Maine

[joanie_maine]

Bantam Cochins may not be the bird of choice here in Maine.....

But they are winter hardy!!!

 

[MEMama3]

I almost nabbed a silver lace cochin yesterday, but I already have a hen that goes broody constantly and I didn't want to have another to deal with.

 

[yankeehill]

Perhaps in the spring we'll look for a broody hen. We have 14 out there right now, which seems like 'enough', but only half are laying. We seem to have a persistent lack of enough eggs. I thank my kind friends for sharing their extras!

For winter munching, my girls love to go digging through the rabbit droppings (the hutches are just a few feet around the back of the coop) and the compost pile. I also root cellar alot of vegetables, and when the chickens can't out of the coop (like if we're expecting a storm or several days of super cold weather) I'll bring up some carrots, turnips, potatoes, and apples to share with them.

We dump everything except for meat items into the compost, and they have free access to it. This year we won't have a snow blower, so we'll have to shovel a path for the girls and I to get to the rabbits. Thank goodness for strong teen boys and a devoted husband .

Regarding a 5 gallon bucket for the chickens/ducks/geese, it seems they could still make a mess with the water...do you leave the entire top of the bucket open or close off part of it? I'm thinking if we used a 5 gallon bucket, there would be a pool of ice on the floor of the coop. Could I wrap the bucket with a heat tape to prevent it from freezing? What is the heated base you use?

 

[thatsjustducky]

Quote: 'We use atop fill plastic poultry fount on a cookie tin type heater (actually a large "lobster" pot with a 40 watt bulb.

 

[anyasmifya]

Here is a very cute video of a chicken outsmarting a doberman.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2478885/Meet-hensioners--OAPs-given-CHICKENS-company.html

 

[ashandvine]

. I dont find that they need a bathing pool during the winter.

Geese and ducks will benefit from water in the early spring when they want to breed. Its not just that they are happier they will be more effective as well. Also geese in particular will be cleaner and generally happier if you let them into water once a week. A mixing tray for concrete is all you need. Forget those flimsy, awkward, heavy and rather unattractive blue pools. They don't need that much water. Let them have fun with it and then dump it out. If you do this often you could get an ice bank so only once a week or every other is enough. We will haul buckets to a tray or three like this and let them use it. The ducks here also get 2 gallon buckets or milk jugs. I was wondering about keeping them covered with small hoolahoop houses to see if the greenhouse effect would keep our largest pool from filling but I haven't gotten around to erecting that yet.

'We use atop fill plastic poultry fount on a cookie tin type heater (actually a large "lobster" pot with a 40 watt bulb.

We use this for the the chickens as well and as long as they are kept full they don't freeze.

Joanie, that's a lovely frizzled cochin. I like that frontal pose.

 

[MEMama3]

I just finished my two outdoor nest boxes. Although there are plenty in the coop, there has been brawls breaking out and the end result is eggs laid randomly around the yard. Hopefully this will curb bickering and also I hope they don't freeze. I check often since I have a hen that goes out of her way to squish eggs (never eats them though) so I'm praying this works.

 

[lazy gardener]

I decided to take my girls off FF for the winter to make our lives all easier. They currently seem to prefer dry feed any way... perhaps due to the novelty. Waffling back and forth between using a gutter feeder or making a typical gravity feed feeder (with a cylinder in the middle dispensing feed into the attached "moat surrounding the cylinder". An other idea I'm toying with is the dispenser using a bucket with a hole in it, and an upside down spade bit with some red paint dabbed on the shaft. The chicken pecks at the red spot, and the shaft moves enough to dispense feed through a hole in the bottom of the bucket. I hate the amount of feed they seem to be able to waste when using dry feed. If anyone has recommendations about how to minimize waste when using dry, please let me know. The girls are currently using crumbles. Looked at heated dog bowls and was quite disappointed in how poorly made they appeared to be, so bought a thermostat controlled plug that will go down to 30 degrees and will use a cookie tin or cinder block heater.

Got the last of the wood in yesterday. Just a little more yard work to do before the first **** storm! That'll be a rare occasion to actually have stuff done before ****!

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Yup, feels like the end of the season. I gotta get my yard cleaned up, maybe this weekend coming and get the garlic planted (I know, I'm late).

Otherwise, today I swapped out the thin plastic waterers for the big black rubber buckets in the chicken and duck house.

Yesterday I got the last of the boys slaughtered, and I can now feel good about the number of birds in the coop for winter. I'm not sure what that number is in fact, but we've certainly sent a lot of roosters to freezer camp this year.

 

[lazy gardener]

SCG, how deep do you plant your garlic, and what do you use for spacing? I've read that you just push the cloves into the soil... but didn't remember that until after I'd planted every clove about 3 - 4" deep. That being said, when I dig garlic, I find the heads about 4" down... so I'm curious to hear how folks are actually planting it. I also planted Egyptian onions about 4" deep... I hope they come up!