tunafish

1 hour ago, dendrite said:

The important thing is to not overthink it. It they have good shelter they'll be okay. I let mine out all of those days and they were fine. I wouldn't want them out there in the 20s with wind and puddles, but that's not usually a problem until late winter or if there's a strong cold front. I've let them free range in the evening in light snow, 10s with little wind, ice packs, etc. Some won't touch the snow, others walk through it. Some come out when it's 15F and others say "no way" and stay in the run.

I'd be careful about washing them in the winter. If they have protection from the rain/drizzle they'll go back under when they've had enough precip. Their outer feathers keep them dry really well. But if you get those down underside feathers wet that's when you can be dealing with hypothermia. So wet/dirty feet I don't worry about. They sit on their feet on the roosts anyway which will keep their feet warm and able to dry. Any poopy butts I leave alone in the winter...in the warm season sometimes I'll wet them and try to pull it off.

I worried about a lot of things my first winter as well. Someday you'll look back and laugh at some of the things you worried about. Now that doesn't mean I'm cheering the cold on...lol. They're a lot easier to care for in a tame winter. They survive fine in deep winter, but obviously they're not thriving.

Good luck and feel free to ask me anything anytime.

Thanks again.  They definitely have their own personalities, but so far all 6 haven't minded walking on the snow pack, though only 2 of them have eaten it.

That's good advice on the wintercare.  I'm definitely more concerned since it's their first winter and real cold coming in next week.  Appreciate the advice!

25 minutes ago, dendrite said:

They’ll be fine as long as they’re dry and there’s no wind/drafts. Make sure they have ventilation. Mine handled a week of highs in the single digits and lows in the -10s with no problem in that cold stretch around New Years 2018. Even if it gets a little below zero in the morning I let them out into the run. They’re birds…they can adapt to relatively slow changes in temp. You have orpingtons and mine handle it better than most of my other birds. Like I said though…the big thing is ventilation as it can lead to respiratory problems over time. The front of my coop is 8ft and I leave the eaves wide open so their heat and moisture can escape up and out. I don’t do the deep litter method in the coop…they’re in the run all day and I just pick up the poop in there daily. They roost in the coop over a poop board which catches their poop like a litter box. So you definitely want to have a place for the moisture to escape aloft if you’re doing DLM. Like you said, the decomposition will provide some heat and convection for the warmth to rise.

I do have a barred rock hen with a large comb that has occasionally gotten frostbite on it, but she’s the exception. All of my orpingtons tend to have smaller single combs. Also keep in mind that people keep chickens in the upper midwest and Alaska where it gets -30° to -40° or lower. Keep’em dry and with no air movement and they’ll be fine.

Very helpful, thank you.  The ridge of their coop is vented - there is about a two inch gap between the peak of the roof and the front/rear coop walls, so hopefully that's good enough but I will definitely keep an eye on it, probably do a test, to make sure there is enough ventilation.  

When we had that misery mist last weekend long they did get pretty wet one of the days, actually Sunday right before the front blew through.  I was concerned so we took them in the garage, gave their feet and bottoms a wash, and dried them off with a light/low hair dryer.  Threw some fresh straw on their "inner" enclosed run to make sure it was dry enough before the front came through.  They seemed happy (and dry)

Thanks again!

@dendrite

This is my first winter with chickens.  I have buff orpingtons and lavender orpingtons.  Do you do anything for your flock when it's as cold as it looks to be early next week?

We do the deep litter method in their coop, so that gives off a little extra warmth at night, and they're a cold-hearty breed, but sub-zero lows give me some concerns.

6 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

I honestly cannot believe the folks thinking whiff lol. We are 2.5 days from start time. 

 

So you've finally come around to a Friday early morning start time?  Welcome.

11 hours ago, dryslot said:

The rain is meh, It won't make a dent.

Agreed, but the 72 hours above freezing (already 24 hours in) will.

Pack is pretty stout, but down to 4".

2 hours ago, tamarack said:

Really nice carrots!

Thanks, we used pelletized seeds this year which helped with germination, we think.

8 minutes ago, tamarack said:

I leave nearly half the carrots in the ground and pile leaves atop.  They should be dug within a day or three of the snow melting off in spring, before they start their 2nd year root growth.  I've had minimal rodent damage under the snow, and Bolero (from Johnny's) is sweet in the fall and sweeter in the spring, in part because fresh carrots that season usually travel thousands of miles to get here.
Other overwintering/growth is impractical w/o a heated greenhouse.  Each of our winters have gotten down to at least -12 and only 5 of 23 have failed to reach -20.  (And 4 have touched the -30s.)

Nice.  These were our first year with Bolero and they came out great.  We pulled them today because we're out, and the kids were excited to dig in the dirt.

Carrots and said collapsed tunnel:

@TauntonBlizzard2013 sugar snap Peas are good to start from seed, outdoors, harvest in June and start a new batch.

We did potatoes last year in grow bags that did well.

I'd start your stuff from seedlings, if you don't have the space indoors to starts seeds.  

Do some research on succession planting, so you're always growing and your space is efficient.  For example, we plant garlic in November, harvest in July, plant carrots in their place, harvest in November, plant garlic again.

Lastly, some plants are more compatible growing next to each other - important for a small garden.  All resesrchable.  I'm sure UMASS has a cooperative extension as UNH and UMaine do.  They'll have resources (tips) specific for your climo. (Edit: https://ag.umass.edu/resources/home-lawn-garden)

Snow collapsed my small high-tunnel the other day.  RIP winter spinach.  Did just dig out the last batch of carrots, though.

2 minutes ago, ma blizzard said:

pretty sure forky posted an 850 mb temp anomaly map?

Details details

10 hours ago, weathafella said:

His map seems correct.  You’re certainly >3F this week no?

4 minutes ago, OceanStWx said:

3.3” up here by the Presumpscot. 

Managing to claw our way to a slightly below normal December. You’ve had several inches more than me though so the Jetport might squeak out normal.

That last event, with the coastal front, is the difference between our locations.

I'm assuming that was you who answered the phone at 4 this morning?  Sorry about the delayed report.  I set aside the can to melt on it's own and fell asleep on the couch.  I almost never let it melt on its own, too.

27 minutes ago, dendrite said:

2.1” of snow on top of the 1.1” of frozen goulash. That puts the depth at 7” of glacier. 

Glacier is the right word.  Bulletproof pack. My first-year chicks aren't ready for this.

3.4" event total (0.47 liquid) with 2.4" of that coming after 10PM. Current depth 7".

3 minutes ago, Torch Tiger said:

NJ was in the 50's today....FWIW

We here, not there

Been at or BN all week, will post my data later.  Merry Christmas 

8 minutes ago, weathafella said:

That’s something to brag about in ME in late December?

Absolutely not, but when that t**t was trolling with >3F anomaly maps last week, we post verification (or not).

8 minutes ago, DotRat_Wx said:

Where's the snow

Maine, bub

Where's that wretched rag @forkyfork?  31F max | 1.0" new | depth 4.0"

0.8" finally flipped to ice pellets, looking like zr soon.

7 minutes ago, dendrite said:

It’s trying. 

Holding on by a thread here.  Melting line came close on CC but starting to sag back south down 95.  27F and SN-.

49 minutes ago, moneypitmike said:

A great couple weeks for the Maine coast.

Run straight out of my basement

1 hour ago, HIPPYVALLEY said:

Jerry’s solo bands were top-notch. In the mid-70s he was playing with Eric Clapton type skills but with a little bit more acid drenched sound.

I saw the Jerry Garcia band a half dozen times between 1988 and 1993. Soulful and sublime.

This is why I love listening to them.

That's hilarious about Ben and Owen.  I was at that 20th anniversary show myself (which was almost 20 years ago itself!).  Pretty cool you got to see backstage. I can only imagine the sh*tshow it was back then.  Much more tame now as most of them are sober/healthy.  

1 hour ago, Baroclinic Zone said:

Went to the Camp Oswego Phish Festival in July 1999.  Hottest 3 days ever.  Was in the upper 90s.  Good time seeing them, Del McCoury and Son Seals.

A few years before my first show.  Must've been brutal on the tarmac with 0 shade.

2 minutes ago, HIPPYVALLEY said:

I am not much of a Phish fan but I have a bunch of their original LPs in my vinyl collection that are worth at least a mortgage payment or two.

I had kind of forgotten about them because I bought them so many years ago and then I looked them up on eBay and laughed out loud.

Yes, if you have them from before the resurgence of vinyl, they are definitely worth some coin.  I love having a few of their records on vinyl, and they've started doing some live stuff now, too, but I couldn't justify spending that much.

I'm starting to build a small live JGB collection on vinyl.  I'm a sucker for Jerry jams.

1 minute ago, dryslot said:

Here too, But its not consistent so far run to run as usual.

how's it looking down this way?  asking for a 

13 hours ago, Tezeta said:

Also I don’t know how you can put fall 21 over the baker’s dozen summer, no matter how good it was. 

I guess I don't think of the BD as a tour, more of a stand or run.  Semantics, I suppose.  But yeah, BD was filthy night after night.  So, "best tour since 1.0 minus bakers", IMO.

Sounded like Halloween was the big spreader night, I'm sure the pyrotechnics didn't help the already-bad ventilation.  First 3 nights of Vegas sounded amazing on tape, but listening to the sci-fi set was a lot of work, I'd say you dodged multiple bullets that night, and made out $ wise. That's amazing you got 850 for a behind the stage ticket.  

MSG ticket prices are way down.  I'm real tempted to make a run down there for a night.  I just need to keep an eye on the weather.  I'm the climate observer for snow for PWM, so if it's going to snow I have to be here.  I can get someone to do the depth easily, but if it's actively snowing asking someone to run out there at midnight for an observation isn't fair.