Maine

[PollyC]

This page has gotten really quiet, everyone getting ready for whats coming. I got my chickens sorted enough so I could go from 4 pens down to 2 to make winter easier. I furnished some people with about 15 chickens for their freezer, these were the oldest of my flock (3 yrs and up) to make room for the new ones coming on line.I should have around 40 - 50 new ones starting to lay this month and next month. I will also have close to 30 starting to lay in Jan or Feb. I have got things pretty much set for winter, hoping that I have enough birds in each coop to keep the water from freezing. I do not run heat lamps unless it is gonna be below 0. It got down to 20 for a couple of nights and water did not freeze so will just hope for the best.

I will be adding more bedding to the coops in a few weeks, just finished giving each coop a good cleaning and putting in some clean bedding. I like the bedding to be at least 8 inches thick to keep it warm. The birds really like it, some don't like sleeping on the roosts so they bury themselves in the bedding.

Does anyone feed anything extra in the winter? I am going to try and mix up some warm cereal like oatmeal for them once or twice a week. Would this be a good idea or not?

Look forward to seeing this group come alive again, miss reading the posts.

 

[jenni22776rn]

Yes I am getting ready for the winter months..this is my first year with all of my chickens..last winter I only had 3 ladies and I fed them warm pasta and warm oatmeal each morning..this year I have 15 chickens with 2 coops..one is with all of my big hens and one roo and the other smaller coop has my 3 silkies. The larger coop is insulated..and I can not provide a heating lamp so I am providing extra hay and planning on having the deep litter method...so far when I open the door in the morning I can feel the heat so I am thinking they will be plenty warm..it is my silkie pen I am concerned with..thier coop is not insulated and they do not roost...we have laid down hay on top of the bedding and will add more..I have a pen all set up inside if I feel they are too cold....How is everyone else in Maine getting ready for the winter months!

 

[TayFray!]

This spring I had about 40 or so chickens, 8 ducks, and 8 bantams. I have downsized to the point where I have 8 chickens, 4 ducks, and 5 bantams! I only kept my best ones for the winter, and then I sold the rest (some didn't make it and were old) But I am letting them free range now, so they dont need as much food. This is the first winter with my new coops. I have an older rabbit coop, with 2 inner cages, then I have a new big chicken coop, then off of that a bantam chicken coop!

 

[joanie_maine]

My barn/garage is not insulated.

The pens are deep shavings on a concrete floor. No hay since that encourges mites and holds moisture.

I don't use heatlamps and I don't feed wet, people foods.

My task is to keep the birds DRY and free from drafts.

 

[TayFray!]

Quote:
I have a coop, and hay gets so nasty fast and bedded down, at least shavings can fluff up!

 

[Coldweatherbirds]

I also avoid hay because it holds moisture and gets mold easily. I just add shavings on top of soiled shavings all winter. My coop is not insulated, but I do use a heat lamp also when it gets around 0 or below. I agree... dry and free of drafts is the way to go! My old coop was small and I had the heat lamp too close to the water bucket. It was so moist that condensation dripped from the ceiling... poor chickens. But chickens are hardy, no one lost a comb or toe! My only casualty last winter was to a hawk. I've been letting my 18 birds free range a lot the last couple weeks. I feel bad for them in the winter when they got so little fresh greens and stuff. The warm weather has been nice for them to have one last hurrah before they are snowed in! I do feed my birds table scraps as treats. I had an abysmal hatch rate from my incubator last April with lots of deformed feet, so I plan on giving a vitamin supplement starting in February and will collect eggs to hatch 4 weeks later in March. We'll see if that improves the deformity ratio! (32 eggs into incubator, 28 made it to lock-down, 21 pipped, only 18 hatched, 4 were deformed of which 2 died the 1st day, one was permanently 'gimpy' and 1 made a full recovery.)

 

[hoppy]

extended the chicken run and covered it with wire (lost that one bird I couldn't afford to lose) so now it's down to the wire on the turkeys. decided today for sure, eating the tom midget white and royal palm . last chance for someone to buy either of the hens (black slate and red palm- both purchased from byc'ers) or they will go in the freezer as well.

 

[Moxiechick]

I'm selling a hand made cage that was built to house a chameleon, but could be modified to house a snake or small birds such as finches. I'm not sure what the rules are about posting in more than one area, but since this is an item which can't be shipped, and would be of interest to locals, I'm hoping posting a link in here would be ok. I'm located in Gorham.

Here is a link to the item. Thanks for looking!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=597058

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Anyone have non-crested, non-muscovy, non-runner and non-flying (or not well flying) fertilized duck eggs for sale for hatching?

I'm near Disgusta.

 

[buckabucka]

Quote:
Does this mean your ducks flew away?!?

I'm wondering if anyone in Maine has true Ameraucana eggs for hatching.
I really like the wheatons, but mainly I'm just after a nice blue egg. I probably won't be hatching until spring, but it would be nice to find a semi-local source. Or how about Icelandics? I'd love some of those too!