Native North Dakotan

Sharann

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Hi everyone, I am so interested in reading everyone's threads and learning, learning, learning!!! Our temperatures can range from a100 degrees or a little higher in the summer, and to well below zero in the winter. Currently I have chickens, guinea hens, and my most recent addition quail. We raise a large garden for canning and freezing for the winter. For meat we love our own butchered chicken, fish(walleye) we catch, and venison. Some duck and goose have been added to the mix at times. I apologize if this goes under the wrong thread as I have not participated in forums before.
 

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ClissAT

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Hi Sharann & welcome. There is much to learn here for sure!
When you say zero, is that Fahrenheit zero? So 32F degrees below freezing?:eek:
My gosh that's cold. :shock:
How does your poultry fare in such weather?
 

eggcentric

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Hi Sharann, from a fellow newcomer to this forum! It sounds like we have quite a few things in common: climate, quail and chickens. :)
 

Sharann

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Hi Sharann & welcome. There is much to learn here for sure!
When you say zero, is that Fahrenheit zero? So 32F degrees below freezing?:eek:
My gosh that's cold. :shock:
How does your poultry fare in such weather?
Yes, I mean zero, well below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. And on occasion -20 actual temps during the winter. The chickens do pretty well, I have gone to breeds with smaller combs so there is less frostbite. I keep a heat lamp over the water to stop freezing and turn on a white light from 6 AM to 6 PM. I use a deep liter method on the floor. My guineas in a different coop are set up about the same except no white light as they have better light from the window. They don't go out after it snows as I have a hard time getting them out of the trees and back to the coop. Lastly my little quail coop, same set up as chickens and so far they seem very happy. I am scared as winter goes how that this might not continue, but plan lots of hay for them to hide in.
 

eggcentric

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I can vouch for what you say about chickens doing pretty well in winter in colder climates, Sharann. ND is an area with a similar climate to where we live (although we often do get a bit colder than -20 C), and popular chicken breeds in our area are those with tighter feathering and smaller combs and wattles as well.
I would like to add to your comments about poultry management in winter, that chickens do fine as long as you provide shelter with good light, good ventilation and no drafts, and access to free running water. And food, of course. ;-)
The deep bedding method is popular in our area too, because if it's working properly, it provides some additional warmth in the poultry housing.
This is my first winter with quail too, and we've had some -9 C nights here already. I've piled extra bedding and wood shavings into their house, and they seem to be doing very well so far. Our biggest challenge has been keeping free running water available to them. I think you're doing all the right things for your quails, and they should be fine. :)
 

Sharann

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I can vouch for what you say about chickens doing pretty well in winter in colder climates, Sharann. ND is an area with a similar climate to where we live (although we often do get a bit colder than -20 C), and popular chicken breeds in our area are those with tighter feathering and smaller combs and wattles as well.
I would like to add to your comments about poultry management in winter, that chickens do fine as long as you provide shelter with good light, good ventilation and no drafts, and access to free running water. And food, of course. ;-)
The deep bedding method is popular in our area too, because if it's working properly, it provides some additional warmth in the poultry housing.
This is my first winter with quail too, and we've had some -9 C nights here already. I've piled extra bedding and wood shavings into their house, and they seem to be doing very well so far. Our biggest challenge has been keeping free running water available to them. I think you're doing all the right things for your quails, and they should be fine. :)
Hi, glad to hear your poultry are doing well. -20 here is equal to -28 there so we are pretty close in cold temps. On a rare day it may be a little colder than that. My quail drink out of a black rubber pan that has a heat lamp mounted over it to keep it from freezing. I secure my heat lamps with chain and zip tie the cords to screws in the rafters so there is no chance of them falling This has worked well except one winter I had some young guineas that would stand on the edge of the water pan trying to stay warm and burned their helmets. I moved the light higher and put up with a thin layer of ice on the water I could easily break open. All my coops have this same water pan and light.
 

Mark

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Currently I have chickens, guinea hens, and my most recent addition quail.
Do you keep the guinea with the quail?

Welcome to our forum and thank you for joining us!

My quail drink out of a black rubber pan that has a heat lamp mounted over it to keep it from freezing.
We don't have this problem in the subtropics but it very interesting to read the different issues and adaptations people in other climates have to deal with - no matter where one lives there are always challenges for backyard/urban farmers to solve and I guess this is partly the attraction in GYO/DIY.
 

DarrenP

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We don't have this problem in the subtropics but it very interesting to read the different issues and adaptations people in other climates have to deal with - no matter where one lives there are always challenges for backyard/urban farmers to solve and I guess this is partly the attraction in GYO/DIY.

This is very true. Just moving from Adelaide's Mediterranean climate (which is becoming increasingly humid) to the dryer and warmer climate of the mid north has been an interesting exercise for me in regards to vegetable growing.
 

Sharann

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Do you keep the guinea with the quail?

Welcome to our forum and thank you for joining us!


We don't have this problem in the subtropics but it very interesting to read the different issues and adaptations people in other climates have to deal with - no matter where one lives there are always challenges for backyard/urban farmers to solve and I guess this is partly the attraction in GYO/DIY.
have 6 young guineas with the quail. They were born late this fall and just came out of the brooder about the time I got the quail. In the spring they will move to my guinea coop and the quail will be separate. Not sure I could deal with your sub-tropical weather. Do you raise any cornish cross chicks for butcher? It seems they don't do well with the heat up here and I imagine yours to be worse.
 

Mark

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Do you raise any cornish cross chicks for butcher?
We have butchered some utility Sussex birds before but rarely do chickens anymore and mainly do quail with the occasional duck.

We positioned our poultry pen under the shade of a treed area down the back - it does get uncomfortably hot here in summer yes... :heat:
 

eggcentric

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Hi, glad to hear your poultry are doing well. -20 here is equal to -28 there so we are pretty close in cold temps. On a rare day it may be a little colder than that. My quail drink out of a black rubber pan that has a heat lamp mounted over it to keep it from freezing. I secure my heat lamps with chain and zip tie the cords to screws in the rafters so there is no chance of them falling This has worked well except one winter I had some young guineas that would stand on the edge of the water pan trying to stay warm and burned their helmets. I moved the light higher and put up with a thin layer of ice on the water I could easily break open. All my coops have this same water pan and light.
Lots of poultry people in this area use the black rubber pans for water for their poultry too. They are so durable and can take a lot of abuse - which is good in the mornings when you have to stomp on them to dislodge the the block of ice that used to be drinking water. I use a chick waterer for my quails though, because they just aren't as well behaved as yours. They climb onto, into, and under everything, and poop wherever possible. Even where you wouldn't think it possible. They are messy little boogers. Since I have to leave them to their own devices all day while I'm at work, I don't want to risk coming home to a pan full of quail popsicles, so I have to make do with a water source that they can't climb right into. ;-)
 

Sharann

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Lots of poultry people in this area use the black rubber pans for water for their poultry too. They are so durable and can take a lot of abuse - which is good in the mornings when you have to stomp on them to dislodge the the block of ice that used to be drinking water. I use a chick waterer for my quails though, because they just aren't as well behaved as yours. They climb onto, into, and under everything, and poop wherever possible. Even where you wouldn't think it possible. They are messy little boogers. Since I have to leave them to their own devices all day while I'm at work, I don't want to risk coming home to a pan full of quail popsicles, so I have to make do with a water source that they can't climb right into. ;-)
Because I place a heat light over the water, mine do not freeze. I bring them to the house once weekly to really scrub and clean them. So far no quail looking wet like they are getting in the water. I do see them walking up to the edge of the pan to drink. I would not use this pan if I had newly hatched quail and the chick waterer is in order then. How do you keep the chick waterer from freezing?
 

Robyn67

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Welcome and wow your winters do throw some tough challenges. How long is your growing season.
 

Sharann

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Welcome and wow your winters do throw some tough challenges. How long is your growing season.
There are some years we can get a garden in the end of May, but to avoid frost waiting until June is safer. We are usually done cleaning up the garden by October. We do get an early start on plants in the house then move them to a greenhouse before the garden.
 

Robyn67

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Gosh, only 5 to 6 months, that must be pretty intense.
 

DarrenP

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We get pretty hot summers, mid 40's Celsius, winters down to zero occasionally, but very few frosts for some reason. We manage to grow winter vegetables, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage all grow well in the winter, as do peas and carrots.
 

Sharann

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Gosh, only 5 to 6 months, that must be pretty intense.
I don't now, we consider it relaxing to garden. we grow enough to freeze and can sufficient supplies of vegetables for the winter. Up until this last summer we also did a Farmers Market selling tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, kolrabi, peppers, etc.... We have decided we are too old for that large of garden and downsized this last year. Still enough for all kinds of tomato sauces, tomato juice, pickles, carrots and a full freezer. The only fruit we grow right now is apples, strawberries, and rhubarb. We did start some juneberry shrubs this year.
 

Sherry Robitson

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Hi everyone, I am so interested in reading everyone's threads and learning, learning, learning!!! Our temperatures can range from a100 degrees or a little higher in the summer, and to well below zero in the winter. Currently I have chickens, guinea hens, and my most recent addition quail. We raise a large garden for canning and freezing for the winter. For meat we love our own butchered chicken, fish(walleye) we catch, and venison. Some duck and goose have been added to the mix at times. I apologize if this goes under the wrong thread as I have not participated in forums before.
Hello from Texas Sharann. Bet you’re colder than we are right now!
 

Sharann

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Hello from Texas Sharann. Bet you’re colder than we are right now!
LOL!! I heard from family in Texas it had snowed... but yes we were at 12 degrees F when it was snowing there so a little colder.
 
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