Manitoba Members

[PrincessTamTam]

I got my chicks from Bergs, picked them up at Feed Rite in Teulon.

 

[Purely Prairie Polish]

Hello Fellow Manitobans! I hope you subscribe to this thread so you see my post. Have just became the proud chicken mom of ten brown leghorns, the beginning of many more chickens to come. We are turning my childrens playhouse into a coop. How do you winter your birds? I am sure there are unique needs since we drop as low as -45 here in Manitoba. Any tips? how warm does the cop have to be maintained at? Do I install a heater? 

The biggest thing you want to watch for is drafts. It's very hard on them and can even be fatal if they freeze their combs, wattles, and/or feet. But you should have fresh air(watch for ammonia smell when you open the door. There may be some but If it hurts your nose or eyes IT'S TOO MUCH) You may want a heat lamp since leghorns usually have large combs, but too much heat is no good either. I do have a heat lamp that I use, mostly to try and keep the water bucket from freezing, but I've had many successful winters without one.
My recommendations to consider (from experience as well as research) are: insulated coop, have enough birds for the size of building that they can use body heat to stay comfortable without being over crowded, use a heat lamp if that doesn't seem possible, south facing window for daylight and warmth from the sun, good layer of straw on bottom and continue to add on top instead of clean out(unless really mucky) b/c helps with insulation and in some cases decomposition can help with warmth (so I'm told). I also keep my birds in all winter unless it's really nice out (like many days last winter), but I'm sure there are many that don't.

You'll learn a lot your first winter, and every one after that. Each circumstance is different, so you'll have to find what works for you and your birds. But hopefully my suggestions will at least get the thought juices flowing and next thing you know you'll have this winter all planned out.

Have fun!

 

[PrincessTamTam]

Thank you PPP!

 

[snowknitter]

Hi all!

I am also in Manitoba! I'm south of Brandon.
Just started out this spring. Have a mixed group. Also, just had one of my broodies hatch out 5 chicks...so excited! Don't know the breed yet...a friend pulled a bunch of fertilized eggs from the nests...could be anything really! We free range.

We are currently wiring our coop for electricity, then re-insulating. We also plan to install some baseboards heaters for winter.

 

[baileyvivian]

I am also new from Manitoba, in the Carman area.

 

[sean75]

I am also from Manitoba in the Richer area. Just starting out have black australorps and Rhode Island whites.

 

[EcoConscious]

Hi everyone,
I live in Thalberg, 1 hour NE of Winnipeg, close to Grand Beach. I currently have OEG Bantams. I have 3 cockerels for sale or trade for bantam hens. Also have a pair of Black Rosecomb Bantams, they are 3 months old. I would love to find Silkies, if anyone knows where I can find some?
Michele

 

[difox33]

I'm located between Ste-Anne and Richer so very close to a couple of you. I have had chickens for quite a few years now. Mostly ISA brown. My hens were getting very old and ended up in the freezer.

Last summer a friend gave me 10 chicks which had been hatched by a class at the school where she worked. They are Bramah, ISA brown mix. Out of the 10, 8 turned out to be roosters

. I had then one rooster and 2 hens who spent the winter in a large insulated coop. Really not enough to keep each other warm. I had two heat lamps going for them and kept the temperature at -10°. To me one of the most important thing in that coop is the thermometer which I check every morning and night once the cold weather starts. After having to break the ice many times I decide to get a metal waterer and an electric heater base underneath. It works great! My husband and I build the coop. I wanted it really high so I could stand in it easily. There is also room on one side for shelf to store feed and other things. Also on the very tip of the coop there is a small square ??? structure with holes in it so that the air can circulate. I do add straw sometimes and clean on very warm day as late as possible in the fall and early in the Spring. I do clean more often in the summer.
This year, one of my hen decided that she would brood. At first, I kept taking the eggs then decided to let her go for it. At one time, I set up a 'cage' which can be taken apart and stored so Missy could look after her eggs/babies without the others pestering her. She hatched 7 chicks, 4 of them (hens) were bartered with a friend for a pot of her honey for each, 2 will be butchered (I do my own) and one I'm keeping as she is soooo cute, some would call her ugly but not me. I love different. This one from the neck up is black, with the rest of her body mostly grey a with some white. I think she is very pretty. Because of the Bramah in them, all have feathered feet. They are also winter sturdy, good for meat and laying.
Then I decided to get an incubator. Hatched 24 of them. Wow! not all survived. I had built a smaller chicken coop, for the little one as they grow. So they would go from the incubator in my bathroom to a brooder with heat lamp on the floor to the small coop and then to the big coop with the big boy 'Mr Roo and girls. In the small chicken coop 9 of them disappeared we think taken by some kind of predator bird, 5 were hiding totally stuck between the coop and the fence. We put a roof on that little pen quite quickly that same day.

 

[EcoConscious]

I am incubating Silkies and OEG bantam eggs, should hatch this Saturday if all goes well. First time trying and I made my own incubator. Having a hard time keeping the humidity up, so spraying the eggs a few times a day.
Also incubating two Pekin ducks eggs, should hatch in two weeks.
Candled all eggs and all looks good. Hopefully they all hatch!
My Silkie hen is sitting on 7 eggs.

 

[difox33]

you can also put a wet towel or face cloth on them or under the eggs to keep them moist.