Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[MagicChicken]

My coop is a hoop coop and the cover is an old billboard. The door window is open 6 inches all winter (more when the temps rise) and it has several roof vents. Other than their deep litter that's in there and some hay thrown in on the coldest days (-15 temp -40 wind chill) to let them nest in if they wanted, they had nothing else. They all survived just fine, I averaged at least 1 egg a day (I do not add light to increase/continue laying thru the winter) The south side is covered with clear heavy duty plastic to allow whatever sun there was in through the winter. At times the snow was 3/4 of the way up the sides of the coop (we got 7 ft of snow in 3 days in November) but the snow acted as an insulator.

I also feed/water them outside the coop in a little lean to attached to the coop. They have to come out to eat/drink. I found in the past the food & water added to much moisture to the coop in the winter.

The temps in the coop are maybe a degree or 2 warmer than outside. But it effectively blocks the bitter winds.

I just wanted to let you know that you can have large comb breeds through our rough, bitter cold winters & not have a problem with frost bite.

How did you make the roof vents? I have a hoop coop and could really use roof vents to help deal with heat buildup in the summer. Not sure how to put them in and still keep the tarp from shredding in our violent summer storms.

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote: I actually used the roof vents off my roof when I had a new roof put on. I attached them to the wire with zip ties then used roof patch (black gooey stuff) around the edges to seal them on so it doesn't leak when it rains. (I have one tiny leak I of course cant find but it so tiny it doesn't cause any problems) I then cut the billboard away from it from inside the coop. (the middle open part of the vent seen from inside)

Even tho its only covered with billboard it still really benefits from the roof ventilation. In the winter you can tell when the vents need to be cleared.

Here is the link to my coop page that shows them better.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/armorfireladys-fire-chickens-hoop-coop

 

[finnfur]

For those of you with experience toe punching......... I have toe punched for id for many years. My NH hatch with a lot of webbing so it is easy to do. My Kathy line Delawares have barely enough webbing to leave room for the hole. I jam the toe punch back as far as I can and still don't have enough room on some of the chicks.

Do any of you wait a few days till they have grown a bit then punch? If so, I need a way to identify them as I am hatching two separate matings and they all go into the same brooder. Zip tieing every little chick would be a pain. Anyone tried little strips of vetwrap? Thinking it might be difficult to get off, it sticks to itself very well, that's the point.

Anyone cut a slit through the web rather than punching the hole? Have heard that may cause toe curling problems.

Any advise would be appreciated!

I did not have problem with mine - But I have not toe punched any other chicks but the Dels . So I wouldn't know if it was a problem. LOL
It is tight and I learned don't leave any "chads hanging" as they will grow back again.
I use food coloring pens to do some temporary marking sometimes.

I wing tag at that same stage- the draw back to them is you need to pick up the bird to ID it- but unlike bands I have never had one lose a wing tag -
Well ! except in the EZ plucker

 

[finnfur]

Karen,
I am sorry to hear about the problems you had this year. We also had a more brutal than normal winter. While my 7 hens are not for breeding I do have several with large combs. One had very minor frostbite at the top of their combs. I believe it was from being outside in the below zero temps. I just left it be & its healed up on its own already.

I do not provide heat & they are allowed to leave the coop during even the harshest temps this winter. I leave it up to them. They have an enclosed area against the garage where they like to hang out during the day. As long as the snow is not deep they happily make the short trek to it. This enclosure is open (lattice work is the walls) that is covered with shower curtains to keep out the rain,w ind & snow. But it is not stapled down, just hangs down on its own.

My coop is a hoop coop and the cover is an old billboard. The door window is open 6 inches all winter (more when the temps rise) and it has several roof vents. Other than their deep litter that's in there and some hay thrown in on the coldest days (-15 temp -40 wind chill) to let them nest in if they wanted, they had nothing else. They all survived just fine, I averaged at least 1 egg a day (I do not add light to increase/continue laying thru the winter) The south side is covered with clear heavy duty plastic to allow whatever sun there was in through the winter. At times the snow was 3/4 of the way up the sides of the coop (we got 7 ft of snow in 3 days in November) but the snow acted as an insulator.

I also feed/water them outside the coop in a little lean to attached to the coop. They have to come out to eat/drink. I found in the past the food & water added to much moisture to the coop in the winter.

The temps in the coop are maybe a degree or 2 warmer than outside. But it effectively blocks the bitter winds.

I just wanted to let you know that you can have large comb breeds through our rough, bitter cold winters & not have a problem with frost bite.

That is snow that's almost to the roof of the coop. The inside height of the coop normally is almost 6 ft.

I did have to continously remove snow from the roof of the coop because it was starting to sag with oiver 3 ft of snow on it. During the November storm is the only time the hens didn't venture out often.

Wow ! Thanks for the reminder in why I said after living in New England 7 years I was never moving further north than Virginia.
After this winter I might need to change that to GJensen country.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Do any of you wait a few days till they have grown a bit then punch?

I saw a video this spring from a local-ish breeder who said he waits a week to do the toe punching (he breeds New Hampshires). He has a surgical biopsy punch he recommends. He didn't offer advice about keeping the chicks separate until toe-punch time. I'd think with darker chicks that you can't dye you have fewer options.

 

[hellbender]

Wow ! Thanks for the reminder in why I said after living in New England 7 years I was never moving further north than Virginia.
After this winter I might need to change that to GJensen country.

I live in West Virginia and if I weren't so firmly ensconced here, I'd consider having a look-see around George's neighborhood.

If the coming winter is in anyway similar to the previous two, I'm not likely to sell out (just too much red tape now) but Ol' Dad

will be spending several months in Brasil during the West Virginian cooler periods.

My family gets this place when I die so they can start putting forth extra effort in the winter.

 

[gjensen]

I have waited up to two weeks. I have had no problems. The trick is knowing who is who when the time comes, but it is not difficult to temporarily mark chicks.

 

[RiddleMe]

Quote:
That's actually why I like the paint, for darker chicks I just use a lighter paint color.

 

[Zanna]

I have waited up to two weeks. I have had no problems. The trick is knowing who is who when the time comes, but it is not difficult to temporarily mark chicks.

Great! Thanks again to you all for the great ideas, now I have a plan!

 

[Lacy Blues]

If you have dark chicks that have any light spots, you can mark the spots too.