lice when I have chicks coming next week!

How old was he and what did he dress at? I'm not sure how long to wait for ours. I'm thinking of waiting another month until close to 20 weeks. I'm not looking forward to plucking again! Our meaties didn't have much feathering but cleaning 3 of them at one time took so long.