New chicken-wrangler in Prairie Canada!

[hems_and_hens]

Hi everyone! I'm new to the forum and thought I'd introduce myself. I'm Kati and I live in Manitoba, Canada. I just bought my first home on a small acreage and am now following through on a long-time dream of being a laying-hen mom. I brought home 5 girls yesterday - 2 Isabel Orpingtons and 3 hybrids (I believe Black Copper Marans x Cream Legbar) - all born in June. The property I bought has an insulated, concrete-floor outbuilding, and we walled off a 14x6 foot section of this for the coop and added a sliding window for access to the fenced-in outdoor run. My live-in partner (and chicken dad) is an arborist so we are using hardwood chips at the moment on the floor and seeing how it works out (we have pine shavings as a backup). I'm looking forward to continuing to raise these girls until they're ready to lay and am hoping they'll give me at least some eggs through our extremely cold winter. For now I'm researching/preparing and already enjoying my time with them so much!

If anyone has tips for cold-weather poultry parenting or any forums to recommend, please let me know! Thanks everyone and looking forward to being part of this community!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Welcome to BYC!
Would love to see photos of your chickens if you are so inclined! Isabella Orpington sound gorgeous! And your other chickens sound like they are olive Eggers!
Can’t help you with the winter coop info, but I’m sure there are others who will respond and you can find many threads about that on the forum.

 

[hems_and_hens]

Welcome to BYC!
Would love to see photos of your chickens if you are so inclined! Isabella Orpington sound gorgeous! And your other chickens sound like they are olive Eggers!
Can’t help you with the winter coop info, but I’m sure there are others who will respond and you can find many threads about that on the forum.

Thank you so much! I just updated the post with a photo of the chickens. The Isabels are lovely and have a very slight lilac hue to them. Oh gosh, I sure hope the hybrids give us olive eggs!!! That would be amazing!

 

[BlueBaby]

Hello, and welcome! Good luck with your flock!

 

[DobieLover]

Hello, Kati, and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
You have a lovely flock!

 

[chrissynemetz]

Hi and welcome to BYC! We're so glad you joined us!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi Kati and welcome to BYC. Here are some helpful links:

• Great go-to resource - Articles
• How to start a new thread
• Find other BYC members nearby using the links in my signature, below (turn your phone to landscape to see them).

Best wishes
Pork Pie

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Welcome to our FUN-omenal Flock!

I hope you enjoy BYC as much as we do!
Beautiful Birds!

 

[N F C]

Hi Kati, lovely flock! That link to the Canada thread in @Pork Pie's signature will take you to a thread where other Canadians can help you out with cold weather tips.

Best wishes!

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Congrats on your new flock! Beautiful photo of your birds, thanks for sharing! Make yourself at home here and welcome to our community!