New member with chickens in Montana

bergmanchicken

In the Brooder
Apr 6, 2017
22
3
14
Kalispell Montana
Hello, my name is Vanessa. I am new to having chickens up here in Montana. We used to live in California and we had a good size flock. We had them for about five years there, then we moved here and found them new homes there. That was heart breaking. We now have chicks that are a few weeks old. Oh how I have missed having chickens. My husband has been a blessing. Built them a box big enough for all 24 of them. Yes 24. As husband says, "if your going to go, go big or go home." At first we started off with 8 white rock, then last week I went by murdocks and got more. Well we got New Hampshire reds, jersey giants,Australorp. So I have been reading on cold weather chickens. Getting ideas to help our ladies though the winters up here.
It's funny, now the family sits by the big box and plays with the ladies. We even put a mirror in the box. They really seem to enjoy it. My husband has even caught himself falling asleep watching the ladies in the evenings.
I look forward to learning lots more and sharing.
Have a blessed day.
 
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Greetings from Kansas, Vanessa, and :welcome! Great to have you in our community! My wife is a transplanted Montanan and sure misses the beauty of the state! But I bet keeping birds warm would be an issue there. The good news with chickens is, with a proper coop, they actually handle extreme cold better than oppressive heat. But here are some links from the Learning Center (brown tab above) that discuss cold weather chicken keeping - hope you find them useful:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/winter-chicken-keeping
and: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/winter-coop-temperatures
and: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...led-look-at-the-question-of-supplemental-heat
And because of the latitude, winter days are pretty short: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chickens-winter-egg-laying-and-lighting
Finally, if you want to chat with some of your fellow MT poultry neighbors, find your state thread in the link below and say hey:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/270925/find-your-states-thread
Best wishes and thanks for joining BYC! :weee
 
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Hi Vanessa...you're right, there's nothing much better than chicken tv!
 
G’Day from down under Vanessa
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Welcome!

That is a nice big brooder and your little ones are adorable!

As you have already received links to some great starting points, I will just wish you all the best.

I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun.

If you would like to share more pictures and stories of your flock, you have come to the right place. BYC’ers never tire of these and do not back away slowly or commence eye rolling when the photo album or home videos come out
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