Colorado

[Mtn Margie]

Hi folks!! Another newbie here! I am scrolling through the posts looking for useful info and I'm finding alot. Let me ask one question that I know has been asked many times but it is very important to someone starting out. I live west of Loveland in Larimer County. We have already had +100 degree weather this summer and up here in the foothills we can get -20 in December. Which breed best for those conditions? I'm thinking it's better to get a breed best for the heat and put a heater in the coop for the winter. What say you all?

iT WOULD BE MUCH CHEAPER AND SAFER TO GET COLD HARDY BREEDS AND PUT UP A SHADE AREA.
Oops, cap lock on.
And most important!

 

[Pozees]

Hi folks!! Another newbie here! I am scrolling through the posts looking for useful info and I'm finding alot. Let me ask one question that I know has been asked many times but it is very important to someone starting out. I live west of Loveland in Larimer County. We have already had +100 degree weather this summer and up here in the foothills we can get -20 in December. Which breed best for those conditions? I'm thinking it's better to get a breed best for the heat and put a heater in the coop for the winter. What say you all?

Your best bet is finding locally bred chicks if at all possible. What are you hoping to achieve with your flock? Are you mainly trying to provide your family with eggs, are you looking for dual purpose breeds that will make good table birds as well as egg layers, are you interested in showing, or are you mainly after yard ornaments?

A few of our members are working toward creating hybrids well suited for this climate and the many elevations here in CO (Coloradogal and Suncatcher come immediately to mind on that front) while others are working to breed to the standard of perfection (SOP) with specific breeds (wsmith with his Dominiques, I have Speckled Sussex, Silkies, Heritage bred Rhode Island Reds, and Egyptian Fayoumis, Shyscreations has Silkies and Bantam Cochins, and there are others who aren't springing immediately to mind) - because I've only gotten started I only have Silkies producing purebred chicks right now, but since I have 2 adult Speckled Sussex hens and an extra Egyptian Fayoumi cockerel, I've put him in the layer pen and he has been mating with the 2 hens, so I've decided to put some of their eggs in the incubator to see if he is fertilizing the eggs, and if he is, to see what comes of them. EFs are known for heat tolerance (desert breed) while Sussex are known for being good layers and table birds, and laying through winter when some other breeds stop or slow way down. Could be some interesting looking chicks I only started setting them a few days ago so I don't know whether they're fertile yet.

Let us know what your goals are, we can likely help you locate someone with what you seek.

 

[techpeak]

Hi folks!! Another newbie here! I am scrolling through the posts looking for useful info and I'm finding alot. Let me ask one question that I know has been asked many times but it is very important to someone starting out. I live west of Loveland in Larimer County. We have already had +100 degree weather this summer and up here in the foothills we can get -20 in December. Which breed best for those conditions? I'm thinking it's better to get a breed best for the heat and put a heater in the coop for the winter. What say you all?

I have noticed our common dual-purpose breed hens do the best - Barred Rocks, New Hampshire Reds, Rhode Island Reds, Black Sex Link. The Anconas seem to hate the heat and have stopped laying, the Speckled Sussex has lost weight with the heat, but the Easter Egger does really well and keeps laying every day...

 

[wsmith]

Hi there! We live in Denver and are looking to purchase 3-4 female chicks in the next week or so, and are unable to attend the swap in August. We're looking for Orpingtons and/or Rhode Island Reds (if you all think they will get along well!). I read that Orps seem to do best with their own breed, since they can get picked on, but am curious to hear more thoughts on this.

1. Does anyone have any Colorado-based contacts they'd recommend for getting our chick family started? We'd love to go somewhere local rather than getting them shipped, but are open-minded. Happy to drive about an hour outside of Denver in any direction.
2. Do you think the Orps will be safe with a RIR in the mix?

Thanks so much.

Welcome to the Colorado Thread Ariella29!

 

[FlockOfGirls]

Yeah! For rain lots of it out here in Simla we filled 3 - five gal buckets last night (lol). We are just getting gutters up.

My girls run out of their coop each morning, wings flapping and cock jumping each other then they go right into immediate bug hunting. Too cute! They are also coming when called/approached. The rain has been nice for them too - everybody's happy happy happy.

Happy Monday All <3

 

[wsmith]

Hi folks!! Another newbie here! I am scrolling through the posts looking for useful info and I'm finding alot. Let me ask one question that I know has been asked many times but it is very important to someone starting out. I live west of Loveland in Larimer County. We have already had +100 degree weather this summer and up here in the foothills we can get -20 in December. Which breed best for those conditions? I'm thinking it's better to get a breed best for the heat and put a heater in the coop for the winter. What say you all?

Welcome to the Colorado thread mikey360!

I would echo what the others have said. The basic dual purpose heritage types do very well in our extreme temperature and weather swings. As our hot temps don't usually (notice the word "usually") stay that hot for too long, the birds bred for cold tolerance still do pretty well. you may notice a slight drop in egg production during the very hot spells, but they tend to deal with the heat just fine.

I would contact each of those mentioned by pozees and talk to each of them regarding their birds, why they chose them, and see if any of their breeds would work for you. Each breed has its own merits, and depending on what you are looking for (purpose) you can find a breed or two or three that meet your needs.

Of course, I am partial to Dominiques... LOL

 

[wsmith]

RAIN RAIN RAIN!!!!!!

Started at our place at about 6:30PM yesterday and was still going strong this morning! The road got a little entertaining (imagine driving through pudding)

When the rain started we ran outside to make sure the 2 1/2 week old chicks were under cover. They were...kind of.... The wind was coming from the NE, and they were up against that fence. Dry, but they wouldn't have stayed dry very long. We caught them and got them into the brooder coop and shut the door. Then we checked on the main flock. The female Narrageansett turkey, who is the smartest, was inside the main coop with all the adult chickens, safe and dry. The juveniles were all under their growout coop, happy and dry. The other four turkeys were out in the rain, sopping wet. So we drove them into the main coop through the people door, and closed it. We then stood under the workshed roof laughing and enjoying our dripping wet condition, which we havent experienced in quite a while. Then we notice that the same four turkeys were outside again. They didn't want to be inside. So we left them there. Have fun being wet you silly turkeys!

 

[wsmith]

Yeah! For rain lots of it out here in Simla

we filled 3 - five gal buckets last night (lol). We are just getting gutters up.

My girls run out of their coop each morning, wings flapping and cock jumping each other then they go right into immediate bug hunting. Too cute! They are also coming when called/approached. The rain has been nice for them too - everybody's happy happy happy.

Happy Monday All <3

Happy Monday! Yay for RAIN!!!!

 

[wsmith]

So yesterday morning I watched some interesting behavior from one of my hens. I posted about this on the Colorado Chickens FB page as well.

I noticed earlier that I still had some hens sitting in the nests, and I wanted to collect eggs before leaving for church. So I went into the hen house and sat down on the low roosts. # 12 was in the second nest box from the right, on one egg. The nest box on the far right, next to her, had two eggs in it. I didn't want to disturb her egg laying, so I left them there and just watched.

My nest boxes all have about a 2 inch gap on the back side, the side that is accessable through the nest box outside access door.

#12 was sitting there, and then she moved around, and noticed that there were two eggs in the adjoining nest. She stood up in the nest box, and reached around through the gap, hooked one of the eggs with her beak, and pulled it out of the nest, through the gap, and put it under herself. A minute or two later, she tried for the other one, but couldn't reach. She got up and went to the adjoining nest box, where there was now only one egg. I took the eggs from the one she had been in previously. She got back up and went to her former nest, and when she saw that there weren't any eggs there any more, she got up and left.

Chickens are so entertaining. Though I've shut down my breeding pens this year, and won't be hatching out more chicks, I wonder if she'll be a broody candidate for next year.....

 

[urbanfarmer101]

Hi there! We live in Denver and are looking to purchase 3-4 female chicks in the next week or so, and are unable to attend the swap in August. We're looking for Orpingtons and/or Rhode Island Reds (if you all think they will get along well!). I read that Orps seem to do best with their own breed, since they can get picked on, but am curious to hear more thoughts on this.

1. Does anyone have any Colorado-based contacts they'd recommend for getting our chick family started? We'd love to go somewhere local rather than getting them shipped, but are open-minded. Happy to drive about an hour outside of Denver in any direction.
2. Do you think the Orps will be safe with a RIR in the mix?

Thanks so much.

Welcome to chickenhood! All my Orps have always been the bossy, roost ruling types. My flock is a mix of breeds, as I want to own one of each it seems. I am not sure where you can get chicks this time of year. Pick the birds you want and enjoy.