Montana

[karlamaria]

Do any of you organize Meet ups/Swaps in MT?

Not sure, Im pretty new around here. hows it going in your neck of the woods? cold here, having to wrap my tomato"s each night now. will be winterizing the pen this week with a new truck load of sand for the pen, and wrapping the pen in plastic to keep the snow , wind and wet weather out ! Set up the tin warmer for the water and start buying more feed for winter. also going to get more black oil seeds and some hen treats and more freeze dried meal worms to keep them happy. I hate winters here !

 

[Chick N Haus]

I am too new as well to know if there are get togethers, but would be interested to hear.

 

[pinkchick]

Hi All!!!!!!!

Thought I would pop by and visit the Montana thread and ask some questions as my hubby and I are thinking of moving to your beautiful state. Looking to be in or around the Helena area, give or take an hour or so in any direction, or surrounding areas.

How different is it raising chickens in the Montana climate? I'm in SW Washington state, winters here are very mild, but very wet. I don't worry too much about the birds here when we have our annual 2 week cold snaps, but I know the winters in Montana are slightly different. I'm a snow lover so I am looking forward to the change, but wonder how the birds will fair.

How do geese get along?


Anyone have any tips on gardening....vegetable and flower? I'm a fanatic about being able to grow my own food and dabbling in ornamental flowers....how do tubers and bulbs fair the winters there? Do you have to remove them from the ground and over winter in storage?

Tell me if you will what it is that you love about life in Montana.

Thanks in advance!

Kim (aka Pink)

 

[karlamaria]

Hi All!!!!!!!
Thought I would pop by and visit the Montana thread and ask some questions as my hubby and I are thinking of moving to your beautiful state. Looking to be in or around the Helena area, give or take an hour or so in any direction, or surrounding areas.
How different is it raising chickens in the Montana climate? I'm in SW Washington state, winters here are very mild, but very wet. I don't worry too much about the birds here when we have our annual 2 week cold snaps, but I know the winters in Montana are slightly different. I'm a snow lover so I am looking forward to the change, but wonder how the birds will fair.
How do geese get along?
Anyone have any tips on gardening....vegetable and flower? I'm a fanatic about being able to grow my own food and dabbling in ornamental flowers....how do tubers and bulbs fair the winters there? Do you have to remove them from the ground and over winter in storage?
Tell me if you will what it is that you love about life in Montana.
Thanks in advance!
Kim (aka Pink)

Hi pink! Welcome to our little part of the world! I live in butte, it's cold here but chickens if done right do just fine here. Coops need to be insulated well, a good covered pen wit a roof is best since the snow can be a pain if it's on the ground in your pen, and a tin can heater to keep water unfrozen makes chickens here easy. I paid some good money to have my coop insulated very well, and my pen is perfect for Montana as it has a nice slanted roof for snow to fall off the back of it, hard wired cloth for protection, and I wrap the whole thing in clear heavy duty plastic so the snow and wind can not get in. My girls love the pen dry, and the plastic saves my girls from the brittle cold. I put a piece of plywood cut to fit over the door and it's held in place by a large stretchy tie down to keep wind and snow from going through the door way to. We used a dog kennel last year and tarps but found it was hard keeping the snow and water off the top and making a mess. This spring I decided I was not going to deal with the pen , the tarps flapping in the wind, the tarps being weighted Down from snow and melting snow. I'm so glad I had a new pen built with a roof and angled so the snow falls off and away . It's freezing so a tin can heater is the best ever. We also got an electric coop door so np more trips in the freezing cold ! Oh and we had electricity added so we could put a heat lamp in case it gets below 20 degrees . And it does believe me lol. My girls will molt this winter, the heat lamp will help so they do not freeze lol.
Helena is nice, you will like the erea., and 60 miles from me. Are you doing just chickens or other animals as well? Not sure about flowers, mine come up every year and I have not had to remove them.

 

[SkyWarrior]

Hi All!!!!!!!
Thought I would pop by and visit the Montana thread and ask some questions as my hubby and I are thinking of moving to your beautiful state. Looking to be in or around the Helena area, give or take an hour or so in any direction, or surrounding areas.
How different is it raising chickens in the Montana climate? I'm in SW Washington state, winters here are very mild, but very wet. I don't worry too much about the birds here when we have our annual 2 week cold snaps, but I know the winters in Montana are slightly different. I'm a snow lover so I am looking forward to the change, but wonder how the birds will fair.
How do geese get along?
Anyone have any tips on gardening....vegetable and flower? I'm a fanatic about being able to grow my own food and dabbling in ornamental flowers....how do tubers and bulbs fair the winters there? Do you have to remove them from the ground and over winter in storage?
Tell me if you will what it is that you love about life in Montana.
Thanks in advance!
Kim (aka Pink)

Very different, actually. Winter, you'll see spates of negative temperatures. Around Helena, you can expect to see temperatures dip as low as -40F with serious wind in some parts. Rogers Pass which is near Helena has the all-time lowest recorded temperature in the lower 48 of -70F.

Different areas have different snowfalls, but depending on your elevation, you can get anywhere from 30+ inches a season all the way up to huge amounts in the 6 to 15 feet range. Some places get thaws and freezes that cause thick layers of ice. Unless you stay in the valleys, you'll need 4WD. (Even so, I recommend it).

Growing season is brutally short even in the valleys. Plan on starting seeds in greenhouses of cold frames and expect the frost in either September or October. Most people don't plant their gardens until after Memorial Day. Early harvesting plants are important. Altitude is hugely important. Just a few hundred feet makes a significant difference either direction. The good news is that we get a lot of light here during the summer so plants grow well. Cold storage -- you can do that, but don't forget we have rodents. Also, deer can cause a huge loss in your flowers and vegetables. Plant flowers and plants that will thrive in Montana and you'll be better off. The extension office can give you ideas what will work where you're going to live. Either that, or plan on planting annuals and paying for a new group every spring.

Water is difficult. It pretty much stops raining July 1st and we don't get decent rain until sometime late in September or October. Fire season hits shortly after the rains stop. This year has been ugly. Right now the air quality has been unhealthy for several days here in Missoula. Helena has a lot of beetle kill, so be aware of that. Those beetle kill stands make great fuel for wildfires. Look up the fires in the local papers. The Mustang Complex and the Sawtooth Mountain are the ones we're dealing with on the western slope.

Chickens -- you'll need someplace where the chickens can get out of the wind and elements. You also have to figure in predators such as wolves, black bears, mountain lions, grizzly bears, lynx, bobcats, coyotes, hawks, eagles, and probably dogs. I've dealt with frostbite on my chickens, even with an enclosed barn, and had to amputate chicken toes. Even so, losing a few chickens do occur from time to time due to the extremes. Plan on cold-hardy chickens with small combs. Geese do pretty well.

I love hunting here in Montana. I also love having animals and being away from people. It's a great state, but it can be a headache for folks who aren't prepared for the extremes and the wildness.

 

[9gerianMile]

I second the chicken winter issues. We had some frostbite issues our first year w/ chickens. You really need to have them trained to go to their roosts before dusk, and have their feeding area covered from aerial predators. We have Bald Eagles (which I thought were regal until they stole some birds), hawks, huge crows, etc. I've found that our system takes care of the large land predators. LGD, guard dog, alert dog (3 separate dogs/breeds), large stock with horns, frequent gunfire in the range on-property, and meat-eating male (DH) 'marks' around the property. Bears, wolves and lions keep a wide birth, and coyotes haul butt through, going nowhere near the animals.

Our chickens have free reign of the property, but stick to the front 3 acres fairly religiously. I am going to have a tractor for my Silkies, but the laying flock is free-range for pest control/entertainment purposes.

We are located in a tight N/S valley outside Missoula. Wind is at a minimum, which is nice year round, but especially in winter. We have an artesian well and a large creek/springs nearby, so water isn't an issue for us. It really depends on your property location, water, terrain, etc. Pretty much every property has its own set of pro's and con's.

We really like the people outside of the cities in MT. They're generally polite, packing, and helpful. We enjoy the privacy outside of town, and ranching is something we look forward to teaching our kids. It's a very different life up here compared to how DH and I were raised in huge cities in South Western states.

 

[karlamaria]

I never had an issue with frost bite, but again my coop and run is so protected lol. and I have a very large vent cap on my coop so the coop stays warm but vented. here is the coop and run, note its not painted in the pic, we did finish the painting on it LOL'

 

[karlamaria]

a much better coop and pen from last year.. 5x6 coop, and 10x10x10x10 dog pen.


oh and the grass is all grown back now lol. that pen kept my girls dry but was to dark, this year we are putting plastic over the pen to keep it dry and wind free and it will stay light inside.
the coop for my 10 girls is around 9x6 10x6. and the pen is twice as large now also.

 

[stoneunhenged]

The Flathead is one of the prettiest areas on the planet. I have a pen of hedemora chickens near the Swan River.

 

[karlamaria]

The Flathead is one of the prettiest areas on the planet. I have a pen of hedemora chickens near the Swan River.

I love flathead!!! and those are some amazing chickens. I c an not have roosters, but man I would love some of those hens!!! How are they at laying? never heard of these birds will have to go look. LOL< my chickens have never touched snow. I open the pen and they back away and look at me like Im nuts LOL