Nevadans?

[Eglyntine]

Growing up in Maine where it stays -25 to -30 from about Dec to March I can tell ya we never put a light or a heater in the chicken coop. It was not insulated either. The chickens body heat was enough to keep them warm. In the winter we had roughly about 30 to 40 birds in an 8X10 coop. We had mostly Australorps, Sussex, RIR and Light Brahmas with a few misc breeds thrown in for uniqueness. We kept the water and feed inside the coop and rarely had to break it up from the cold just because again the body heat from the hens being in the coop was enough to keep the water warm enough not to freeze.

I think Ron's idea with the sun roof is pretty ingenious as it allows the heat from the sun to get in there during the winter time and will help during the summer time with drying out the wetness that builds up from lack of sun light to dry it out. Pure genius.

I agree with Sunny though, there are a ton of different theories out there. I am not worried about the cold weather as much as I am about the heat.

I know how to deal with the cold weather but I am concerned that during the summer it is going to get super hot in that coop. Do any of you put a fan in your coop during the summer?

Of course I would need a coop to be worried about to start with...

 

[Paladare]

Hello fellow Nevadans!

We are new to the site and trying to get started with a small flock in our backyard. Thanks to all the helpful posts here, we have successfully educated ourselves and pimped up our coop but who knew it would be so hard to find hens at this time of the year! If any one has leads or any hens/pullets for sale would you please. let us know? Our poor coop is in desperate need of some fowl tenants.

Thank you so much! Looking forward to learning and sharing more on this forum.

We are in the las Vegas area and willing to drive a few hours to pick up our new friends!

 

[Eglyntine]

Welcome to the forum! There are some really great chicken folk down in your area that are really helpful. We have quite a few listing on Craig's list up here but I do not know about the Vegas CL's. It is a good place to keep an eye out for chickens. You can also order baby chicks from Ideal. I think they have one more processing starting Nov 11th. Of course that will not get you eggs until the spring.

We'd love to see pictures of your coop and setup if you have them. It is always neat to see how other ppl build their coops and chicken pens. We are very addicted to pictures around here. *LOL*

 

[SunnyDawn]

Quote:
You are very welcome!

Eglyntine that is great to know. I don't have quite so many birds in my 8'x11' coop so I doubt they are warm enough to handle those kind of extreme temps but luckily it's never gotten very far below 0 here where I'm at.

Wow I can't imagine temps that cold!!! BRRRRR.
Quote:

I think we're supposed to get a short break from the rain on Saturday...

Good luck!

Paladare, welcome to BYC and the Nevada thread!!!

We have some great folks down there in your area. Stay tuned, maybe someone can help you out with a few birds to start your flock with. I am planning a trip down there in spring to pick up a few babies/eggs. It is much easier to get chicks in spring but hopefully you can score a few anyway.

 

[Eglyntine]

Quote:

I think we're supposed to get a short break from the rain on Saturday...

Good luck!

Most of the time the chickens still stayed outside. They acclimate really well to weather and those temps I gave were day time temps. You are going to laugh but I think one of the biggest differences is that it is a dry cold up there. (kind of like the dry heat here) So you do not have that piercing bone chilling cold. Even though I grew up in sub-zero temps I am still chilled to the bone here because the winter is very wet. But with the coop it cuts down on the draft factor so they should still stay pretty warm inside your coop.

I have been reading the Maine thread quite a bit, mostly for nostalgia reasons but there is a lot of really good advice on there for winter boarding of chickens that you can check out if you are interested.

Paladare, welcome to BYC and the Nevada thread!!!

We have some great folks down there in your area. Stay tuned, maybe someone can help you out with a few birds to start your flock with. I am planning a trip down there in spring to pick up a few babies/eggs. It is much easier to get chicks in spring but hopefully you can score a few anyway.

If all goes well I will have hatching eggs for GLW, SLW, Buff Orps, and Black Australorps in the spring. I am going to be hatching chicks too so if anyone is interested in any of these breeds let me know and I will keep track of it for the spring.

 

[SunnyDawn]

No Eglyntine that does not sound wierd. The coldest I've ever been was in Flagstaff Arizona at about -5 degrees. The wind was terrible and it blew little frozen rain crystals into your skin. It felt like glass cutting into my face! That was way too cold! I'll take a dry cold any day. BTW it is not usually nearly so wet here during winter. This is freaky weather for this area! In fact last winter was very unusual too with all the snow we got (even into June)! That's how these things seem to run, a few years of drought then a few years of above average precipitation.

Now the weather report says rain on Saturday (again)! We'll have our normal allotment for the whole year in October alone! I know, I know, it doesn't count toward water requirements unless it's locked up in the snowpack.
Well I'm keeping my fingers crossed for clear weather on Sunday. DH needs to get up on the roof and check things out. We have a small leak and since it only happened once, during the last storm, I'm assuming it's not a pipe.

On a more pleasant note my Ameraucanas are finally laying!!!

They are the 2 on top.

I think they are from my wheaton Ams since the blacks are showing no signs of being close yet and the wheatons have been pretty red in the face for about 3 weeks now.

 

[SparksNV]

=====sigh=====


those are beautiful eggs, Sunny!!!!

I'm still doing the egg wait but Sassy is doing the egg squat!

does anyone use straw in their run/coop for winter? I put some out yesterday and all the girls did was trash it all over their run. I didn't put any in the bottom of the coop (pine shavings there) but I did put some in the (hopefully soon to be) nesting boxes.

So my questions:

where do you put your straw (if you use it)?
do you save it and put it out on top of the snow - when it snows?
do you put it in the bottom of your coop for added warmth? (my coop is not insulated - i have a light in there but it is a flourescent light)

welcome to the newbies!

carol

 

[daegorn]

Let me say I want some of your rain!!

We are supposed to get 3" a year I think, have had that, NO! DH drove home the other day and said it was raining on the way in to work starting outside the town limits all the way to Vegas and all the way back home to the town limits. No rain at the house.

SunnyDawn, who layed the dark eggs, Marans, Welsommers?

 

[SunnyDawn]

Quote:
Hopefully Sassy will lay soon Carol!

I use straw in my nesting boxes only. Seems like I have to change it a lot less often than I had to change the pine shavings. The straw lets some of the mess fall through but the eggs rest on top. I tried it in my run once, never again! I believe Genny uses hay in the run and says it is a lot better than straw. I use sand or DG in the run. That works well for me.

Quote:

You're good! Both actually. The larger, darker, freckled eggs are from my marans and the more even colored, golden brown ones that are a tiny bit lighter are from my welsummers. I just love the dark, dark eggs I get from these girls!

 

[vegaschick]

Paladare -

's NV thread! Glad to have more Vegas ppl. I don't have any available but when I got started I just found point of lay pullets/hens from off of craigslist. I recommend looking at the St. George list too as they often offer more chickens there. Happy hunting and let us know what you find.

I just did a quick search and found a few links for you.
http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/grd/2030958863.html ... lots of variety here and at $5 - $10 each is a killer deal
http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/grd/2025550221.html ... if you're where you can have a roo, and you want a specialty breed

and in UT
http://stgeorge.craigslist.org/for/2020157763.html

Personally, I would probably do the first one listed, for a few reasons. I like the variety, all listed are good layers, they are used to each other and will transition better that way, and best of all as a newbie, you don't have to worry about quarentining on your first go round.

Good luck!!! AND take lots of pictures!

Sunny - so loving your eggs and wishing I had some Marans too! *sigh*