Surviving Minnesota!

[jerryse]

Snow cover is almost gone . Found some gourd/squash in the garden . Chickens got a treat .

 

[xXStringbeanXx]

Snow cover is almost gone . Found some gourd/squash in the garden . Chickens got a treat .

What! It hasn’t stopped snowing since Saturday morning up here. Can chickens even get around in this much snow if let out of a coop?

You can pick birds that do better in the cold and have a larger bodies (IMHO). The Buckeyes and Chanticler come to mind. The DOM's are laying machine but they are not a huge bird, but with them you have the pleasure of knowing you are keeping an endangered breed alive. They are friendly, not S Sussex friendly but not bad.

The Buckeyes are a large bird. That is winter hardy. I have no idea about how they lay. Whatever you get I suggest it not have a single comb, unless you plan to heat the coop and do not mind winter dubbed combs. I do not.

What are DOMs? Pardon my ignorance. Also, do you guys not heat the coop at all? The interwebs seems to suggest heating minorly at extremely low temperatures.

Sounds like they might work for that situation. If I were keeping birds for 2 yrs only, butchering after, not breeding, and didn't care about temperament, then they'd be my #1 pick. But my flock is not being built around any of those things; so I don't care for them at all. ISA browns are dual purpose, by the way. They eat like DP birds too. Little fatties.

In the long run, I want birds that live long lives and are productive for said long life. Eggs for at least 5 years shouldn't be unreasonable. I want docile, intelligent birds that are range wary and can take care of themselves. I don't want frostbite, which means all single comb birds are out. I don't like the boring old plane Jane colour patterns either. In the end, I chose Partridge Chanteclers and Silver Ameraucanas. So far the Chanteclers are perfect and the Ameraucanas are pretty good. A tad ditzy, but with time I think I can breed them to be a little more intelligent. Hawks help with that.

I like the heritage DP birds. I select keepers partly by going off the American Standard of Perfection and choosing those closest to standard. Of course, health and production comes first; all poor doers remain out of the breeding pen forever no matter the colour and type perfection they may have. In this climate the weather does culling for us too. Anything not at least decently hardy tips over dead about mid-January.

I like the ideas you have your flock based around, but I’m not the only one with a say. There has been a bit of head butting here between me wanting to love on my chickens and him wanting no nonsense! I’m sure it takes time to build a good flock with intelligence and good health, so hopefully I can learn from you guys and avoid starting with the wrong birds. Are Americanas the same as Ameraucanas?

 

[BantyChooks]

It is fairly easy to pick which DP bird gets eaten. The largest, the meanest. the one you don't like and so forth. They are not all luvable. Some can be complete Norwegians....

Or complete Orrock township-ers...

Strange and backwards as it might seem my favourite layer bird (these are not DP in the slightest) is actually the White Leghorn. If I lived where Shaw does I'd breed them full time. They are thrifty on feed, active, wary, intelligent (measured by time taken to learn routines and respond to more abstract things like pointing,) even better layers than sexlinks, and wicked funny. Oddly enough? They are the most cold hardy birds I own when measured by multiple facets rather than the traditional comb size one. They have profuse, medium stiffness feathering, meaning that cold winds don't blow all the heat out of them but yet they still have a thick down layer; their bold (but not annoyingly so) personalities means they don't sit in apathy on the roost all winter but instead go about scratching and investigating, which has the side effect of keeping them in better body condition; and they don't seem to mind snow at all, unlike my goofy PC. I got an egg a day from them until January when they got frostbite and quit for a month.

Their only downside? Those combs. Those massive, ever so prone to injury, and ever so prone to frostbite combs. Frostbite puts a huge damper on production, makes them sit on the roost all day for a while, and can get rather dangerous looking when their throats swell. Plus, you end up dropping $$$ on heating if you ever want to show them, which pretty much requires intact combs unless you like point cuts.

What are DOMs? Pardon my ignorance. Also, do you guys not heat the coop at all? The interwebs seems to suggest heating minorly at extremely low temperatures.

I don't heat the coop. Birds that are babied will survive to reproduce birds that need more babying. Best to chop the heads off the ones that can't take the below zero weeks. Maybe heat if you see temperatures such as -45 or -50 more than once or twice a year.

However, I am a big ol softie, and I have my pets. Unfortunately all but one of said pet birds are very sensitive to cold and would be dead by now if I didn't step in every winter. I operate by my 'reset' theory, which is my guess that core temperature goes down in extreme weather and it starts a vicious cycle of the bird not wanting to move (and go find food) in cold weather, leading to a lack of fuel, which leads to them getting colder and colder, which leads to a dead birdy. So, I bring the bird inside for a few hours, fill them up good, and put them out. They are very appreciative of it and it pulled many a chook through nasty winters.

I have one hen that can't handle anything under 0F. She gets to stay inside for most of winter. I am such a pushover but it's all worth it.

I have found waterfowl to be even more cold hardy than chickens, by the way. Even call ducks go marching right outdoors in below zero weather.

What are DOMs? Pardon my ignorance.

Ralphie slang for Dominiques.

What! It hasn’t stopped snowing since Saturday morning up here. Can chickens even get around in this much snow if let out of a coop?

My birds dislike much more than 3 inches of fluffy snow. If it's packed down or shovelled they do fine.

Ducks, on the other hand, will walk through 2/3m of the stuff. They look like they're swimming in it.

I like the ideas you have your flock based around, but I’m not the only one with a say. There has been a bit of head butting here between me wanting to love on my chickens and him wanting no nonsense! I’m sure it takes time to build a good flock with intelligence and good health, so hopefully I can learn from you guys and avoid starting with the wrong birds. Are Americanas the same as Ameraucanas?

Yeah, good luck convincing the hubby.

Americanas are Easter Eggers, which is a catch all term for any bird with the blue egg gene. They have a very wide variety of colours and may or may not have a beard and muffs, and many lay green eggs or sometimes even brown. Ameraucanas are an actual breed recognised by the APA that breeds true. Their history is here.

Actually, jerryse here was most instrumental in creating the Ameraucana and getting it recognised.

I tried over 20 different breeds (more if you count varieties) before I found 'the' breed for me. It's different for everyone, and sometimes it seems a little nuts, like Ralphie and Legbars. They've got combs the size of Quebec. Still, he loves them.

 

[holm25]

I love how the Buckeyes dress out. One of these is a hen the other a cock bird who held his tail too low

 

[duluthralphie]

Legbars are cool!!!

Besides we might get them recognized this next year.

 

[duluthralphie]

A toad...

 

[holm25]

These are just a few breeds we have that lay Brown eggs and IMHO are great. My Orp right now is laying 4-5 eggs a week which is great.

Buckeye Cock

Orpington Cockerel

Buckeye Pullet

Orpington Hen

Old Orpington cock and hen

Dominique Cockerel

 

[duluthralphie]

Turkey--------------------------------Toad

 

[duluthralphie]

A better DOM!!!!

 

[I Love Layers]

Strange and backwards as it might seem my favourite layer bird (these are not DP in the slightest) is actually the White Leghorn. If I lived where Shaw does I'd breed them full time. They are thrifty on feed, active, wary, intelligent (measured by time taken to learn routines and respond to more abstract things like pointing,) even better layers than sexlinks, and wicked funny. Oddly enough? They are the most cold hardy birds I own when measured by multiple facets rather than the traditional comb size one. They have profuse, medium stiffness feathering, meaning that cold winds don't blow all the heat out of them but yet they still have a thick down layer; their bold (but not annoyingly so) personalities means they don't sit in apathy on the roost all winter but instead go about scratching and investigating, which has the side effect of keeping them in better body condition; and they don't seem to mind snow at all, unlike my goofy PC. I got an egg a day from them until January when they got frostbite and quit for a month.

Their only downside? Those combs. Those massive, ever so prone to injury, and ever so prone to frostbite combs. Frostbite puts a huge damper on production, makes them sit on the roost all day for a while, and can get rather dangerous looking when their throats swell. Plus, you end up dropping $$$ on heating if you ever want to show them, which pretty much requires intact combs unless you like point cuts.

I totally agree. I love my Leghorns, they are the best. But like you said those darn combs!!