I am starting my coop this coming spring and I have the coop plans and everything else researched but now Im trying to decide what breeds would be best for how cold it gets here in MN. I am only allowed to have 3 chickens in my city and I want to make them count. I would really like a EE bantam or two and a bantam silkie but I am worried that they wont be able to make it through a winter were it can be in single digits for weeks. I do not plan on having a heat lamp and I am thinking about insulating the coop. Any opinions on the coop would be appreciated but mostly Im looking for more info on Bantams. Thanks
Allison, I live just across the border and have a mixed flock of banty and LF. My current bantys are mostly Cochins. I have 2 that are mixed...One is half Houdan or Polish. All of them seem to be jsut fine in the winter. Although the Cochins seem to do even better than the Polish with the cold. I have reg. sized Easter Eggers and they handle the cold weather very well and are some of the first to start laying in the spring.
I have a load of silkies here they do fine, just ensure they have good shelter... otherwise, again just fine and my winters can drag, it snowed in May for crying out loud lol