Minnesota!

[Cebarmlds]

I'm getting worried about Ralphie, he's not usually away this long.

 

[holm25]

Well today we butchered 2 beef steers.... Not fun at all... Kinda sad.... And tomorrow I butcher 7 roos and possibly 2 Chocolate Muscovy drakes. I have decided to butcher my old roo that I got with my first chicks and keep his son instead and of course I am keeping my Cochin roo Zeus.

 

[Cluckies]

My family is starting the planning process for getting our chickens and coops next Spring. Any helpful tips/threads to look at for getting started? I have gotten a number of books from the library, but would love some local MN advice. What have you found works best for 3-4 hens, keeping coop maintained, coop styles, keeping predators out, keeping hens warm enough in the winter, etc?

Thanks for any help! This is a wealth of information, but a bit intimidating to sort through to a newbie

I posted this the other day, I'll repost it here for you. Hope it has some information you can use.

Lesson’s from a small coop chicken keeper, in winter, in Minnesota

(Mostly learned from mistakes I’ve made my first year)

1 – Ventilation
Ventilation is good, drafts are bad.
Keep the ventilation up high. Do not let it run from low, up over the hens, and out.
Keep the hens’ heads out of the ventilation as well.
It should be passive ventilation, no wind, no drafts.
So, I wasn’t ready for winter last year when in November it went from 53 degrees and 100% humidity to 4 days later, below zero and still 80% humidity. It was terribly, terribly wet. And cold.
My chickens were up high, in the ventilation. I had the high roost up over the vent holes at the bottom, the ventilation came right up and over them. My fault, 2 ended up with frostbite (on their combs). The two closest to the ventilation holes on the bottom.
Took out the high roost, so now they are on a low roost on the back wall the farthest away from the low ventilation holes as they can get. No new frostbite after that.

2 - The drier the better.
So, my henhouse is approx. 4.5x6.5x6ft. It is a good size for 5 or 6 chickens to sleep. Just under 30 square ft. So, how to keep moisture down in such a small area? It is not easy.
I laid down a bag of Sweet PDZ, (Horse Stall Refresher) directly on the floor of the henhouse, then covered the sweet PDZ with pine shavings. This keeps the henhouse drier. The sweet PDZ is zeolite.
From the sweet PDZ site: How Does Sweet PDZ Work?
Sweet PDZ is extremely effective at neutralizing and removing ammonia and odors, because of its two special properties:
Adsorption - Which is the sticking of the ammonia gas molecule to the surface of the Sweet PDZ granule. When the Sweet PDZ granules desorb, or dries out, the ammonia odor molecule is driven off the surface of the mineral as nitrogen. This is why spent (used) bedding material that includes Sweet PDZ, works so well as a slow release fertilizer or as an enhancement to composting.
So, it not only keeps it drier in the henhouse, it absorbs odor and keeps ammonia down as well. A win/win.
If you have frost on the inside of your windows, it is too we in there, you need to lower the humidity. You can try more ventilation, or drier bedding, or both.

3 – Do you need heat?
Many people say no. Do you need it? Probably not. As the guy at the feed store said, he only lost a couple to the cold last year. The year before that was way worse. When you have many, many chickens, it is probably no big deal, when you have 5-6 or less? And they are pets? Yeah. So, I did add heat. No heat lamps, risk of fire is too high. I added a flat panel wall mounted ceramic heater, it gets hot to the touch, but does not get burning hot to the touch. Now, people say, “Well what if the power goes out? They’ll be used to having heat, so now they will die.” Ummm, so there is a difference between heating to take the edge off and heating to 70 degrees. I have my heater plugged into a thermocube, it turns on at zero and stays on until it climbs back up to 10 degrees above zero. So basically, last year when the temp went to 24 below, it turned on at zero, had to try and heat the hen house, by the time it got to 24 below zero, the henhouse was up to a balmy 7 degrees above zero. If the power goes out, which it did last year on a very cold night, the hens were fine. They weren’t used to being warm, it was just enough heat to take the edge off. I also placed a seeding mat on the wall behind the roost. The seedling mat heats up to 10-15 degrees above ambient. I didn’t think it was doing much (this was before I got the flat panel heater) but one morning I went out there, it was below zero, they were all facing the wall, so they must have felt the heat coming off of it)
I also placed a piece of left over green house panel above the roost to keep the body heat around them, did I need it? Don’t know, I was just experimenting, but it seemed to work pretty well, so I left it.
I was going to put that silver reflective blanket on the walls. I actually did, but the hens wouldn’t go on the roost because they were scared, so I took it out, didn’t really need it.

4 – The run
Cover the run and block the wind on at least the north and west sides. You can use whatever you want. I use green house panels because they are sturdy, and fit against my hardware cloth well, and can be taken down and put up quickly. But, they are spendy. If I wasn’t using those, I would use thick clear plastic sheeting. Some people use tarps, but they are hard to keep in place and they make it dark in the run. The plastic sheeting lets light in. If you use plastic sheeting, I’d rig it somehow where you can lift up the south side and put them down when it is raining or snowing. It rained in my run last year, then it froze. Don’t want them jumping off of roosts onto frozen ground. Then it snowed in my run, and I was shoveling out the run. No good. So then I put the panels up on every side all winter long, I left the south side open, but did add them to the south side when it is going to rain or snow. The plus side of the greenhouse panels was that on very cold days it warmed up the run a little. Win/win.

5 – Frozen Water
I do not keep water in the henhouse, remember, you want it dry in there. Plus, mine only go in the henhouse to sleep, or to lay eggs, even at 24 below they were in the run, out of the wind, but in the run.
I keep 2 waterers out in the run because I’m a worry warden. If one freezes up, hopefully the other one doesn’t. I leave for work at 5am and don’t get home until 4 or after, so I need heated waterers, or it would be frozen by the time they get up and out to the run around 8 or so.
I have an electric dog dish, raised off of the ground. Inside of that I place a black rubber dish which I can change out easily. I place a gallon jug of sand in the middle so the chickens can’t walk in it. I bring the rubber bowl and the sand in overnight to warm up. (some people use a dog dish, the plastic one with the straight sides and they put an ice cream bucket in there, good idea as well). When it got really cold, below zero, I had to take the rubber bowl out and use the heated dog dish directly. The second waterer I have is a 2 gallon pail with horizontal nipples. Inside I have a bird bath deicer, and a pond pump that keeps it circulating. I did try the Farm Innovators 3 Gal. heated plastic poultry fountain, from fleet farm, the white one with the red plastic bottom, it froze. But that is not why I stopped using it. One day when I was picking it up to bring it in and refill it, the bottom came off, there was water all over the run. I was scooping up extremely cold water in below freezing weather with my bare hands trying to get it out of my run before it froze. Ouch, you are gone my friend. Anyone want an almost new 3 gallon heated waterer used only a few weeks?
My waterers are plugged into a thermocube that comes on at 35 degrees and shuts off at 45 degrees.
Some people only use the rubber dishes, then they turn them over, stomp them out, and refill. If I was home while the chickens were up and out, I would have no problem with this. I use these in the summer.
Some people also use cookie tin heaters, or cinder block chicken water heaters. Google each for directions on how to make them.

6 – Nesting boxes
Frozen eggs. When you leave for work at 5am and get home at 4pm, it is unavoidable. However, I only had a few frozen eggs last year. I bought an unheated pet warming pad, where their body temp warms up the pad. Since my hens always use the same box, and take turns, it seemed to work most days to keep the eggs un-frozen. One in, one out, one in, one out… so this seemed to work for the most part. I’ve seen where they use seedling mats, it heats the mat to 10 to 15 degrees above ambient temp. Be careful, I bought one to try and just placed it in the main part of the henhouse with pine shaving over it, as it heated the shavings, the temp went up, then the mat temp went up (remember 15 degrees above ambient) then the shavings heated up, then the mat. Pretty soon the mat was up to 90 degrees. So I nixed that. But maybe if you don’t cover it too much it would be fine? Let me know if you decide to try this. If it gets really cold and stays there, I may resort to a heating pad set on the lowest setting and see if that works. I bought one that you can turn off the automatic shut off. Plastic and you can place the cover on it, or not. We’ll see about this, if needed. I’m kind of scared to do this, will the hens stay in the nest box all day because it is warm? I don’t know.
If I think of anything I forgot, I’ll come back and update.

7 - Dust baths
I have 3 areas for dust baths in my run, now. You really only need 1, they will share. I take a big rubber round feed thing from fleet farm and a rubber maid tote and add organic peat moss. sometimes i'll DE to it if I remember. they love it. lesson learned, buy a few bags in the fall before winter, as midwinter, you cannot find it. I get the organic peat moss from Fleet farm or menards. The girls love it and get in it as soon as I put it in there, they pick around in it, then dive in.

Here are some links I found very informational:

Poop board convert
DIY Instructions for Very EASY heated waterer for under $20 bucks

Mama heating pad

Wichita cabin coop
my coop is based off of this, to see my coop click on "My coop" under my avatar. they also have a facebook page with many other coops people have built Facebook page wichita cabin coop

 

[KlopKlop]

I was out doing lockup and could hear a 'yote howling from just the other side of our field. I was so proud of my Piper, she heeled up by my side and listened so well. I was worried she would run off and chase it but i could tell she wanted to stick by me. Not sure if she was being protective or a scaredy pup but i am going to think the former

it does seem a bit eerie around here without ralphie, doesnt it. he probably is reading along from his iphone but waiting to see how long until we start talking about how much we miss him

 

[KlopKlop]

Oh and i am excited about kitty news too! i put in a litter box for them this afternoon and by tonight after i got in, at least one had already peed in it! i didnt even do any training or set them in it or anything! huzzah!

 

[Minniechickmama]

The crows and killdear also announce them at my house many times. I would like to throw out stuff for the crows, but they don't usually seem to come close enough. I"ll have to try cat food and see. I read an article where all these crows will leave gifts for people who leave them food. I'll see if I can find it, I thought it was so sweet!

Found it!

Crows bring gifts

I bought a book about Crows and Ravens, intending to read it, a couple of years ago. Now I want to find it and start reading. I love all kinds of birds and have seen documentaries about the crow/raven family and how smart they are. One was about a Raven that learned to fish. The person who started the fishing (ice type), set a line out through a whole and staked it to the shore. He was catching fish fairly regularly, then he wasn't getting any. So, he set up a camera and found that the raven was coming and taking his fish, then putting the line back in the water again. LOL!

 

[Minniechickmama]

Hi all - new here from Roseville, MN. Anyone in the area?! My family is starting the planning process for getting our chickens and coops next Spring. Any helpful tips/threads to look at for getting started? I have gotten a number of books from the library, but would love some local MN advice. What have you found works best for 3-4 hens, keeping coop maintained, coop styles, keeping predators out, keeping hens warm enough in the winter, etc?

Thanks for any help! This is a wealth of information, but a bit intimidating to sort through to a newbie

and most especially, THE MINNESOTA PAGE!!!

There are more ways to build coops than you could ever find in a day or a week. The main thing I tell people is make sure it is easy to clean!! If it is a pain to get to to clean, then the fun factor becomes reduced.
Make it so you have plenty of room for them no matter the weather.
Make it so it is DRY. You don't have to add heat to a coop if it is dry and draft-free in the cold season.
Put your feed in a dry place as well to avoid spoilage, which can kill chickens if it gets moldy.
Build your coop and run to withstand whatever predators you might encounter before you put them in, then you don't have to worry about "what if _____ gets in?" after they are in it.
There are many people on here with great ideas. You came to the right place for questions!

 

[Minniechickmama]

Hey ladies and gentlemen, haven't been on in quite some time due to a new fiancé and stepson moving in, but its time to get a couple more chickens. My old black orpington finally succumed to her on again- off again crop issue and my easter egger was the victim of a possum or raccoon attack, so red2 (my buckeye) needs some chicken friends before winter arrives.
I'm looking for at least one easter or olive egger and either another ee/oe or another interesting, cold hardy breed like a barnevelder, sussex or orpington.
If anyone has a couple young hens available in or around the twin cities please let me know asap. I can come grab them late this week or this weekend.

Thanks in advance!
Phil

Well the inside of the run is coming together for the winter.. there is still more i want to do... there is about a 12 inch gap from plastic to the underside of the metal roof just not noticeable in pics..

You are going to have the happiest hens in the city!!! You have done an awesome job at getting all of this together. You should be very proud. And the next time your son starts trying to pull rank, you take him out and show him all you have accomplished and let him know that this is replacing the shopping mall. Do you think the DIL will talk him into getting the bug? Wouldn't it be hilarious if he did, then you could turn around and play that roll with him that you are "worried about him spending too much time with his chickens." LMBO!!! That would be so, so funny.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I have the best news to share!!!
Federal Wildlife peeps were here today and for public safety there are now 3 traps set up to catch the young yearling wolf that has made itself home here!!
The guy today was the same one here before. He told me some of the game camera shots showed it was without a doubt wolf. I even had a print covered with a cookie tin for him to see!!

When he pulled up today I must have looked like a daycare center. I had about 15 kids running around the yard. He noticed and said something about the safety of the kids. I am relieved. And I know my kids will sleep better and feel more confident going outside to play.

I am glad you got to have the last say in this matter with all those photos. The footprints alone should have been enough, but you didn't leave them any room for doubt. Great job! I hope this is the end of your problems with the wolves for a long time.

Since you guys are all baby obsessed you should be excitedl to hear my SISIL is pregnant. I'm going to have another niece or nephew in 8 months or so!

Congratualtions!

Well today we butchered 2 beef steers.... Not fun at all... Kinda sad.... And tomorrow I butcher 7 roos and possibly 2 Chocolate Muscovy drakes. I have decided to butcher my old roo that I got with my first chicks and keep his son instead and of course I am keeping my Cochin roo Zeus.

Never fun to have to do the deed, but you are doing great. It is what needs to be done, and the sooner you can get that understood the easier it becomes. Just never lose sight that they were once living creatures and give them a decent life to the end.

I was out doing lockup and could hear a 'yote howling from just the other side of our field. I was so proud of my Piper, she heeled up by my side and listened so well. I was worried she would run off and chase it but i could tell she wanted to stick by me. Not sure if she was being protective or a scaredy pup but i am going to think the former

it does seem a bit eerie around here without ralphie, doesnt it. he probably is reading along from his iphone but waiting to see how long until we start talking about how much we miss him

That is what I am guessing, or he dropped his phone in the water when trying to catch those bullheads.

Oh and i am excited about kitty news too! i put in a litter box for them this afternoon and by tonight after i got in, at least one had already peed in it! i didnt even do any training or set them in it or anything! huzzah!

It is my experience that they want to hide their poop and pee, so I am not surprised.
Did you know rabbits are easily trained to use a litter box as well? Put a little poop in one with shavings and in no time, most will start using it.
I still love our little Mila Kitty, even though she scratched and growled at me a couple days ago. There was an egg not he ground that I dropped accidentally, and she didn't want the other two to eat it all.

 

[scandiafowl]

Well.. The news coming from the local Scandia dentist office is the sighting of a black bear off of Hwy 3.