After meaning to join the BYC forums for many months I finally took the plunge, and I'm very happy I did. One of my chickens, a Columbian Rock Hen about 5 months old, had what appeared to be a nasty prolapse. I took care of her for a couple of days and all seemed well, but then when I put her outside again there were still problems. I brought the issue to the disease and emergency forum, and some very helpful and sympathetic people gave me the advice and reassurance I so very much needed. A lovely group of folks, and one I'm very glad to be a part of. I live fairly far north, in the province of Alberta a bit north of Edmonton. 52 degrees latitude, if that means anything to you. It pretty much means that the only month guaranteed to not snow is July, and we can hit anything from 0 degrees to -40 in winter. For years my husband and I would have a few chickens every summer, loving the fresh eggs and antics of the girls, but each fall he would insist that they headed for the freezer. Not long ago I ended up on my own - terminal cancer made me a young Widow - so I traded in my 1974 Volkswagen camper van (in AWFUL shape) for a well insulated little chicken coop with an attached nesting box. If I was going to have backyard chickens on my own I was certainly going to do all I could to care for them year round. Now their little 6 x 4 roosting coop lets out into a 200 square foot pen that used to be a dog run, and whenever they'd like to go into my large back yard and garden I'm happy to have them hunting down bugs and the occasional frog and mouse. I'm covering the top of the pen for winter and wrapping the walls around it in plastic, so they will have a sort of greenhouse that will cut the wind for them completely, and six fluffy bodies in a snug Roost should keep them warm at night. At least that's what I'm hoping - like most Chicken Moms I'm going to be a little bit obsessive about checking on them when things get cold. I've already decided I'm not going to put in supplemental lighting, and the only heater I'm putting in will be in the water dispenser, which is outside the roost on a separate feeding and watering platform. Nice to be here, thank you for accepting me to the forums, and I'm looking forward to hearing about your own Feathered Friends.
Welcome to BYC. You may be interested in "J'est another Day in Pear A Dice." thread. Starter Tara also lives in Alberta, and often outlines how she cares for her animals during the rough weather. She has chicken, ducks, geese, swans, hair sheep, Australian cattle dogs etc.
Greetings and . Pleased you joined our community! Sorry to hear about your loss. It sounds like you have an excellent design plan for your chickens this winter. They should be toasty for the cold winter. If you haven't located it yet, here's a link to the Canada thread if you want to chat with some fellow Canadians. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/144/canadians-check-in-here Best of luck to you and thanks for joining BYC!
Hi and welcome to BYC - you have some great advice and links already so I'll just say hello! All the best CT
