Colorado

[suncatcher]

Coop has been winterized for weeks here, have to start early in the Mountains! Did add more hay/straw today to their boxes since the older hens have started laying again, just waiting and wondering exactly how much snow we will get??? Some forecasts say 4 to 10 inches, but predicting less than north of here on the Palmer Divide, they are not very helpful not knowing how much snowfall to expect, so will expect the worst and hope for the best!

I will have a few extra cockerals this coming month, they still need to be finished up, as they have been free ranging all fall, I know is hard to find someone to process them, but if anyone on here is interested, PM me. They are Barny/Marans crosses.

Stay warm everyone!

 

[Latestarter]

Under solid overcast now, wind has increased indicating the front is coming, temp is dropping (42 f now), just went out and collected my 1 daily egg and closed up the coops as it's starting to rain lightly. The coop windows are all open for now for ventilation. Word is it could be substantial snow if the center of the storm stalls out SE of us. So now we wait and see where this storm takes us

 

[21hens-incharge]

Sleet flying up here in Loveland now. Getting colder by the minute.
I too am uncertain how much snow we will end up with. The forecasts were all over the place.

That is the kind of job for me (hoping not to offend anyone here) where one can be wrong 80% of the time and still get a nice paycheck.

Brace for the worst and hope for the best is going on here too.

Thinking hot cocoa is in order tonight.

 

[Latestarter]

Wind is still howling, snow is very light. Think we might have gotten 2-3" total so far. We lost power early this morning for a little over an hour. Have to spend the next 2 hours driving to take my favorite oldest daughter to work and return. Should be an adventure

Hope y'all came through OK with minimal loss of trees and such or other damage. Supposed to be back up in the 50s tomorrow.

 

[COChix]

We lucked out in Boulder and didn't even have a dusting this am, just drizzle. Hope those out east and south are fairing ok.

@uzisuzuki sounds like your area is pretty hard hit, how is everyone?

 

[samsr]

I got the two runs off either side of my coop all closed up for the winter. I built a couple of removable walls and closed up the doors. Sure does make it look totally different. I even put in a couple of glass windows. Not much snow at the house this morning. Just high winds and blowing snow. One more tree came down across the creek. But that was due to beaver activity. I really need to trap that guy and get him out of here before i dont have any trees left.

 

[Latestarter]

Returning home there's blue sky over the foothills and mountains north of Boulder. Expect the remainder of the storm will push out to the SE over the day. Weather saying sun by lunch time for Denver. Heard Parker will end up w/around 10" and the heaviest is SE of Denver and out onto the plains.

 

[Mtn Margie]

Only got a couple of inches of snow up here. No wind yet either, but it is supposed to hit later. Birds are out and about....

 

[maggiemo]

Only got a couple of inches of snow up here. No wind yet either, but it is supposed to hit later. Birds are out and about....

We just got a dusting here, no wind yet either. Pretty anti-climatic.

 

[coop410silkies]

Yep, no snow in Berthoud, either, just clouds and a stiff breeze. That is bizarre about the forecasts here, yesterday: one minute it was a blizzard warning, and the next it was for partly cloudy and almost mild. No two forecasts were the same; maybe the meteorologists get paid double for being extremely confusing? I am NOT complaining since I used the good weather to get lots done. I have TWO trees on my windswept two acres, not much to keep a beaver busy, but I appreciate the concern. I just removed a couple of dozen eggs from the Silkie Dogloo, leaving another dozen to keep them occupied and happy. Three of the layers are 2 1/2 year olds, another three are their first generation offspring, and there may be one or two spring hens in the mix. These guys just don't know when to stop. And I am still getting eggs from my Light and Speckled Sussex F1's and various other spring hens. A lot of these eggs I scramble and mix with scratch to feed back to the flocks.

I am looking for some nice BIG SS hens, btw, and will travel some next spring to get them if their ages, pics, and weights are OK. I have a few nice but underweight SS Roos and LS Roos needing good homes. The LS are especially docile with people.

I am trying out a few things new to me this winter. First, for winter water needs, I am using some 20 gal "plastic" trash cans with horizontal nipples and API de-icers, some 12 1/2 gallon Sterilite flip latch totes with horizontal nipples and de-icers, and last, some 5 gallon buckets fitted with horizontal nipples set in x-large heated dog watering bowls. The dog bowls have been a successful and pleasant surprise so far, as they keep the water in the buckets from freezing and use only 60 watts; this is substantially lower than 250 and an important consideration if you are having to use more than just a few on one circuit. If mine last through the winter and prove to be reliable, I will do a very positive review on them. I like the flip latch totes for watering mainly because they fit below the heated rain barrel spigot from which I fill them; they hold a lot of water, and I don't have to drill any holes to fill them or accommodate a de-icer cord; they can be set up flat against a fence so that one waterer can serve both sides of the fence, they are not at all tipsy, the hens can poop all over them without any affect on the water, and they are very easy to clean and fill. I suppose I could just go ahead and write a commercial. The best thing about the 20gal. Trash cans with horizontal nipples is that they hold a lot and work well with the 250 Watt de-icers.

The last new thing I'm trying is a 100 foot expandable hose that hooks up to a quick disconnect on my sink faucet. We shall see how this goes when, next Jaunuary, my heated rain barrels need refilling on a cold miserable day. Thoughts? Experiences? Admonitions? Reservations? Ideas? Help?