New Mexico

[WesternSky]

Hello from Steins, NM. It is very nice to find other chicken lovers in NM. We have 12 EE Bantam hens and have been considering getting an EE Bantam rooster at some point. If there is someone in NM breeding EE Bantams, we would like to know for future knowledge. I love these little chickens, very sweet and the eggs are beautiful!

 

[Zoomie]

I have not posted in a long time so today is the day... Welcome to all the new people! So great to see you here!

I have a friend with blue copper Marans but I don't know if she is keeping a pure line. I think she's using them in a cross-breeding program. I've got one of her hens that was "too dark" (she looks perfect to me BUT she is not the actual blue color, more dark) that just started laying but I have no rooster at this point just hens. The friend of mine did really well at the state fair this year. She'll also raise chicks for people: if you contact her and put in an order, she'll get the chicks and raise them out for you. She lives near Sapello. She also has grown birds available pretty much year round, some are very interesting breeds.

 

[tjohnson505]

Hey everyone I live in Northwestern NM four corners area. I'm wondering how many of you heat your coops in the winter? And why? And who just "winterizes" it? I have Windows with plexiglass in them, and a light for added daylight. But should I put a heat lamp instead? Thanks

 

[Zoomie]

I don't heat my coop and I live at 7,500'. It gets pretty dang cold here, probably colder than where you live. However, what I DO is to provide hot water every morning. This year, I'm trying to work out a heater for my waterer, to see if that is going to work. But failing that, every morning I bring the chickens hot water, as hot as it comes out of my tap (about 110F) which might sound weird until you think about all the hot drinks humans like - tea, coffee, mulled cider etc. I have to pound the ice out of the water dish and then I add the how water. They love it. I also keep my coop pretty well protected and insulated but no heat.

Another important thing that people can forget about is the importance of wide perches. The birds need to be able to get their feathers around the toes; they can't do that if the perch is so narrow their feet wrap around the perch and then dangle below the feathers. I use 2X4s. You can use round perches too but be sure they are wide enough that the bird's toes are not dangling down in the cold: they could freeze in the type of weather we typically get.

 

[Zoomie]

Big news for me, I just got some Svart Hona chicks. Does anyone else in the state raise these birds? I thought there was someone up near Farmington, but I can't recall who that would be.

My 4 Svart Hona chicks:



I'm going to try and get more come spring. I lost 2 in this shipment, probably due to the very cold weather. So far I like them a lot. I think the adult birds are really handsome so looking forward to spring when these are closer to full grown.

 

[FridayYet]

Big news for me, I just got some Svart Hona chicks. Does anyone else in the state raise these birds? I thought there was someone up near Farmington, but I can't recall who that would be. My 4 Svart Hona chicks: I'm going to try and get more come spring. I lost 2 in this shipment, probably due to the very cold weather. So far I like them a lot. I think the adult birds are really handsome so looking forward to spring when these are closer to full grown.

Oh they are so pretty! I know @svenskavessla raised Svart Hona and she's up in the Farmington/Aztec area. Don't think she's on BYC much these days now. If I remember her farm name or Facebook page, I'll send it to you. I just hatched out 5 Ayam Cemani chicks though (and three of my barnyard mixes, since I only thought I'd get one or two Cemani to hatch and I didn't want them to be lonely!)

 

[Zoomie]

Oh, NICE on the Ayam Cemani chicks! It's funny how they are SO black it's almost hard to see them. I know a person who lives near Ribera that just got chicks from Greenfire Farms. That was a bigger shipment than mine, and only one was lost, so he's now got 16 Ayam Cemani chicks. Will be exciting to see them come spring! Where did yours come from?

I might try hatching eggs in the spring, unless of course there is someone more or less nearby that has the Svart Hona. We are turning an old cattle chute into a chicken coop - it's made of 3" welded steel pipe so with that as a frame work we should be safe even against a bear. And two years ago, a bear did come and smash my neighbor's chicken coop and killed most of her chickens. The joys of living in the Wild West.

 

[FridayYet]

Oh, NICE on the Ayam Cemani chicks! It's funny how they are SO black it's almost hard to see them. I know a person who lives near Ribera that just got chicks from Greenfire Farms. That was a bigger shipment than mine, and only one was lost, so he's now got 16 Ayam Cemani chicks. Will be exciting to see them come spring! Where did yours come from?

I might try hatching eggs in the spring, unless of course there is someone more or less nearby that has the Svart Hona. We are turning an old cattle chute into a chicken coop - it's made of 3" welded steel pipe so with that as a frame work we should be safe even against a bear. And two years ago, a bear did come and smash my neighbor's chicken coop and killed most of her chickens. The joys of living in the Wild West.

I actually won 6 eggs in a contest from CJWaldon (TB Poultry on Facebook) but one egg was damaged on arrival. I couldn't believe all 5 that I set, hatched!

Wow, bears are not the predators I'm most worried about here - but the cattle chute should make a great frame.

Maybe I'll try to find your friend next year and we could trade hatching eggs.

 

[Zoomie]

I actually won 6 eggs in a contest from CJWaldon (TB Poultry on Facebook) but one egg was damaged on arrival. I couldn't believe all 5 that I set, hatched!

Wow, bears are not the predators I'm most worried about here - but the cattle chute should make a great frame.

Maybe I'll try to find your friend next year and we could trade hatching eggs.

Oh yes - I can put you in touch. That would be great for both I would think! But just let me warn you: that place is like, Bird Paradise. SOOO many different kinds of birds - !!! You just can not believe it. DO NOT go there with any cages or boxes! LOL!

I did a little research on @svenskavessla and it looks like her farm was called Swedish Ninja Farms. However her Facebook page is no longer there; but you are absolutely right, that is the person I saw who had Svart Hona. Looks like she is out of it, alas. I will keep looking though because you just never know.

 

[svenskavessla]

Hi everyone,
Yes I did (and sort of do) still have Svart Höna. However I'm a little stuck right now. My house flooded last year, but I moved onto a larger piece of property (5 acres) which I thought would be perfect for my chickens (I have quite a few Swedish breeds; Swedish Flower Hens, Svart Höna, Olandsk Dwarf, Orust, Isbar...) so I was quite excited. Not even a week into living here one of my neighbors complained to the city about my roosters (I keep one per breed). So... legally I'm allowed 250 chickens per acre, (with a permit), but the roosters were untested waters. I had to go and fight with the city over that, and ended up rehoming all my roosters except on Olandsk Dwarf. I still have hens from each breed. I'm hoping (and have plans) to be able to keep them in a different location and get some of my roos back... but for now I have eggs... but not fertile I'm afraid. So that's why the radio silence. If I'm able to move them as planned I will give an update on that. Sadly my neighbor seems to be quite vindictive about the whole thing (he lied under oath about quite a few things and has flown a drone over my property several times). So I'm not wanting to make a big deal about the chickens until I know they are safe. Happy someone remembered me though! Thanks very much, I hope I can help out in the future!