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Mustard Tiger

In the Brooder
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I am brand-new to chickens (don't even have them yet!). I will be building a coop within he next few weeks, weather permitting. I'll be using the plans I got from the Third Coast Craftsman and making the run 4 ft longer than the plans so there's just around 125 sq ft of space in the run, not counting the coop. Plan is to have 9-10 hens and a rooster. I have no idea what breeds to get. But I'm wanting egg layers and breeds that can do well in the winter. I live just in the beginning of the Cascases in the PNW, and my property borders state forest and sit at about 4,800ft above sea level. It's basically all forest but conditions similar to a high desert climate. Warm/hot dry summers with low humidity and cold winters with temps that go below freezing at night. Last year we got a lot of snow, and haven't received any yet this year.

I live on a couple acres and it was basically a blank slate when I moved in a couple years ago. Plans include a greenhouse, a little orchard with fruit trees and chickens. Lat summer I put in outside irrigation and dug a 250ft trench between 3-4ft deep (well below the frost line here) and installed several freeze proof yard hydrants (one for three the greenhouse will be, one where my burn pile is, one where the chickens will be and one out in the driveway for general use.

Other hobbies include working on my house and property, building and home improvement projects, playing music (been playing guitar forever and currently learning to play the drums). I work in healthcare and just live out in the country with my dog and just try and keep things simple and enjoy being outside. My western pottery line is state land and am always out there in the woods with my dog hiking through the woods.

I just discovered this website after a google search looking for ideas on how to heat the chicken's water and keep it from freezing in the winter and options for solar power. Seemed like there were a lot of great threads not he topic so I decided to sign up. and register and look forward to meeting everyone and learning from you all!
 
Nice to meet you I enjoyed your introduction!
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Mustard Tiger said:
I am brand-new to chickens (don't even have them yet!). I will be building a coop within he next few weeks, weather permitting. I'll be using the plans I got from the Third Coast Craftsman and making the run 4 ft longer than the plans so there's just around 125 sq ft of space in the run, not counting the coop. Plan is to have 9-10 hens and a rooster. I have no idea what breeds to get. But I'm wanting egg layers and breeds that can do well in the winter. I live just in the beginning of the Cascases in the PNW, and my property borders state forest and sit at about 4,800ft above sea level. It's basically all forest but conditions similar to a high desert climate. Warm/hot dry summers with low humidity and cold winters with temps that go below freezing at night. Last year we got a lot of snow, and haven't received any yet this year.

I live on a couple acres and it was basically a blank slate when I moved in a couple years ago. Plans include a greenhouse, a little orchard with fruit trees and chickens. Lat summer I put in outside irrigation and dug a 250ft trench between 3-4ft deep (well below the frost line here) and installed several freeze proof yard hydrants (one for three the greenhouse will be, one where my burn pile is, one where the chickens will be and one out in the driveway for general use.

Other hobbies include working on my house and property, building and home improvement projects, playing music (been playing guitar forever and currently learning to play the drums). I work in healthcare and just live out in the country with my dog and just try and keep things simple and enjoy being outside. My western pottery line is state land and am always out there in the woods with my dog hiking through the woods.

I just discovered this website after a google search looking for ideas on how to heat the chicken's water and keep it from freezing in the winter and options for solar power. Seemed like there were a lot of great threads not he topic so I decided to sign up. and register and look forward to meeting everyone and learning from you all!
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Welcome! That all sounds great we all love endless yard and property projects as well haha! As far as what breeds to get if you're looking for cold hardiness your best bet is to look for things with a heavy body and when you're looking at descriptions look for pea comb, Rose comb, cushion comb etc if you get hens and roosters with the big floppy single comb that's where you run the risk of frostbite and also lighter-bodied single comb breeds aren't as cold hardy so they don't lay as well through the winter. My winters get significantly colder than yours it sounds like and all of my pea combed birds do excellent and I do notice that my couple of single combed birds are affected by the temperatures more. Happy to give you the list of what I have along with egg colors and general production I have 11 currently with 9 more on the way. Welcome again!
 
Welcome to the site! :welcome

I feel like the Pacific Northwest gets more moderate weather than over here in New England, so you should have your choice of breeds! I can vouch for Australorps for being troopers in heat/cold, and they're fantastic layers as well. Oh, and VERY friendly! If you don't want to worry about frostbite at all, maybe a breed with a smaller comb, like Brahmas, Easter Eggers, or Ameraucanas. Best of luck with whatever you choose!
 

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