South Dakota Thread!

[Sinadrea]

I had a Rhode Island Red bantam rooster and he won Grand Champion at county fair and top 5 in his class at state then over the winter he lost all his comb points and I couldn't show him but he still looked good except for his comb. he died this spring. here is a picture of him

He is pretty. How old was he when he died?

 

[ChickQueen77]

he was 1

 

[Sinadrea]

he was 1

Sorry to hear he had such a short life. At least he died a champion.

 

[ChickQueen77]

Sorry to hear he had such a short life. At least he died a champion.

if his comb points had not frozen off he probably would have won for another year.

 

[SqaukingNTalking]

Here in South Central South Dakota

 

[Sinadrea]

Here in South Central South Dakota

Hello and Welcome!

 

[CoordinatedChaos]

Hello! Eastern SD here. First time chicken owners. It's only the beginning of summer, but I'm already worried about winter and trying to plan ahead! How do you all keep your chickens safe and warm, water from freezing, etc?

We have 6 Amberlink whites with an Eglu Cube inside a 9 x13 run. For winter, we plan on tarping 2 sides of the run where dominate wind comes from, along with the top. We also have the winterizing kit for the Eglu so that will help with warmth as well. However the Cube has no room inside for food and water, so I worry about how we're going to keep water (particularly) from freezing. How do you all go about doing that?

 

[Sinadrea]

Hello! Eastern SD here. First time chicken owners. It's only the beginning of summer, but I'm already worried about winter and trying to plan ahead! How do you all keep your chickens safe and warm, water from freezing, etc?

We have 6 Amberlink whites with an Eglu Cube inside a 9 x13 run. For winter, we plan on tarping 2 sides of the run where dominate wind comes from, along with the top. We also have the winterizing kit for the Eglu so that will help with warmth as well. However the Cube has no room inside for food and water, so I worry about how we're going to keep water (particularly) from freezing. How do you all go about doing that?

I use a heated waterer or pet bowl. For the pet bowl, make sure the chicks don't have large wattles or they can risk frostbite on extremely cold days.
Can you fit a wall heater in the eglu? I use those when it is very windy and below 0. I try not to give them too much heat, just enough to stay comfortable.

 

[peckham]

Hello! Eastern SD here. First time chicken owners. It's only the beginning of summer, but I'm already worried about winter and trying to plan ahead! How do you all keep your chickens safe and warm, water from freezing, etc?

We have 6 Amberlink whites with an Eglu Cube inside a 9 x13 run. For winter, we plan on tarping 2 sides of the run where dominate wind comes from, along with the top. We also have the winterizing kit for the Eglu so that will help with warmth as well. However the Cube has no room inside for food and water, so I worry about how we're going to keep water (particularly) from freezing. How do you all go about doing that?

I have this same exact question so I thank you for asking it!

I live in Northern MN and this winter will by my first ever with my 5 Golden Wyandottes. You and I seem to have the exact same setup. There isn’t much room in the Cube so I was planning on just keeping the water accessible in their run on one of those heater things and monitor it throughout the day. I figured it would be rather dangerous to keep the water in the Cube because of the risk of moisture

 

[CoordinatedChaos]

I use a heated waterer or pet bowl. For the pet bowl, make sure the chicks don't have large wattles or they can risk frostbite on extremely cold days.
Can you fit a wall heater in the eglu? I use those when it is very windy and below 0. I try not to give them too much heat, just enough to stay comfortable.

There's really no room in the Eglu. There's room for the chickens pretty well, but for any sort of feeder or waterer, I don't think there is.

Do you use a special heated waterer for chickens, or is it just one of those plastic heated pet bowl kinds?

I have this same exact question so I thank you for asking it!

I live in Northern MN and this winter will by my first ever with my 5 Golden Wyandottes. You and I seem to have the exact same setup. There isn’t much room in the Cube so I was planning on just keeping the water accessible in their run on one of those heater things and monitor it throughout the day. I figured it would be rather dangerous to keep the water in the Cube because of the risk of moisture

Which water heater are you thinking of using? We're currently using the waterer that came with the cube, but it's not ideal, and a real pain to reattach to the sides after cleaning, I'm finding. If I use any sort of water heater, or one of those that heat stands, I'm definitely going to need a new waterer.