Minnesota!

[Andi]

I'll be darned. I could have sworn that I added a post on this thread to say hello to all of you fine Minnesotans. Better late than never.

I'm in West-central MN, about an hour South of Alexandria and an hour West of Willmar. I started my chicken adventures in Spring of 09, and I'm loving it! I started out with a bunch of chicks, some meat, some extras in case they didn't make it I wanted to make sure I ended up with a variety of girls.

I wasn't planning on getting any more than the 4 girls I have, but I just found myself ordering some hatching eggs. I'm just giddy! I just ordered 4 lav Orp and 4 Marans eggs. I'm still looking to find buff Orp eggs to hatch with them. The plan is to have my girls raise them to make integration into my little flock easier, well, and I have limited space. Once they are old enough to sex I'll be rehoming the extras. I only want 1 pullet of each. So, if any of you Minnesotans want to be put on a call list, pm me.

So, is anyone planning a get together this Summer?

 

[gudrin]

I just thought I'd add a hello. I'm in West Central Minnesota, near Morris. Look for the bump on the west side of the state and come in a couple of counties.

 

[kikidede]

From ND....I'm a newbie....How many of you have insulated your coops??? Do I need to insulate my coop if it's inside a non-insulated steel barn?

 

[Andi]

Quote:
First off, welcome.

It depends partially on what types of birds you intend on having. Some are cold hardier than others. I have cold hardy chickens, no rooster, and mine in minimally insulated. I use a heat lamp just to keep the water from freezing and the eggs from cracking until I can collect them in the Winter. Do you have to have it insulated, no.

 

[BuckMann Farm]

I just built a second coop. The new one is in the barn. I used 1" styro insulation when I framed it. Not really necessary as we have cold hardy birds, and there will be no drafts....just a little extra peace of mind.

 

[kikidede]

Thanks. I'm planning to utilize the wasted wall space in my non-insulated steel barn. The barn is warm for my horses and miniature donkeys, because it blocks the wind. I have kept the large overhead door open except during night blizzards.

I'm trying to balance the ideas of ventilation vs. insulating vs. weight overload(because of the wall mount theory).

I'm overly anxious that I don't know what the .... I'm doing either with this chicken thing! Yikes.

 

[Haazegirl]

We have cold hardy birds in an old (very old) barn. There is no insulation, only some extra boards to keep the critters from helping themselves to our meal. It was a very cold winter this year and our first winter with chickens. The roosters had a tiny bit of frost bite on their combs, but not too bad. We use a heated waterer and collected eggs every time we thought of it, but they stopped laying for winter. I suppose a heat lamp might have helped with that. 2 out of the 4 of us are allergic to eggs so it wasn't that bad either. Chickens are pretty easy, so if you have bigger animals you will do just fine, as long as there are no strong drafts. Our barn is supposedly 150 years old so it's pretty drafty, with a metal building in place I would have no worries!

 

[lorieMN]

Quote:
are you sure thats where you live?..I looked in my back yard and didnt see you there..lol..

 

[Andi]

Quote:
are you sure thats where you live?..I looked in my back yard and didnt see you there..lol..

Haha! I must have been busy playing with the chickens when you were looking.

 

[BuckMann Farm]

Anyone have any experience with the 5-7 mo old pullets that Anoka-Ramsey Farm & Garden sells. I'm told that they get their chicks from Murry McMurry Hatchery.