Colorado

[Percheron chick]

You are not going to have any trouble keeping it ag if it's 10 acres. Run the property like a business and there will be no question.

 

[laceykins]

Pretty country up there, had an uncle that used to run the Arkansas river, he was a rafting guide. i spent some time in Buena, and yes super windy up there. Interesting, our two are am little flighty as far as trying to catch and hold them. One is a little more outgoing, she is one of the roosters favortires, as evidenced by her saddle sores. Can you post some pics of your girls? Ours are from a hatchery and just curious to compare to others.
We do not bring the chickens in the house, unless they are injured while we nurse and tend to them. Last cold snap, I used two Infared heat lamps in the coop and the result? One of our Welsummes got frostbite one her comb. This is my first winter with chickens and I over reacted thinking "my babies have got to be warm". The issue isn't so much the cold temps as it is issues with humidity in the coop. After chatting with a few people who raise chickens in Alaska, most of whom do not heat their coops, I decided only to use if it is sub zero and I mean like -5 or colder. The issue is the drastic changes in temp between the coop and outside, the chickens have a harder time adjusting to the cold. That is when our girl got the frostbite, warmer coop with higher humidity (from the heat lamps) and then going out into the sub zero cold. Hers seemed bad as she bled a lot from her comb, we had to bring her inside to let it coagulate and then we cleaned it up and put Blu Kote on it and put her back with the flock. Luckily she doesn't appear to have any permanent damage from it.

Just my two cents from my recent experience.

That's really interesting, thanks!

 

[suncatcher]

Swift, Congrats on our upcoming move!!!

Wow, sun is out here, and it seems really warm today, might be because our high yesterday was in the teens with no sun all day!!!!!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Late, Enjoy your days off, good time to be off work and not have to drive on snow packed roads!

 

[Latestarter]

Thanks Sun, I intend to

I've been driving in snow and ice since I started driving over 40 years ago... the road conditions don't bother me... the ability (or lack thereof) of other drivers to deal with it DOES bother me

Enjoy this nice day before the cold moves back in!

 

[21hens-incharge]

I had an interesting visitor today. I only got one shot then I spooked him/her.



This pic was taken from the window on the house. You will have to forgive the left over lumber in the background. (did not get it all hauled off yet from making the new coop)

Chicken coop is about 30 foot to the south of the tree the Kestrel was in.

 

[suncatcher]

I had an interesting visitor today. I only got one shot then I spooked him/her.



This pic was taken from the window on the house. You will have to forgive the left over lumber in the background. (did not get it all hauled off yet from making the new coop)

Chicken coop is about 30 foot to the south of the tree the Kestrel was in.

Yikes!! Do they eat full grown chickens????

 

[21hens-incharge]

I have had one going after all my white hens with me in the yard. Breeds of hen are Leghorn, Delaware and hamburg. I do not think it could take a large hen like the delaware but would certainly have the tools to do damage. I was literally stepping in between it and them when it was in a dive. It had to crash into the ground to avoid crashing into me.

Very pretty, not IMO very dangerous to large hens. Bantams would be another story.
It is not a large falcon more like the size of a bantam cochin or millie.

When I enlarged the pic OMG it was looking right at me. WOW kinda cool. Rare for me to actually have time to get the camera.

 

[uzisuzuki]

Is there a temperature point where you bring your birds inside your house? If not, what do you use in the coops for heat that gives you peace of mind when temps are in the negatives?

This is my first time with chickens & I started right before winter! Great timing, Universe! I don't bring mine in the house for their safety - my dogs Toki & Arya would love nothing more than to eat them & have all my attention again. I have a friend that joked Toki is going to smother me in my sleep one of these nights for bringing home all these chickens.

I have been keeping my flock in an old dog run with an old dog house refitted as their coop. With this cold snap & the previous one, I just move them into our barn where they use an giant crate we used for our Jack Russell Terrier litters & a heat lamp up high enough so they can't get to it or the electrical cord. They do have an area outside the crate that's been fenced off for them just in case they get a little coop crazy this coming week. There's maybe a 5-10 degree temp difference between the barn & the outside pen, but it's also drier in the barn. Moving them into there might be more for my peace of mind than their welfare. Until I can get a proper coop built for them, I just feel better with them out of the wetter elements I guess. I'm not sure if this is the okay thing to do & *knock on wood* we haven't had any problems so far.

Did you get your chicks yet or where you waiting until spring?

 

[Percheron chick]

4 eggs today. Add those to the 2 yesterday and that's more than I have seen in 2 months. I probably jinxed myself but man it was getting old.

I have had one going after all my white hens with me in the yard. Breeds of hen are Leghorn, Delaware and hamburg. I do not think it could take a large hen like the delaware but would certainly have the tools to do damage. I was literally stepping in between it and them when it was in a dive. It had to crash into the ground to avoid crashing into me.

Very pretty, not IMO very dangerous to large hens. Bantams would be another story.
It is not a large falcon more like the size of a bantam cochin or millie.

When I enlarged the pic OMG it was looking right at me. WOW kinda cool. Rare for me to actually have time to get the camera.

I have a pair of bald eagles in the far corner of the property. There are plenty of PDs and bunnies between them and the coop. So far they haven't even come up here to check things out.

 

[21hens-incharge]

4 eggs today. Add those to the 2 yesterday and that's more than I have seen in 2 months. I probably jinxed myself but man it was getting old.
I have a pair of bald eagles in the far corner of the property. There are plenty of PDs and bunnies between them and the coop. So far they haven't even come up here to check things out.

I am getting tired of no eggies here. Still 0 since September. One of my bantam cochins did do the egg squat today though.

I am in town so not so many prey items. The one that I had a run in with was an extended attack.It kept dive bombing for almost 20 minutes. It came in over and over trying for the chickens. Only the white ones though. It made no attempt at any with color. It took DH coming to the rescue (he had gone to the store) for the episode to end. I am thinking that one was a juvenile.