The Old Folks Home

[CapricornFarm]

That is pretty much my theme but will fight it to the end.. @Alaskan I have lost some not all good to know when right.... I just know stubborn as the day is long helps

Capricorn the Goat, butt head stubborn!

 

[CapricornFarm]

Super expanded my cold weather article.

I was hoping some of you cold folks could read through it and tell me if there are any glaring errors or omissions.

Who on here is in a cold area? @superchemicalgirl and @Beer can

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/author/alaskan.13660/

Most of the Canadians would qualify.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Oh, and @superchemicalgirl do you think the Slikies and Showgirls are just as hardy as a standard hen? Or a tiny bit better or worse?

I think @Beer can would rate those Turkens as slightly better than a standard hen in the cold... would you?

Silkies do not do as well in cold climates. When i lived in TN i kept them in stalls in the barn. No heat, but it kept them out of wet and wind. Their feathers do not repel water.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Such great points!

It will take me a day or three to work some of that in.

Yeah... I was wondering what you thought about my Silkie jab. I just don't see how they can keep the heat in. but then, I have never had any.

I know both you and beer can love your turkens in the cold. Haven't had those either.

I can send you some turken eggs.

I was also thinking as I did my chores:
- You need to find a way to bring water to the coops because your hose will be frozen. I carry 5 gallon buckets from the spigot (it drips empty after using it so it doesn't freeze) but carrying it long distances may be an issue so plan accordingly.
- To get the birds outside in the winter, I do shovel a path after it snows. Not a huge path, but a path. Easier for me to carry things on a somewhat level surface. The first few snows until the birds get used to it I throw a flake of hay on the ground and then some seeds in it. They immediately go outside and learn the snow isn't scary.
- I also, before the snow flies, hammer in some of those reflective stick things to mark my path out to the coops and what I want to shovel/blow. I mark rocks/stumps and anything else I want to find (or not find) with the blower/shovel. I stick mark the sandbox so I can shovel out to it. It's surprising how I've been here over a decade and think i know the lay of the land but as soon as it snows I'm like "where was the driveway?"
- I also have a covered turtle sandbox that I got on freecycle. I put some sand and DE and ashes into it. It's GREAT in the winter as an area for them to dustbathe in because the ground is frozen solid and they can't get any dirt up (although sometimes underneath my coop has some loose dirt earlier in winter). I shovel out to it and open it once a week or so and it's always full and there's always a line for the spa.

Oh... @superchemicalgirl have you ever had problems with your ducks freezing to their ice slick?

That happened to me once... but I do not know the mechanics involved... as in what increases the risk of that happening other than just cold + water... because it doesn't happen every day.

No issues with the ducks freezing to the ice, ever, and there's a lot of ice. Their bowl, yes. Their waterer and the cord, yes. And a few times after I pour their water out to get clean I can feel I've stuck to the ground after a few seconds. But never them. Also had the goat door freeze to the ground a number of times because it's in a low lying area so if things melt during the day it pools where the door is and then the door freezes to the ground. It's the only gate we didnt build UP off the ground, and it's a pain in the butt. Ever try to get over a fence with a 5 gallon bucket of water in snow pants and boots?

Oh, and @superchemicalgirl do you think the Slikies and Showgirls are just as hardy as a standard hen? Or a tiny bit better or worse?

I think @Beer can would rate those Turkens as slightly better than a standard hen in the cold... would you?

Honestly, my experience with "the breeds that aren't recommended in the cold" is the opposite of what you'd expect. My turkens and my leghorns and my tiny regular feathered banties are/were always outside, regardless of weather. The fat brahma and the orps almost never went outside and would sit in the doorways looking outside forlornly for months.
Hay on the ground gets them to come out, notice the sheer number of turkens who are out. This is a small portion of my flock, everyone else is still inside. You can also see my reflective stick things in this photo to mark the path/obstacles.

Miss Piggy, my showgirl, demonstrating the fine art of balancing on the edge of the bowl. She hatched January 2012 and has never spent a day indoors after she feathered out and went outside (likely mid-February 2012). She's had to have 3 baths in the kitchen sink in that time period because she managed to have diarrhea and have it freeze down her backside and clump everything nasty-like. She loves to be blowdried and enjoys the water sprayer bidet. We've had some significantly bad winters in the last 6 years and, with the exception of the wash and blow dry, I have not treated her any different than any other bird (although any bird that has to come indoors for a heiny wash does get the blowdrier if it's winter... as an aside that's the only thing i use the blowdrier for!!).

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Oh, I'm sorry I do treat her differently.

Flat Miss Piggy goes on vacation with me. Here she is at Landscape Arch, Arches National Park.

To be fair, the Flat Traveling Duck of Justice also came with us. And Flat Nicole.

 

[Alaskan]

Oh, I'm sorry I do treat her differently.

Flat Miss Piggy goes on vacation with me. Here she is at Landscape Arch, Arches National Park.

View attachment 1562687

To be fair, the Flat Traveling Duck of Justice also came with us. And Flat Nicole.

Did flat Miss Piggy like the heat? Or did it make her edges curl?

 

[superchemicalgirl]

They all loved it. I was the lucky one carrying "the flat family" and the emergency supplies... in my "Gilligan goes to 'Nam" hat.

 

[microchick]

Great information there all you cold weather folks.

Today I scrubbed out the 1.5 gallon heated water bowl and got it plugged into the main coop. I have to keep water inside the coop but have yet to have problems with frostbite.unlike my small coop where it seems as though the roosters are just too stupid to put their heads under their wings when it is cold.

I haven't done the main 'close ups' that I do every winter. I blocked off one vent partially but our winter can get some pretty cold temps in January so I pretty much have to block off all of them which goes completely against everything that is written but the building is far from air tight. Since the bantams are lodged in the larger coop, I'd rather not have drafts on them.

The smaller coop that houses the Buff Os and Wellys has been a humidity problem from day one. I have to keep that coops water supply outside and need to build a heater base for it. Last year I was barely able to coax those birds outside even with a tarp over their run pop door. Shoveling paths? They stand in the doorway much like the aforementioned Brahma and their expressions are 'ain't goin out, can't make us!

Winter sigh, only good thing about it is that only 5 months left till spring!

 

[Alaskan]

They all loved it. I was the lucky one carrying "the flat family" and the emergency supplies... in my "Gilligan goes to 'Nam" hat.

View attachment 1562723

Most awesome

 

[bruceha2000]

If I'm carrying water I do it in 2.5 gallon "jerry jugs" cat litter containers. Can't take as much water at a time but you can fill them to the top and put the cap on so they don't slosh.

And did you know that the size of the bands on a woolly bear have to do with the size and age of the worm? Woolly bear caterpillars start with a lot of black, and a short orange band in the middle, and develop a wider orange band each time they molt. So woolly bear caterpillars that are a certain age/size will always have the same amount of orange and black.

You are going against the time honored method of determining the type of winter we will have with biology??