Homestead mailing list

[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

outwest4us AT yahoo.com wrote:
> My name is Rene' and I live on a small ranch in the mountains 
> (actually in the valley between 2 mountain ranges) of SW Montana with
>  my husband and 2 children.

What beautiful country.  It is the land in the dreams of many.

> We have horses fie pleasure but its getting expensive...price if hay 
> is ridiculous here.  We used to have chickens but its just too cold 
> most of the year here, even with heated coops, so we gave up.  :-(

Rene, I know people in Alaska with chickens, I've never heard of a place
 too cold for chickens.  You just gotta house them in a way that
maximized the heat they produce(and chickens do produce a lot of heat).
 If you describe what kind of arrangement you had-what you tried,
perhaps we could help troubleshoot it?  Gene had a good idea with
chickens and the greenhouse.  I have a small, unheated lean to type
greenhouse and I have month old chicks in there under a light.  There is
only 13 little chickies in that cage, but I've found that their heat
keeps my greenhouse almost 10 degrees warmer than without chicks.  We
got down to 9 degrees last week for two nights, and the low in my
greenhouse was 38.  I kept it above freezing, so I was happy.
I just think a good homestead needs chickens, and I know you like them
because you had them before.  If your horses survive the weather and
cold, surely chickens can.
> We are putting up a green house this spring and will be installing 
> solar panels and a windmill for power hopefully this year. Currently,
> we do all our heating with wood that we cut ourselves.

Awesome.

Bev
--
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will
not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius
will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the
world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone
are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve
the problems of the human race"

~ Calvin Coolidge