Minnesota!

[gofeedthegirls]

Good morning everyone. Have a great day!

 

[gofeedthegirls]

GFTG: 

If you decide to keep them you may find they
run into issues, nonetheless...internal egg laying, reproductive cancer of some sort, some odd infection.  Predation.  I've lost a few here and there this way. 

When you put it that way it does make sense...I mean they will have lived long happy lives(in chicken terms) the beat way to really honor them is give them a quick painless death and utilize everything that bird could have givin us.

 

[duluthralphie]

just thought i would check in its been a few days,,, sad nobody noticed,,,LOL... that's OK I'm still a newbie.. anyways all is OK in the hen house my new white girl is getting along just fine and blending good with the others (well she did have to kick butt 4 on one) but my new black girl is having a bit of problem she doesn't seem to have any gumption and sticks close to the white one for protection. she doesn't get pecked but she sure gets allot of exercise from being chased around. At night i have to pick them both up off the floor and place them on the roost, I always place the white one next to the others and the black one on the end in hopes that they wont pick on her...Any ideas how to get them to accept her???? So when does everyone start to winterize your coops??? i was thinking of putting the wrap around the outside soon i hate to have to do it in the snow...

I do not do a lot to winterize. I simply put a plastic piece over the windows to stop the direct breeze and allow the normal flow from below to vent the coop.

I might have to increase the ventilation in the one coop. I have not decided. To me there is not much difference between a summer coop and a winter coop, ventilation is needed in both. I have some draft when I take the plastic down in the one coop is my only difference. I do not worry about cold. Moisture is my nemesis.

 

[duluthralphie]

When you put it that way it does make sense...I mean they will have lived long happy lives(in chicken terms) the beat way to really honor them is give them a quick painless death and utilize everything that bird could have givin us.

I did not coin this, but subscribe to it completely, it is particularly true in the raising of my CX's.

"My chickens have many happy carefree days, followed by one really bad day."

 

[Minniechickmama]

Good morning, all!
It got a bit nippy here last night, apparently. I drove DD to school with her pile of stuff she had to haul and didn't want to take on the bus.
I got out to our corner and right away I saw the neighbor's lawn was covered in frost! Now, I don't think we were supposed to get down to that cold last night, but apparently so! I don't think we had any or if we did, it was just on the north side of the tree line. All the low spots in town were frosty, but it sits in a valley on the Zumbro River, so no surprise there. However, I am not really ready for that much cold! My birds will be fine so long as there isn't wet weather followed by 20-degrees at night. I need to fix part of the roof on the outdoor runs and close off the top of one end to birds and snow, and then change the wire to a solid wall on the other to keep snow out of the runs this year. Well, I have other projects too, but those are the foremost ones for the big building.
I am almost sold out of pullets that I need to move out, but still working on the 50 or so cockerels and a couple of older roosters who need to go. I have a few very nice Cochin cockerels I hate to sell for eating, but they can't stay here.

Well, I best get going and chip away at the yard and garden prep for winter. You all have a lovely day!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

We've had a smidgeon of frost every morning since Tuesday. Not real hard frosts just a bit to solidify the dew on a few blades of grass.

Those big full moons sure have been bright haven't they? Just gorgeous.

I start winterizing when there is a cold rainy straight wind that is going to turn into snow that day. But I've already laid the ground work out from my first year. I already have the cookie tin heater made for keeping open water. I have the extra bag of shavings already to deepen the floor bedding. And I already have the lath, nails and roll of plastic to cut to wrap the run. Just an hour's work or less and it's done. Bob's your Uncle.
For Newbs you'll need to think and plan out ahead what you want to do to your coops i.e., think about how you'll keep water open based on your type of waterer, how you'll deal with Snow in your Runs. Tarps do not hold well in wind and heavy snows unless you've really got them taught and well supported. I even have to batten down that clear plastic I wrap after a windy day. Can be a PITA. How you'll deal with poop removal from the coop, etc...etc...

Good Thursday Mornin' Every one!

 

[Cluckies]

Morning every one. I knew I shouldn't have come here on a work break, now I want to go home and work on my coop, run, and gardens!
Yep, like I've read, coming to work ain't bad, it's the 8 hour wait to go home that's bull sheet.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Days like these cluckies...it's really hard to be at work!

 

[MinnesotaNice]

I won't be running electric out to my coop this winter - any suggestions on how to keep water from freezing? I thought about riggin' up a cooler with some drinking nipples, but I really don't know if that's going to make much of a difference. I have a feeling I'll eventually give in and run a lengthy extension cord out and give the ladies a heat lamp.

 

[KlopKlop]

I won't be running electric out to my coop this winter - any suggestions on how to keep water from freezing? I thought about riggin' up a cooler with some drinking nipples, but I really don't know if that's going to make much of a difference. I have a feeling I'll eventually give in and run a lengthy extension cord out and give the ladies a heat lamp.

The laws of thermodynamics are against you. You won't keep water from freezing without adding heat. Your best bet is to have a water system that is easy to remove ice from and refill aka a rubber bucket as recommended by many in this thread.