Birds of a Different Feather & Winter Weather

While we have pretty moderate winters here in Portland, there are some days when I can't use the hose for tending to my flock's needs.  Today wasn't one of them, but upon awakening this morning, there was a furry, icy patina on everything; the beautiful type of frost that glitters in the light.  The ground was hard and the watering vessels had a skin of ice.

I get a lot of inquiries about poultry and winter hardiness.  In all my research, various studies report most chickens breeds are adapted to go down to 18 degrees fahrenheit.  This includes most breeds from SE Asia.  Some breeds from Northern Europe have the capacity to handle 12 degrees with aplomb-- notably the Hedemora from Sweden.  Cold is easier for chickens to take than extreme heat.  Feathers provide great insulation.  (Think down jackets, duvets, etc.)  Different species of birds as well as different breeds do have different weight/density of plumage.  Clues to winter hardiness amongst chickens is often evidenced in the size of their combs.  Most breeds with small, flat combs, i.e. pea combs, walnut combs, etc., tend to be hardier in cold.  (Though Norway's official chicken, the Jaerhon, has a rather sizeable comb and yet hails from a cold clime.) Feathered feet, and 'hard' feathering can also help with lower temperatures.

Frizzled plumage can cause a lower resistance to winter weather.  Frizzling is genetic and is when feathers grow in upside down causing a curly appearance. Due to this, there is not a great abundance of down.  About half a dozen breeds of chickens have this gene-- Ameraucanas, Cochins, Japanese, Plymouth Rocks, Polish, Sumatras, and Seramas.  People thought it looked nifty, so they bred for this quality.  I will elaborate about this trait in future postings.  Some members of my flock are frizzles....

Sultan - Sumatra rooster

Buntie - Polish Tolbunt

While we have the ability to withstand some chilly temperatures-- it doesn't mean that most humans enjoy being cold.  With wanting to keep my birds happy & healthy, I do put heat in my coop when we hit the below freezing days.  I use ceramic heat emitters, which function just like a heat bulb, but they do not create light.  (I will not rant right now about people who introduce light to induce egg laying during winter months. I think it's a unkind practice.)  I also use a really STRONG clamp and a good quality cord as I have been told too many tales of coops burning down with their inhabitants.  Sleeping restfully can only happen when I am not stressed about my birds incinerating.

The antique book, "Poultry Architecture" by George B. Fiske and published in 1902, did have the results of a West Virginia experiment station with two poultry houses built exactly alike, but with one well insulated. They used the same breeds that were the same age and both groups of fowl were fed exactly alike.  The birds in the warmer house laid nearly 25% more eggs.  However, I also think the warmth is most important for my roosters with large combs.  The girls sleep with their heads tucked under their wing, the guys don't and can get frostbitten on those exposed crowns.

Adding extras to food & water is also helpful when it's chilly.  A sprinkle of cayenne pepper in the food is a great tonic and gently warming.  I fill all my waterers with hot water in the morning and add a teaspoon of blackstrap molasses per gallon.  The water cools off pretty fast but doesn't seem to freeze up before it is all consumed (and refilled if necessary).  Molasses is full of minerals; a good source of iron and aids with calcium absorption.  It is a great energizer. Lance, my Serama rooster runs right over and inspects that water thoroughly as if he's checking to make sure it's in there.  He always shows a lot more interest in the molasses water than the plain.  Serving food warm seems enjoyable for the flock.  Sunflower seeds are a beneficial treat, as they are fattening yet healthful.

Is that molasses in there?

The ducks & geese seem to show no effect with the lower temperatures.  They adore the wet weather and their antics always cheer me when I'm blue from all the grey skies.  The guineas also seem to be pretty indifferent to the cold and less effected than the chickens by the damp.  They all share the same food & water as the chooks (an Aussie/New Zealand word for chicken) since they all inhabit the same enormous run.  The waterfowl get extra basins for bathing.

adorable knit hen legs

Certain individuals in my flock approach me daily to be held and petted.  I am always amazed that no matter how cold it may be, their legs usually feel warm.

Going to the Birds

How does a person get here?  Namely this city bred woman who now rises daily at dawn and rushes home at dusk as often as possible to attend to a multitude of ornithological beings?  Though I have had to privilege to oversee a flock of Rhode Island Reds when my partner and I resided briefly in New Zealand a few years back, it all came about to ease a commute.  (I also used to help with the penguin flock at the San Francisco Zoo, but that's another story...)

My romantic partner is a winemaker by trade and his commute from our floating home in Portland was exhausting.  When a friend offered to rent us the extra farm house on his vineyard estate that would effectively cut his commute in half we jumped at it.  I thought I would come and go between the country house and the city house as I work and study in town, but with all the space I kind of jumped in full bore with my "visions of farm animals dancing in my head".  As I work part-time with a wonderful plant nursery that supports urban homesteading and was the first to sell chicks to backyard flock keepers in Portland proper, I realized that I didn't have to just admire the chicks, I could start raising my own.  A couple of years before we lived on the farm, I had organized a "Pullet Days" with a valley farmer to sell 'started' pullets (birds that are ready to be outside) at the nursery.  It was a huge hit and gave me the idea that with our country spread, I could do the same.

Newly hatched Seramas & White Faced Black Spanish

Pistils Nursery receives almost one hundred different breeds/varieties of chickens during their chick season and I wanted as much first hand experience with as many breeds as possible since most of the birds we sold I only had exposure to during the first days/weeks of their lives.  Though I did have the benefit of knowing a half a dozen adult birds as there has always been a mixed breed flock of bantams and the occasional standard breed living there.  My focus for raising started pullets was on breeds I fancy, especially rare breeds, with a few more common companionable breeds thrown in.  Silkies are hard for me to resist; and most folks love Ameraucanas.  Some breeds I acquired were so rare I had to hatch them from fertile eggs I purchased from far flung farms.  I think it is of vital importance to take up the mantle of preserving rare breeds. They in existence due to the manipulations of  us humans to achieve a variety of agricultural goals from egg production to disease resistance.  I feel strongly that it is the responsibility of our species to honour the efforts of others   in creating these creatures-- as well as respect for the creatures themselves- to provide a varied genetic resource.  Heritage and rare breeds are infinitely interesting historically, and often staggeringly beautiful.

Elgin the Belgian & Gideon - Blue Mille Fleur OEG

Juanita - Blue Splash Andalusian + Amelia - Welsummer

We have names too....

As Thomas, my partner, says, "Chickens are the gateway poultry".  With this in mind, I think it's a natural progression to raise other poultry species.  Ducks for eggs and amusement.  Geese for hopefully deterring errant dogs.  Guinea Fowl for developing as free ranging, pest removing flocks for vineyard properties.  Though admittedly, all the birds are amusing on the whole.  They also aid in developing non-attachment to treasured plants, over arching ambitions, as well as sometimes to the feathered ones themselves.

Blogging along with a Frog and 2 Dogs

Happy New Year!

Earl the Silkie who knows his name...

Blogging.  Something I used to originally think of as rather self-indulgent & annoying (much like people who are speaking on their cell phones in public bathroom stalls or clothing boutiques' changing rooms)-ICK!  However, after discovering blogs I found to be inspiring (paradisexpress.blogspot.com) and/or instructive (cfra.org/blog), my initial resistance has been relaxed.  After many people requesting I put together a blog about the adventures of raising -predominantly- rare breed poultry and doing it naturally, here is the initial foray.  Though I suspect they may have been so bored about my endless yakking on about my flock and their capers, that the discreet reaction to end this topic was, "Say, why don't you write a blog?"

Why is it blogging along with a frog and 2 dogs?  Well yesterday, while out hiking with the dogs, my sweetheart and I came across a frog in mid-jump frozen on the surface of a pond.  It had leaped right out there onto the ice slick surface and now was stuck in that position, frozen in time.  I think it sums up a blog entry pretty well......  Incidentally we did try thawing it out to see if it would resuscitate, but no luck.  It sure is pretty though.

At present I have 55 chickens (17 breeds- Bantam: Lavender Ameraucana,  Araucana,  Barnevelder, Modern Game, Frizzled Polish, Seramas (some frizzled), Showgirl, Silkies; Large Fowl: Brabanters, Jaerhons, Black Copper, Blue Copper, Cuckoo, & Wheaten Marans, Partridge & Wheaten Penedesenca, Polish Tolbunt (w/frizzling), Barred Plymouth Rock, Frizzled Sumatra, Welsummer, and some Welsummer/Penedesenca + Marans/Penedesenca crosses), 20 Indian Runner Ducks (some of them crested), 14 Guinea Fowl, a pair of American Buff Geese, a pair of Mini Rex Rabbits, and 2 nutty Shar Peis.  I have raised over 65 breeds of poultry from at least a chick (if not a hatching egg) to adults.  Due to this experience, I teach classes/consult and my exposure to predators and health problems is  fairly extensive.  I have found nifty tricks to deal with a lot of these issues, but am still at a loss about those folks who just let their dogs out in rural farm country...???  

As we are in the initial days of the New Year, I thought I would share some pictures about the advent of a new life-- an egg hatching from last year.  This is a Partridge Penedesenca rooster-- Patrizio by name-  that recently was the victim of one of those irresponsible dog owners.  This is in memory of you Mr. P.  You certainly were one cute little tot.   Penedesencas are a rare breed from Catalonia that almost disappeared in the eighties and was revived by a passionate Spaniard.  The hens lay deep, dark terracotta coloured eggs that are almost cylindrical in shape.  They are famous for their carnation comb-- extra lobes on the rear of the comb that stick out a bit like airplane wings and have very elegant lines.  Yes, I admit, I am kind of a breed conservation nut.....