I want to get Minorcas but...

[TheAmundsons]

We live in South Dakota and the winters can get pretty brutal. I've done my research and see they are not cold hardy, so I know they would not be ideal for our area. I have also read from other posts on here that chickens are much better at adapting to cold rather than heat. I don't want to get a bird that is going to suffer through the winter, so if it comes to it, we won't get this breed. I was just hoping to get some input from people on here, and see if there's anyone who has experience with them in cold weather.

For reference, this winter it was -20 or lower for a week, but the rest of the winter hung between -5 and 20*F for about 2.5 months. Our summers get to the 80s for the most part, occasionally going into the 90s.

 

[Cyprus]

My Leghorns all survived WI winters just fine. 3 of them. And we got down to -60 w/ windchill.

 

[TheAmundsons]

@Cyprus okay...I had read that Leghorns were fine for cold weather. That's making me wonder if some of the other breeds we're planning to get might not do well in our winters. We are planning to get Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, White Leghorns, Light Brahmas, Speckled Sussex, Whiting True Green, Whiting True Blue, White Laced Red Cornish, and Bielefelder. Any idea if these would be alright for our climate? We're planning to order from Murray McMurray.

We currently have Barred Rock, Easter Egger, Rhode Island Red, Golden Laced Wyandotte, and Salmon Favorelle and they've all done wonderfully. We're converting an old 18'x30' barn into a coop and adding a big run, so we'll have way more room, so we obviously need to get more birds! We figured we get a large assortment so we can have some diversity!

 

[Cyprus]

@Cyprus okay...I had read that Leghorns were fine for cold weather. That's making me wonder if some of the other breeds we're planning to get might not do well in our winters. We are planning to get Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, White Leghorns, Light Brahmas, Speckled Sussex, Whiting True Green, Whiting True Blue, White Laced Red Cornish, and Bielefelder. Any idea if these would be alright for our climate? We're planning to order from Murray McMurray.

We currently have Barred Rock, Easter Egger, Rhode Island Red, Golden Laced Wyandotte, and Salmon Favorelle and they've all done wonderfully. We're converting an old 18'x30' barn into a coop and adding a big run, so we'll have way more room, so we obviously need to get more birds! We figured we get a large assortment so we can have some diversity!

All breeds listed are suited to your climate

 

[AltonaAcres]

With a heat lamp/pad, and/or good coop insulation, any breed can live in a cold climate.

 

[TheAmundsons]

@Cyprus wonderful! Thank you!

@AltonaAcres that’s a valid point. The barn won’t be insulated, but maybe we’ll consider adding a heat source for the harshest part of the winter!

 

[AltonaAcres]

Awesome! It helped some of my lighter breeds (bantams, leghorns, a fayoumi) get through -15 degree nights. With the supplemental light from the heat lamp, I got surplus eggs all winter!

 

[TheAmundsons]

@AltonaAcres extra eggs would definitely be a plus! This was our first winter with chickens/ducks and we had to break down and buy a dozen at the store. And I kid you not, the NEXT day we had 5 eggs in the nest box and they've been laying 8+ (from 11 layers) every day now. Haha I bet they just wanted to see us break down and get some from the store

 

[AltonaAcres]

We were getting 2 eggs a day from 30 young hens, but after the lamp went up, we were getting 25 a day!

 

[TheAmundsons]

We were getting 2 eggs a day from 30 young hens, but after the lamp went up, we were getting 25 a day!

That's amazing! We ordered our new chicks last night!!! I decided to go for it, and added some Minorcas. They are just so darn beautiful!

We will be expecting 20 chicks on May 1! That gives us time to finish converting an old barn to the new coop, and move the current flock in before the new babes are even out of the brooder! Although I suspect we won't have to keep them in the brooder for long, as temperatures will (hopefully) be warm enough by then to have them off extra heat! We ended up getting:

3 Pearl White Leghorn females
3 Light Brahma females
2 Speckled Sussex females
3 Whiting True Blue females
3 Whiting True Green females
2 White Laced Red Wyandotte females
3 Buff Minorca females
1 Barred Rock Male
and they throw in a free "rare exotic" chick too, so we'll see what that is!

It's wild to think we'll be tripling our flock, but we definitely have the room, and they'll be free ranging and just locked up at night. We have 10 acres, so they'll have lots of yummy treats to find!