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You are here: Home / Topics / Urban Homesteading / Urban Chickens / My Hardy Chickens

Urban Chickens Urban Homesteading

My Hardy Chickens

We had a fabulous couple of days.  Unfortunately, we got 6 inches of snow last night right after a sunny 63 degrees the day before.  That’s Iowa for you!

I wanted to take some time to share with you how happy I was with how my chickens held up during the winter. Here are some of my lovely ladies.  They were just as happy to be able to get out and spread their wings.

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It has been a very difficult winter for all of us.  Humans, chickens and dogs alike.  We literally had snow on the ground from November to March and we are all itching with Spring fever.  We will be so blessed as soon as the buds start to appear on the trees, the grass starts to grow and the skies fill with the sounds of life.

During the coldest parts of the winter, our temperature dipped well below 20 degrees.  We were able to bring our dogs in during these extreme cold days, however, my poor ladies stayed outside.  Praise God my hubby built me an amazing coop that proved to hold up strong for my girls.

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As you can tell from the image above, they have an enclosed area above ground and a run to get some fresh air below.  I was concerned as above their enclosed area is actually an opening.  I feared that it might get too cold and that my girls could end up with frostbite.  However, I now feel that this opening was actually a good thing.  I kept a heat lamp inside their enclosed area and feel that condensation was able to escape through this opening and actually prevent my girls from frostbitten toes, waddles, and combs.  A couple of times I actually closed my girls in their enclosed area as they enjoyed staying out in the run.  During those negative degree days, I again feared they would get frostbitten or even die.  I learned quite quickly that I shouldn’t lock a bunch of girls in an enclosed area.  Some of my ladies started to gang up on one of my Barred Rocks and pecked her head clean of feathers.  I freaked and after a call to a farming friend she calmed me down and reminded me that these are just chickens and as much as I care for my girls, they can be, well… dumb!  Ha!  After that, I no longer locked them in and let them go in and out of there run as they pleased.

Before I bought my birds, I made sure to research their breeds.  I purposely bought winter hardy breeds that were good layers and family friendly.  The yellow  ones below are Buff Orpingtons, The black and white girls are Barred Rocks and the beautiful black and golden ladies are Golden Laced Wyandottes.  My absolute favorite!  Oh how I would love to have a Golden Laced Wyandotte Rooster.  So gorgeous!

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I was very happy that my girls laid really well all winter long.  We usually get about 5-6 eggs a day.  There were a couple of weeks that they slowed down during the extreme negative degree weather but as the temps went up so did their laying.  Now, I do spoil my lovely ladies.  I get a special mix of feed made for them and since they had nothing to forage on I continually fed them fresh organic veggies and clabbered milk and yogurt.  They love it and I love their eggs 😀

This is Ethel.  She leads the pecking order.  As you can tell, she has only a speck of frostbite on her comb.

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This is Margaret.  Golden Laced Wyandottes generally have combs that stick to their heads.  She is my special lady with a beautiful comb with only specks of frostbite.

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This is LuLu.  She’s my special lady as I almost lost her last year to my dog.  I nursed her back to health and now she’s back at it and laying like a champ!
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This is Gertrude.  One of my first lovely ladies. So sweet and gentle.

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This is Wilma!  She is my curious adventure seeker.  She jumps our wooden fence and wanders my neighbors back yards.  Last week, I thought I lost her.  I called the animal rescue league as I couldn’t find her in any of my neighbors back yards.  I have no idea where she went but as usual, by the end of the night she was roosting with her sisters in the coop.  I hope she doesn’t get eaten or run over one day!  Here she is taking a dirt bath.

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This is poor Henrietta.  Yup, the gals ganged up on her and pecked her head clean of feathers.  I hope they grow back in.

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So those are some of the ladies.  Soon enough they will start to molt and drop in production.  At that time I will need to start thinking about replacing these girls.  They’ll probably be with us for another year before the inevitable… the stew pot.  Yes, I do care for my ladies, however, this is life and one that I respect and I will continually tend to them as best as I can even to harvest.
I’m starting to think about ordering about 15 more chickens.  These chickens will be my broilers and only with me for 8 – 12 weeks.  I do plan on sharing with you as I receive these chicks and the process of harvesting a chicken.  I’m really excited about this!
If you haven’t signed up already,  I’m hosting a Garden Patch™ Grow Box™ Giveaway!  An easy way to Grow Your Own Food even in small spaces!!! Check it out!


28 Comments

About Diana Bauman

Diana is a mother of three, proud wife, and humbled daughter of God. She finds the most joy meeting with Jesus in her organic gardens. She is completely blessed to be able to call herself a stay at home mom where she home educates her children, joyfully serves her husband, and cooks nourishing, real food, for her family. She loves connecting with people on facebook, google+, pinterest, and instagram.

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Comments

  1. Kelli says

    March 20, 2010 at 3:17 pm

    Hi Diana! Do you plan on doing the harvesting yourself or do you have someplace local that will do it for you? I've been considering rabbits but I know my weaknesses.

    Reply
  2. Diana Bauman says

    March 20, 2010 at 3:33 pm

    Hi Kelli! Quite understandable 😉 I do plan on harvesting the chickens myself. I've never done rabbits, however, you could definitely look into local lockers who can do that for you. There are quite a few out here. Will you be doing this when you get to Iowa? Have a great weekend 🙂

    Reply
  3. juliecache says

    March 20, 2010 at 5:46 pm

    We leave an opening for our bees during winter. condensation is definitely a concern, so i support the opening.

    Reply
  4. Denise @ Creative Kitchen says

    March 20, 2010 at 7:52 pm

    Wow!! Glad your "girls" made it through the winter! I enjoyed seeing pictures of your chickens and their coup. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  5. Sweet and Savory says

    March 20, 2010 at 7:57 pm

    Love your post and LOVE your ladies! It looks like you live in town…I'm wondering do any of your neighbors get mad about the chickens? Just curious.

    Reply
  6. My Little Space says

    March 20, 2010 at 8:44 pm

    I thought the snow was already over! OMG, 6" snow! The weather is crazy… our planet is so sick, Diana! Hopefully, it will be a sunny day tomorrow! I wonder do you have your home breed chicken for dinner? For me, I rather go buy it from the store! hahaha….
    Have a great weekend, dassshling!
    Cheers, Kristy

    Reply
  7. Mardi @eatlivetravelwrite says

    March 20, 2010 at 9:52 pm

    I LOVE this post and I especailly love that you have named the chickens. You are doing a wonderful thing over there in Iowa, growing and raising everything you eat. What a great example you are to your children (and all of us!)

    Reply
  8. Chow and Chatter says

    March 20, 2010 at 10:23 pm

    oh man they are so cute, and I would have been really worried about them too, I guess they would tear your house up in you brought them in
    wow harvesting your own your brave I would get attached to them
    I had pet rabbits as a kid still can't eat them!

    Reply
  9. Miranda says

    March 21, 2010 at 6:43 am

    This may sound wierd, but they are BEAUTIFUL!!! Gertrude is so fantastic. Love the photos, Diana

    Reply
  10. Candi says

    March 21, 2010 at 8:32 am

    These are beautiful ladies! Gertrude is my favorite. Her coloring is spectacular! We've discussed pros and cons to chickens and right now, I don't think it would be a good idea for us.

    Reply
  11. Claudia Medeiros says

    March 21, 2010 at 9:41 am

    Have a beautiful and so blessed week, Diana !

    xoxo

    Reply
  12. Stella says

    March 21, 2010 at 10:11 am

    This is so great, Diana. I want chickens! We are actually looking for a house where we can have them and an organic garden. Hopefully soon.
    I hope Spring comes for you all soon!

    Reply
  13. angela@spinachtiger says

    March 21, 2010 at 7:45 pm

    What a darling bunch of girls.

    Reply
  14. [email protected] says

    March 21, 2010 at 9:02 pm

    Great pictures! Gertrude is beautiful! I love the fact that they give you eggs (almost) everyday. Do you eat them all or do you give them away to your lucky friends and relatives?

    Reply
  15. Sook says

    March 21, 2010 at 9:32 pm

    Great photos!

    Reply
  16. Lori says

    March 21, 2010 at 9:34 pm

    Oh my gosh, I loved meeting your girls. And I can't believe you all got all that snow right now! We are fortunate in KY, we'll get more cold temps, but the snow is long gone. 🙂

    Reply
  17. ~Sara says

    March 21, 2010 at 10:14 pm

    The Golden Laced Wyandottes are beautiful! SO glad to hear they made it through the winter so well. This was a rough one for us!

    Getting my chicks this week, I am so excited!

    Reply
  18. rosemary says

    March 22, 2010 at 2:38 am

    I envy you. Our winters are not that bad here in Zimbabwe. We have a small plot out of town and I have been procrastinating on raising my own babies. I am encouraged. What a gorgeous crew you have got! Where is the gentleman responsible for making the ladies have eggs? Or did I miss something?

    Reply
  19. Anonymous says

    March 22, 2010 at 4:41 am

    i really love your writing style, very charming.
    don't give up as well as keep penning because it simply just well worth to look through it.
    excited to look at even more of your current article content, kind regards 🙂

    Reply
  20. Diana Bauman says

    March 22, 2010 at 8:02 am

    Thanks for the comments everyone!!

    Ally – No my neighbors were fine with my chickens. We did put up a privacy fence to be courteous. Chickens are pretty quiet which makes for happy neighbors 😀

    Hi Rosemary,

    I'm laughing right now because I thought the same thing before I got my chickens. Don't they need a rooster to lay eggs? Actually chickens are just like us. We cycle an egg a month and if it doesn't get fertilized well, aunty flow does her thing. Chickens are the same way except they have an egg every day or so. If there is no rooster the eggs are unfertilized and will never develop into a baby chickie. In the city we are not allowed roosters for noise ordinance reasons. Oh well 🙁 Thanks for the comment Rosemary!

    Reply
  21. Anonymous says

    March 23, 2010 at 2:17 pm

    I LOVE chickens! My sister used to have some Banty Hens…she named them all & they were her babies! They all died peacefully of old age…no stew pot for them! Ha! Yours are beautiful!! When my mom was a little girl she had a pet hen that she pushed around in her doll buggy. They really are gentle creatures, untill they turn on each other! Ha!

    Reply
  22. Fuji Mama says

    March 23, 2010 at 3:03 pm

    Your ladies are GORGEOUS! So jealous, I would LOVE to have chickens. K, that advice from your farming friend has me in a fit of giggles.

    Reply
  23. Crail Cakes says

    March 23, 2010 at 4:57 pm

    I love the names of your chickens! Do you think they will care about you planning on eating them when they stop laying, hmmm?

    Reply
  24. Fresh Local and Best says

    March 26, 2010 at 12:05 am

    Your chickens are so beautiful, I'm partial to Gertrude and Wilma.

    Reply
  25. Stpaulfoodie says

    March 26, 2010 at 9:39 pm

    Looks like you have a great set-up with your chickens. Nice job!

    Reply
  26. Earthgrlie says

    March 28, 2010 at 6:36 pm

    I love your chicken coop! We are going to take the plunge this year and get some chickens for eggs. We're quite excited. You gave me some inspiration to get moving on this project! Thanks!

    Reply
  27. Donna says

    April 14, 2010 at 7:18 am

    15 more! How many Chickens can you have in the City?! :O You'll have to expand your coop, right?

    When are you going to get into Honeybees? And you don't have a Goat yet. 🙂

    Beautiful ladies! Thank you for taking the photos and posting them here. I have been curious about the breeds you have chosen.

    Reply
  28. Jana says

    April 14, 2010 at 9:57 pm

    Your chickens are lovely! I wish I could have chickens 🙂

    Reply

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My family of 7

I’m Diana – mother of five, proud wife, and daughter to an amazing God. Here you’ll find an encouraging community seeking to nourish our families both physically and spiritually. You’ll find us in our kitchens, gardens, and homeschool rooms pursuing a simple life in food, faith, and family.

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