Montana

[karlamaria]

Be careful, Looked up info for Butte, new ord only 6 chickens allowed used to be 25. They are under dangerous animals of all things, but dogs bite all the time.

I would love some advise. I have taken drastic action with my girls as the coop I have now has No insulation and it's metal, yes I know bad planning. Wasn't counting on these temps this year. Thinking of making a fence of straw around hen house, with tarp over top, it's a holy tarp, think the heater might work that way. $$ is issue this winter . Love my girls tho. Will fight to take care of them well.

Want to get together so you can help me brain storm? Hastings? Locketts?

that was an old ordinance, I went to the city council Last year, as long as you have enough room you can have up to 20 / 25

Do you have a garage you can keep them in ? Sounds like there shelter is not real hardy, how many girls do you have? Do you have a porch you can put them on, or a good dog house?

 

[karlamaria]

If you have a Facebook, there is a group called montana/Wyoming poultry, buy sell trade there are othere butte folks, who may be able to help you

 

[DuginMT]

My flock just fully emerged from their coop today after a week of not wanting to come out! It is above 35 now in Billings. I had seen a couple of hardy souls - an EE and a Grey Barred Rock, venture out a couple of times, but the rest of the flock stayed inside. I treated them to some cooked pork trimmings and baked potatoes this morning. King the rooster is crowing again, and appears to be recovering from having the tips of his comb frost-bit. Down to 4-7 eggs per day now and not currently giving eggs away. Those girls impressed me though, laying even 4 eggs per day when it was 20 below. Tried to pick eggs a couple of times per day, so only had one egg freeze and split lengthwise - still ate it though!

Have a great weekend all!

 

[Concerned01]

Cool, have 3 they are warm right now, working on a solution for the rest of the winter. Going to build a corral with straw to include the henhouse tarp over top and heater inside.
Hubby is going to get something for the door so it doesn't let in the -20 wind or snow.

I really like my girls all have personality. They make their happy noises and growl on occasion
Bit over all happy

Thank you for the info on that ordinance. I was really not too happy with that.

 

[karlamaria]

We added Christmas lights to our coop, white ones and ever chicken is laying lol. I figure it's not costing me much since there LEDs . We turn them on at 3:00am and off at 8:00 am. Going to set te timer back to 2:00 am here this week. It's great getting eggs from all the big girls, and my pullets my broody laid in the fall are starting to lay. We are waiting on two more birds and will then get 11 eggs a day. The rooster from the fall babies is crowing but also fertilizing the hens already! I'm hoping to get some chicks from him before he has to go.

 

[DuginMT]

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

 

[BadgerHill]

That's awesome! I have my timer and lights out, just haven't had the time to go hang them. Such great ideas here. I have some wheat sprouting for the girls too. Can't wait to see their happy dance when they see green!

 

[montanachicks]

ick ick & ugggg......... after the birds have been cooped up for over 2 weeks because of this horrible weather, it's only been the past 3 days that they would even come outside to get fresh air & warm enough to leave the pop door open during the day. I noticed when I got home from work late yesterday that there was a faint "ammonia" smell in the coop, and had intentions of mucking out a lot of the top layer of straw & wood chips on the floor, tomorrow. I got home today and went outside & the smell was so much worse, that as soon as I finished dinner, I was outside, in the dark (except for the light bulb inside the coop), cleaning. I filled up an entire wheel barrel full, then put down a nice layer of fresh dry straw & chips..... smell is so much better. I didn't have this problem at all last year, but then last year I didn't have 36 birds, either. Only about 20. We insulated the ceiling & 2 outside walls this fall, so I wonder if we insulated TOO much. There are still a few cracks (around the pop door) that air can get in & out.

Scared me, as I've always heard that this build-up of smell can lead to respiratory issues & death.

Any thoughts?

 

[FlySammyJ]

I've always read that you want to keep the floor draft-free but allow for constant air exchange around the roof, even in cold weather. Apparently humidity plays a big role in chill and frostbite, and moisture from the birds' breath and poop can build up if the coop is too well-sealed. Good job keeping it mucked out, that will help keep the humidity down.

To Concerned, straw is a great insulator if you have a good source. You can just stack it against the walls of the coop to add some thermal mass and block wind.

 

[PrairieRidge]

Hello Montana chick peeps I live in Bridger by Billings and I have some chickens that I would like to sell. One Easter egger rooster, one Swedish Flower Rooster these boys are beautiful and really don't want to put in the pot I also have a couple Olive egger hens too. Got too carried away with the incubating lol.

I would love to meet other chicken people in the erea too!