****Winter**** Chicken Moma chat thread. Join in the chat!

[sarahannecloud9]

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenders...ks/chooks.html
This is the best info site I know of. You may be looking for bantams. They can come in the 13 oz range. But, can go in the 2-3 lb range. The eggs are tiny though. Game breeds are small, not that small. But, they are great foragers and lay a bit larger breed. Very flighty and known to take care of themselves, lol.
rsl and bsl is red/black sex-link.

It appears the leghorn averages 4.5 lbs. Small like a game.

[Nielsen6]

Leghorns are prone to frostbite on their combs, so keep that in mind when winter comes along. Otherwise I have heard good things about them.

We had one last chick hatch, the last 3 of the eggs I tossed this morning. One was fully developed but must have died in the last couple days and the other two were not fully devoloped. Beginning hatching is rough, I got the digital therm/hydrometer from Walmart. I disinfected the bator and it is set at 99 degrees and 34% humidity right now.
Ready for the new eggs!

The last chick that hatched needed some help, has a little underbite and curled toes, I taped them and will be fileing the beak in a couple days. Otherwise they are all doing very well. That blue cochin is so sweet and calm, fantastic coloring as well.

[sarahannecloud9]

Congrats on the newbys. I'm glad you like the cochin. They are just the sweetest, lol. And so darn quiet!

I didn't even see the cold part, thought it just said heat. I'd research game chickens with pea combs. Unless you will have them in a well ventilated, heated coop at night.

[sarahannecloud9]

Or rose comb. What about asil, or a buckeye. The buckeye is more like a rir in size.
Will you be able to get the eggs of the breed you choose though? Are you purchasing online?

[sarahannecloud9]

http://thechickencenter.com/tag/cold-hardy-chickens/
http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog/...Hardy-c68.aspx
Americauna and buckeye keep coming up. EE comes in a bantam size.

[3lilbubs]

I'm so angry right now I'm shaking. I pmed a couple of other customers of the company I bought my silkie eggs from just to find out their experiences and one forwarded my pm to the company without asking me. Then the company owners had the nerve to contact me all accusing like I had no right to ask and that I was slandering them! WHAT !! I just wrote back a long email detailing all the crap I've been thru with their CRAP eggs and how offended I am that they are taking this stance, of all the nerve, practically telling your customer to apologize!!!

[slimy72]

Yikes, that;s no fun!

So question for all of you. We've pretty much stuck with RIR hens and they have done super well for us. I'm in Northern Utah, it's pretty cold here. And my girls have faithfully laid an egg all winter long. I do have a Bantam/Buff Orpington/RIR cross and she lays an egg most days, but isn't faithful and her eggs are smaller (the banty in her of course). Anyway, we are planning to get 4 new chicks. We've already decided on 3 of them being RIR again because of the good luck we've had with them. But we'd like to try something else for #4. We'd like something that lays year round even in cold weather. Is pretty friendly, and lays rich eggs (shell color isn't important, but we like nice dark yolks). So any thoughts on what new breed we should try. We are thinking maybe a Buff Orpington or Bsx Linked but we just don't know what else to try. It's hard to branch out when you've found something that works so well. We've had a few others but they were kinda not nice to my son, they'd chase him when he tried to get eggs, the RIR's dont and that is nice.

[3lilbubs]

I really can't complain about our RIR's too much either, they're good faithful layers. Nice big eggs. I haven't experienced enough of the cold-climate hens to say what would be good for your situation but I wanted to say that the rich yolks is all in what you feed them. A lot of kitchen scraps and access to grass, bugs and lot and lots of greens is what gives that lovely dark orange yolk. I have friends that love their orpingtons, and that they're gentle giants so I would say you probably couldn't go wrong there, but if I can make a suggestion from my own experience in my flock, I would never get just one of any specific breed ever again. Only in pairs. The one "different" girl always seems to get picked on. Good luck and enjoy those chicks, they are so cute!

[sarahannecloud9]

Originally Posted by 3lilbubs I'm so angry right now I'm shaking. I pmed a couple of other customers of the company I bought my silkie eggs from just to find out their experiences and one forwarded my pm to the company without asking me. Then the company owners had the nerve to contact me all accusing like I had no right to ask and that I was slandering them! WHAT !! I just wrote back a long email detailing all the crap I've been thru with their CRAP eggs and how offended I am that they are taking this stance, of all the nerve, practically telling your customer to apologize!!!

I'm really sorry about that Liz. I hope they can try to see your side of the story. That just really stinks.

Originally Posted by slimy72 Yikes, that;s no fun! So question for all of you. We've pretty much stuck with RIR hens and they have done super well for us. I'm in Northern Utah, it's pretty cold here. And my girls have faithfully laid an egg all winter long. I do have a Bantam/Buff Orpington/RIR cross and she lays an egg most days, but isn't faithful and her eggs are smaller (the banty in her of course). Anyway, we are planning to get 4 new chicks. We've already decided on 3 of them being RIR again because of the good luck we've had with them. But we'd like to try something else for #4. We'd like something that lays year round even in cold weather. Is pretty friendly, and lays rich eggs (shell color isn't important, but we like nice dark yolks). So any thoughts on what new breed we should try. We are thinking maybe a Buff Orpington or Bsx Linked but we just don't know what else to try. It's hard to branch out when you've found something that works so well. We've had a few others but they were kinda not nice to my son, they'd chase him when he tried to get eggs, the RIR's dont and that is nice.

I have to agree with with Liz. Now a breed that is cold hardy, lays through winter, and simular to the rir is the buckeye. I have 3, 2 crosses-rir/buckeye, and 1 I think is pure. The crosses are trouble makers. The pure is a smart little thing though. I just hatched a sq buckeye from a friendly flock and I'm very excited. They are quite simular breeds. There is a great history behind them I think you would enjoy to read!
http://americanbuckeyeclub.org/
Red hen is very friendly but respectufll of my boundries, unlike the other 2.
The link I provided, they are very nice and answer e-mails quickly. They helped me figured out what my 3 where through pics and tons of back and forth.

[sarahannecloud9]

Prepare for a big pic bomb! Coop progress.