Montana

[stoneunhenged]

Hedemora are Swedish chickens bred to live in snow.

 

[Chick N Haus]

I also live in a different part of the flathead. I have around 50 chickens with an insulated house, covered run for arial predators, electricity in my coop for water heating and light during the winter to encourage egg laying and heat for new chicks. People here are very friendly and helpful, good neighbors. Planting season is short, but there is plenty of support. Our extension service is awesome and there is a book out there written by a husband and wife who were or are professors which is all about the different growing regions in Montana. We are retired and I love it here. If you have a chance to move here, there is plenty of room.


Love those chickens, stoneunhenged. Where did you get them?

 

[9gerianMile]

Chick N Haus- what is the name of that book, if you don't mind my asking? I'd love to get a copy We've had some challenges with our gardening here.

 

[Chick N Haus]

Guide to Rocky Mountain Vegetable Gardening by Robert Gough and Cheryl Moore-Gough. This is really a great resource. They have written more than one book and if they don't know what's up in this state, no one does. These people live in their garden and have the degrees and experience to prove it.

 

[9gerianMile]

Thanks!

 

[montanachicks]

Guide to Rocky Mountain Vegetable Gardening by Robert Gough and Cheryl Moore-Gough. ** This is a great book!!

Hedemora are Swedish chickens bred to live in snow. I've never heard of this breed either, but boy, from the pictures they are a beautiful bird & I'd love to have a few !!

 

[karlamaria]

Hedemora are Swedish chickens bred to live in snow. 

what's there laying number( do they lay well ) also do you sell fertile eggs? I would love me some next spring!

 

[montanachicks]

Hoping to get some help/suggestions from fellow Montana chicken people!

This will be my first winter with chickens in this climate.... I have read alot of pros/cons on this site.... depending on what part of the country people live in.... about heating your coop. We know how brutal our winters & wind can be, therefore, I am choosing to install a heat lamp in my coop. It is approximately 8x10 in size. We are finishing the wiring to our coop tomorrow so I would like ideas.... I'm thinking of installing the heat lamp in the opposite corner, up on the wall but not near the roof, aimed towards the roosts (using a brooder lamp to protect the bulb). I am also installing lighting to give my chickens a few extra hours of light a day (on a timer)..... using a Rough Service bulb (sylvania) that the guy at Big R recommended to use in the coop. What is the highest watt I should use? -- all they had was a 60 watt in this bulb and I am wondering if that will be too much? Should this just hang from the ceiling, such as in a mechanic's light~~~~should I put in a regular socket in the wall? Don't know what would be best.

Also wondering about ventilation.... I have one window (plexiglass) that I can keep cracked even on the coldest days for a little ventilation.... is that sufficient for ventilation? Will put down lots of straw to help keep them warm, and of course, a heater for the water.


Any ideas or suggestions??? Thanks!!

 

[Chick N Haus]

My husband says the heat lamp should be suspended from the ceiling (so that it can be adjusted) no closer than 3ft away from the wall. He says he would use an incandescent bulb 100 watts for light. He says a crack is O.K. for winter, but may not be adequate for a hot summer. We have about 18 square feet of closable inlet air and 14 square feet of outlet air at a higher level and a thermostatically controlled fan to increase air flow. Our coop is 11x13, insulated. He says all your circuits in your coop should be GFCI protected. Hope that helps.

 

[karlamaria]

Heat no, you will not need it if you have insulation, believe me I was also worried, I' spoil my girls and also wanted to heat, but when I went out at night, my girls were fine. I have a vent cap on top of my coop, that's the only ventilation I have eve used. I have windows on three sides but I do not open them during winter time. I have never had a problem with humidity in the coop, why ? Because I clean all the poopy shavings every two weeks and my coop stays dry. I use shavings, so poop drys fast and diatomaceous earth in it. I also have a pen that is totally covered roof and sides get totally covered to keep wind out. There are pictures some where on here I posted . With my covered run, the birds do not have the bitter cold blowing into the coop through the pop door. The pen is dry, and covered from snow and wind and I think this has a lot to do with warmth for my girls. I have 4 inches of insulation between my coop walls, and use a tin can heater for the water. I also have stated I carpet my roosts. ( 2x4s) so there feet are not on a cold piece of wood, this has helped them sit on there feet and them be totally sitting on the 4 inch flat side . They went out every day into the pen, some liked to just look out the window and some spent the day out side. With the covered pen it makes for a more comfortable winter for my chickens. Granted some people have to big a pen to do this, but at 12x17 pen, I can do so easily. I heard around here some where opening a window for ventilation was not good, it allowed cold in instead of ventilating. my coop has electricity but I do not plan to heat my coop, unless it goes down to pretty low and last year when it hit 28 below my girls were warm and fine. Seriously I went out constantly during the nights and they were all huddled together and warm. Even there feet which was tucked up and under them on the nice carpeted roost. I used a very low low pile carpet .