Montana

[karlamaria]

Karlamaria, your chickens are doing great!  Glad those lights worked for you.

it was an awesome winter, they laid all winter and we had more eggs then we could use so i sold the extras. The light still comes on, but only 3 hours now, im going to be sure to use the lights next winter also, it makes for collecting fun and i made lots of quiche lol.

 

[EnnisLakeFarm]

My girls finally started laying again, I didn't get a light in with them soon enough and they went into a lengthy molt.
Oh and I'm back after a year+ hiatus, did I miss anything?

 

[MTLandscaper]

Hello, MTLandscaper. Just wondering about your insulated coop. I had mine insulated this past fall, and most of this winter, I have had issues with an "ammonia" odor in the coop. I have it ventilated. I believe that the main issue is probably from the straw/wood chips that I have on the floor, and am religious about cleaning it every week. As soon as this weather breaks and things dry up some, I am switching over to sand on the floors.

Just wondering if you've had any problems like?

I believe the ventilation is a big thing. I have a 32' X 16' coup that is split into two with just wire. I have 20 birds on each side so there is more room per bird than actually needed. I use dry stall when I first put down bedding then I do add clean bedding every week/week and a half(like Karlamaria) if I'm not able to do a full cleaning. I try to clean every two to three weeks but have gone four weeks a few times in the winter. I should say, when I add extra bedding I also add more dry stall and a little heavier under the roosts. Another thing is if I go longer on the cleaning I try to at least still clean under the roosts(I had a bit of ammonia odor when I went longer on the cleaning but didn't clean under the roosts. Mainly when I have all hens together. Roosters together don't seem to get it as smelly). So I think it is a combination of good ventilation and having more room than necessary. With the chickens turning the bedding over in that much space and cleaning under roosts more often, the area stays pretty loose and dry.

 

[RoyalT]

Man, been a while- Had my new baby, so things have been busy around here! But I just got some new chicks and a couple Guinea keets to try out, so looking forward to that How's everyone been? Crazy winter this year, eh? We broke a ton of records here in the 'banana belt'

 

[EnnisLakeFarm]

Man, been a while- Had my new baby, so things have been busy around here! But I just got some new chicks and a couple Guinea keets to try out, so looking forward to that How's everyone been? Crazy winter this year, eh? We broke a ton of records here in the 'banana belt'

Congrats on the baby!

 

[karlamaria]

Congrats on the new baby! Boy?girl? You have been busy we have had a great winter, lost a three year old bird, ,not sure why but i believe egg bound . Other then that my girls are doing wonderful!

 

[RoyalT]

Another boy! His name is Sam He's wonderful! And Ty is a proud big brother!

Winter was hard here, many -20* nights, many records set. Sam was born on the coldest night, -23* in our normally quite temperate valley. Home birth, just over 2 hours labor, I think we're done with babies, I don't want an unattended birth! It was close this time, but hubby and midwife made it in time!

My poor roosters have no points on their combs anymore, Had a few surprise cold snaps- my bad! Everyone's good otherwise We are down to just the yaks, dogs, a bunny, a kitten, and the poultry. Had to simplify a bit! I have two quite-pregnant yaks, just waiting for the calves to drop... Had one drop in December during a cold snap, didn't make it Have better hopes for these ones now that it's warmer.

Here are the new chicks, just the first batch of Spring Got them free w/ purchase of feed!

 

[RoyalT]

Hey all, anyone have any idea what a fagitta is? Murdochs states there getting these in thursday and spelled the name to me. I have only seen one other post here besides mine which i posted earlier.

MY POST

I called Murdoch's and they stated there getting Fagitta in and i said there is no such bird, he says its a cross between a RIR, new Hampshire and i for got the other BREED. any ways what do you all know about this chicken? And any PICS?

I think you mean Sagitta?

 

[karlamaria]

Beautiful children! So glad you did well and had a home birth, how cool! I was wondering if you still had the Yaks lol, can not wait to see babies. Yeah i meant Sagitta, the guy at murdochs spelled it wrong lol

 

[DuginMT]

Hello Montanans! Haven't posted for awhile. I went to Big R today and saw that they have a nice selection of chicks in, mostly good layer breeds. I don't plan to buy any chicks this year but am hoping one of the BA's goes broody again soon so we can put some eggs under her.

My bird's plumage condition is pretty bad this spring, I don't know if it is molting or feather pecking - likely a combination of both. Half the chickens have significant feathers missing on their backs and butts, and one has almost no neck feathers. After reading up on this site, I think I may have been giving them too high a percentage of scratch, and not enough protein, so this morning I cut their scratch in half and mixed in 22% protein meat bird feed with their 16% layer feed, 1:1 ratio, to give them a protein boost. Also I sprayed the chickens and the coop with a solution of Permethrin in order to kill any mites that may have been bothering them. Five still wear aprons, and I have been rotating the aprons as needed, and they seemed to have really helped. My chickens may not look so great right now, but they seem healthy and happy and are giving me 8-10 eggs per day out of the 12 hens. I can say "hens" now instead of "pullets" since they are officially over one year old since about five days ago! Have a great week!