Dominique Thread!

[Zone3Dakota]

Well, I am interested in whatever cold measures you guys come up with. Very windy and very cold here in NW North Dakota.

Also, am looking for a mentor that is very experienced with Chickens AND racing pigeon raising in very cold climate.

I would love to find that Doms can survive and increase population, here. The only local chicken person that I know of that has a good chicken population that is 'free-range', also has big barn full of cows and other critters to generate extra heat. I admit, big barns make me darn near giddy with jealousy, but that probably isn't going to happen in the near future. I'm 60 years old, now, so I don't know how much 'long term' chicken chasin years I have left, lol.

 

[Zone3Dakota]

I just listed some of our well water test 'numbers' in the 'feeding and watering your flock' area, under a thread called 'salt?'. Comments?

 

[Faraday40]

Well, I am interested in whatever cold measures you guys come up with. Very windy and very cold here in NW North Dakota.

I have an insulated coop but do not provide heat. The covered run gets plastic storm windows that act like a greenhouse. (The 3rd wall facing the coop is open for ventilation & snow rarely gets in that way.) The temps are about 10- 20 degrees warmer in the run. Because the water freezes, I made a nipple drinker with a fountain heater inside. It only turns on when the temps dip below freezing. I found the horiz nipples worked better in the bitter cold. The vertical nipples froze when the temps went below 10'F. (The heater prevented the water in the bucket from freezing, but the exposed nipples iced up.)








My chickens are rather spoiled & refuse to go outside when it snows a lot. Then I read that chickens have snow blindness; they can't see the ground unless you shovel a path. I tried shoveling paths, but unless i got down to the grass, they refused to come out. At least I knew they'd stay dry.

Here are the girls looking at me like I'm crazy for trying to get them outside.

Mine do fine in freezing weather because their bodies slowly acclimate. No special precautions are needed. It's just those artic blasts when the temps go well below zero that cause frostbite issues for my roo. I think the Bag Balm worked a little better than Vaseline, but yes, the feathers turned gray from dustbathing. I'm far from expert, but I wanted to share what worked & what didn't.

 

[JediJinx]

Cold here in the winter - wide range though can be 40 one day and -10 the next with plenty of wind throughout the season. The wattles did have a bit of frostbite and the tip of his comb did come off about 1/4 inch. I wanted to mention that metal feeders and drinkers are especially uncomfortable in the winter for the longer wattles. My cock is about 18 months old so he is still pretty young. They (hens too) do not care for the cold at all and rarely venture out if there is snow. Maybe the coop is too roomy for them. Maybe they are just too smart to deal with it and prefer to just laze around inside. I feed chopped peanuts along with their regular feed during the fall and winter months. FOr the comb I do use Vaseline, but I think bag balm or beeswax might be better as it is less oily.

 

[Zone3Dakota]

Thanks! I was looking at a couple of options for 'sunrooms'. Construction left us with a cracked patio door that I have several ideas about, and I think that hubby has his ideas, too. Also was looking at the big acrylic water tanks, wondering if any of those ever end up damaged and in need of a new use.

I too, look at the more solid greenhouse kits, wondering how that could work for winter composting fun for the birds.

Sounds like my well water is good enough for chickens, so i'll be planning for next spring!

Harr, I think that we ARE the artic blast.

 

[Alaskan]

My flock get to play in the greenhouse in the winter (it all connects) and the water and fed stay outside to force them out.

Wind breaks for the run help lots.

 

[centrarchid]

Anyone have a rearing protocol or regimen they are trying to maintain over multiple years? I am trying to keep a standard approach so the birds resulting can be said to be hardy in a free-range setting.

 

[JediJinx]

When I had my coop built, I had them put two hen doors. One door goes to existing run, the other will open to future run and the plan is to alternate biweekly usage. Not sure if this will work, but I find there is a lot of mold growth in the run now from feed and poo and just general dampness (we having tons of misty cloudy rainy ick this yr). I wish we could free range them but the hawks are a plague. I will probably end up setting the culls loose when they are big enough to defend themselves from the gamefowl. For now its getting crowded.

 

[Faraday40]

When I had my coop built, I had them put two hen doors. One door goes to existing run, the other will open to future run and the plan is to alternate biweekly usage. Not sure if this will work, but I find there is a lot of mold growth in the run now from feed and poo and just general dampness (we having tons of misty cloudy rainy ick this yr). I wish we could free range them but the hawks are a plague. I will probably end up setting the culls loose when they are big enough to defend themselves from the gamefowl. For now its getting crowded.

Yes, the rain is hitting us hard this year. I joke that my chickens have turned into waterfowl. Plenty of standing water in places & we're at the highest elevation in town. Thankfully the house is dry. Our neighbors down the road are flooding weekly.

On the plus side. I haven't once watered my garden this year.

Hawks are a problem if free ranging. A roo may help, but I try to use many different deterrents. Loud kids & dogs frequently running about. (Some people even play a radio.) Light Reflectors in trees (like old CDs). Crinkle tape. Lots of sheltered hide places. Owl statues. I even sewed large "eyes" onto some chicken saddles to make the hens look frightening from above. Others have guineas, turkeys, &/or geese free range with their chickens for safety. In fall & very early spring (when the easy food sources are gone) the hawks are at their worst. If a Cooper's hawk makes camp in our yard, I must keep them penned up until it moves on. In March, we had one perched in a pine tree staring at our coop for over a week straight. It kept landing on the roof or ground trying to find a way inside the run.

 

[Alaskan]

Anyone have a rearing protocol or regimen they are trying to maintain over multiple years? I am trying to keep a standard approach so the birds resulting can be said to be hardy in a free-range setting.

I think that is wonderful.... But no, I don't.