Montana

[mobius]

Lol by people who dont live here!

It is raining. Honestly. SMH.

 

[Bantambird]

Hey! I worked in Kalispell art casting for a year, living in my grandparents basement in my 20s. I missed home though, and went back... It's just so dreary there compared to other parts of Montana...

 

[mobius]

The bronze? I know the owner of one of those places...just an acquaintance...sure is sunnier on the east side, and I lived in Billings for five years....before here!

 

[Bantambird]

Yeah, one of the bronze foundries. I was a spruer. I liked it.

 

[mobius]

Well. Weather not nearly as bad as forecast. Thank goodness. More like one foot. No blizzard. Etc. Honestly. All that freak out for not much...

The door to the run froze shut, however, not a good thing. Fixed it temporarily with a kettle of hot water. I think I will have to dig the ground out under it in the spring. Maybe the chickens can help.

 

[Blueyes132]

Got a question for you montanans....where do I find seeds of barley or wheat for making sprouts for chickens? I live by great falls, Helena and Missoula .

 

[Lonesome Dough]

So much for global warming, 8 degrees with three fresh inches and three more to come they say. if Al Gore was standing in front of me I would punch in the face.

 

[mobius]

Re: bags of seed for sprouting: Call your local feed store? I think the seeds need to be "untreated" in some way but I can't remember, one of the fodder posts here would have that info, but make sure you ask store or farmer for that...

The CHS here is a great store, very helpful folks, and local-ish...also look on Craigslist, I found farmers sell bags of seed, even now in the winter...

Failing that, health food store. How big are the bags you want?

 

[Adalida]

Which breeds of chickens have you all found do the best in the snow? Mine all come out to free range, even though they don't have many places to go, but there's definitely different tolerances of snow among them. My two white Orpingtons are the most fearless about snow. They're always the first ones out the door, determinedly slogging through new snow on the path to get to the porch. No hesitation at all. My Wyandottes are the most hesitant. They stand in the doorway and protest, then try to fly as far as they can. They pretty much stay under the porch once they get there, definitely don't like walking through snow! The new Hampshire reds, Rhode Island Reds, black australorps and buff orpingtons have to think about it for a minute before they venture out. I get a kick out of how adventurous the white orps are; nothing stops them, they always bolt out the door as soon as it's opened. The others will eventually follow them, sometimes right behind and sometimes an hour or two later.

 

[mobius]

My wyandottes do better than the Partridge Rocks. They are initially hesitant, but food outside the run and dust bathing areas brings them out.

Nice description of your breeds! I am just proud that mine will leave the run. They prefer straw on their paths but we can't have everything all the time

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