Hi! glad I found this thread, I'm from the minot/surrey area and come spring, will be getting come chicks! Any tips for a newbie whos never even set foot on a farm? I've been doing research everyday but its hard to find tips for those of us in ND with windy subzeros and humid hundreds..Any advice? What breeds have you found work best? I hate the thought of my chickens being couped up all winter long..![]()

I have a new BYC neighbor, whoo-hooo!!! I'm in the Norwich area, 6 miles east of Surrey. We also have LivinNewDreamInND in the Deering area. I'm the one who mentioned BYC when you posted about the fb page. I just honestly don't have time to keep up with fb much.
My chickens actually have outside access 24/7 all year. They have a covered run to keep predators out. If you stick with breeds that have smaller combs, you'll have less problems with frostbite. That seems to be more of a rooster thing for some reason... my leghorn hens have larger combs but don't have problems, maybe because they don't stick up straight? I don't heat the coop at all, to me it isn't worth the risk of fire. As long as they can get out of the wind, all of my birds do fine. Chickens, geese, turkeys, peafowl... I lost a few guineas to cold weather when they were roosting in the trees, after I put them in with the chickens and they roosted inside they did fine.
Congratulations and good luck!