NY chicken lover!!!!

[JLaw]

Woot looks like i maybe picking up my sons buff silkie hatching eggs tomorrow. MORE chickens!!! Or in ranchers mind .MORE chicken left over parts!!! Lol

 

[rancher hicks]

I would love to build a hoop coop however I need something that can easily come with us in the event we have to move again. Once we have our property with our own land I will definitely consider a hoop coop. I think one of those would be great for the silkies especially.

Because I use screws to assemble my hoops it would be easily disassembled and transported. What I like about them is there is little invested should you decide to discontinue with chickens. The heaviest part would be the floor. If you built it in parts the largest flooring piece you'd have would be a 50" X 8-9 '. The size of a single cattle panel. It easily holds 6-8 large birds. Provided of course you let them out each day like I do.

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote: I'm sorry to hear about your hen. I tend to agree with Stoney. It was below 0 here last night with wind chill -20. There was some snow in the coop but the girls didn't seem bothered at all. This morning a few were still roosting at 830 when the temp was 2.

I did get a bale of hay later & spread it throughout the coop, A frame structure & in their old run. I thought it felt warmer in the coop but I am sure that was just wishful thinking on my part

But I know their feet were warmer in the hay & they sure enjoyed scratching thru it

Are you feeding small portions because you afraid it will freeze ?
I am feeding them more because of the cold ...& adding sunflower seeds for them to find ...
I am mixing in some dry food to the FF to make it less liquidy.<- I think I forgot this yesterday ... I found it was frozen today so I brought it in to thaw for a bit ..
They had the spill over cleaned all up when I brought the food back out .
I put there food in where they roost tonight under their ramp so it will stay warmer ..and maybe not freeze

I was feeding smaller portions more often because the crock in the heated dog bowl had froze solid. I thought the bowl had died. Apparently it hadn't but I think maybe with the frigid temps, wind chill and the big bowl the heated bowl couldn't keep it warm enough to not freeze. i put a smaller bowl in last night filled with water & it never froze with temps below 0. I also poured water into the heated bowl itself hoping it would help the food from freezing at the top as well.

the first thing the birds do is eat the snow that falls off the boots....guess its like ice cream to them.

Stella apparently like snow slushies as well. I got a great action shot today of her this afternoon...... but all my birds eat snow. And I have water out for them as well. At least they don't eat the yellow snow

 

[Lynzi777]

Stella apparently like snow slushies as well. I got a great action shot today of her this afternoon...... but all my birds eat snow. And I have water out for them as well. At least they don't eat the yellow snow

I like how you put hay down over the snow...I never would have thought of that LOL Mine would come out of the coop in a heart beat if I did that! Thanks!

 

[armorfirelady]

They were actually walking in the snow before I put the hay down. Which was dropped by accident as I put it in their old run lol

 

[Lynzi777]

They were actually walking in the snow before I put the hay down. Which was dropped by accident as I put it in their old run lol 

Well either way, I'm sure it's much more comfortable for them to walk on than standing in the snow. I feel so bad some days when they are out in the snow, I look down and their feet are pink they're so cold!

 

[Cass]

Stony, I know that. She was quite honestly if you would have asked me yesterday morning which of the chickens I thought most likely to pass away Static would have been the bottom of the list. She was a decent size, 4lb 12oz, She was almost 9 months old, she was laying, though every ones laying has been off because of the weather.

Also how long is too long to let her sit? I was trying to let rigor pass but she's still stiff as a board. Should I stick her in the fridge until I can process her? (I have her in a cold room right now)

Are you sure you want to eat something you have no clue why it died? I never process mystery deaths. I either bury them if I really liked the chicken or throw it in the garbage to be eatten by wildlife at the land fill.

Re: her stiffness. It takes 3 days for rigor to release, so if you are going to process her, into the fridge for 3 days, then she will be more plyable.

 

[LuvMyChicks1491]

I put down some pine needles today around the water bowls and the feed bowls. I think my duckers liked it a lot. As soon as I walked away they came runing and sat down in it. I think that it helped that I brought out some warm water too. I'm glad that I spent the time raking them and the leaves up. I raked the needles up and put my dd's sled on top of them so they will stay dry if we get more snow tonight.

 

[Cass]

I am sure you will make the right decision. My vot is for Silkies. That is what we have done. One breed is much easier to deal with. They can all live together...one Coop one run.
Just my thoughts. Aria

My flock has all sizes, except Jersey Giants. There has never been a problem. Well, one Sumantra Roo has "short man syndrome".....but the large breed roo keeps him in line. I think it all has to do with space. I have 3 acres for my own, 30 acres of forever wild behind my property and 140 acres (if they wander that far) "out back" owned but not farmed, by a neighbor. Of course, if you are trying to keep true to breed, you would have to keep the breeding birds apart from the mixed flock, but you aren't hatching 100% of the time, are you? So you could keep the breeders apart until you have all the hatching done, then let them all free range together.

 

[Lynzi777]

Are you sure you want to eat something you have no clue why it died? I never process mystery deaths. I either bury them if I really liked the chicken or throw it in the garbage to be eatten by wildlife at the land fill.

Re: her stiffness. It takes 3 days for rigor to release, so if you are going to process her, into the fridge for 3 days, then she will be more plyable.

Thats what I was thinking, but I don't know much about eating processed birds yet - ones that were alive or already dead! So I thought maybe you guys knew something I didn't...LOL