Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[Cindlady]

Hi All.

Well, was was back in the E.R.

Making the bash is not looking good at this point. Might have to decide at the last minuet.

Night All.

 

[weegarden]

Hey weegarden, we are practically neighbors.. I am straight west of green bay,, about 98 miles .. LOL

I have to wait about a week for my lawn mower part to come in, so tomorrow I think I will change at least one of the frayed belts.. two if I can find both of them.

then just for the heII of it, I am going to try to adjust the transmission. wish me luck..

not much going on here today.

.........jiminwisc.........o

Oh yes, we are close then. Cool beans! What kinds of chickens do you have?

Hi All.

Well, was was back in the E.R.

Making the bash is not looking good at this point. Might have to decide at the last minuet.

Night All.

Oh no, I hope you are feeling better! Ok, I need to know about this bash! Is it a WI group get together?

 

[weegarden]

Out of 18, I now have 5 rocks, 6 beautiful blue silkies, 1 rock that is still pipped and not zipped (hurry up, I need my incubator.), and yep, I did have 1 die from rolling over wrong, and 5 that never pipped.

I'm confused about that. 3 of the 5 died earlier, maybe at lockdown, and maybe even earlier. (I know that could happen in a nest too.)
But, the last two are from the same rooster/hen combo, and they both looked fully developed, yolk sac drawn in, heads turned and ready to internally pip, but no internal pip. They did have big vaulted skulls, and looked really nice, but no internal pip. I wonder why. I had a couple from the same rooster/hen combo do that last time too.

 

[67drake]

2 Noobie questions for you Cheese heads.

1. My hens are now 1 year and 1 week old. I've was getting about 90% eggs per day over the winter with a light on in their coop at night. The last week or so I've dropped to about 25%,like somebody flipped a switch! The light is still on overnight too.

2. I noticed about 2 weeks ago that a few hens were losing feathers on their back,right in front of their tail feathers. At first I thought pecking order,but now that I see it on a few different birds all in the same spot I'm not so sure. Is this molting?

Are the 2 questions related? This is my 1st spring with laying hens,so I don't know. Coop,food,water is all the same BTW.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Angiebubs]

Hello! Is this the official WI thread? Or is there another that I'm not seeing? I found this thread through a link in another thread so hopefully I'm not barging in!! I've been a career lurker on the site for about a year but just recently joined in on the fun!

Well, I'm new to the forum (obviously...) Live in New Richmond, WI and will be starting a small flock next spring. I've never kept chickens before so I'm neck deep in researching breeds and coop designs.

So, any tips for a newbie??

I'm sure I'll have tons of questions as I go! Thx!

Hi Steph, I live in Amery and go thru NR daily for work Let me know if you have questions about particular breeds or anything I can help with?

 

[Angiebubs]

Being a city girl up until I moved to a rural neighborhood 10 years ago, chickens were a mystery to me! An animal lover all around, I would never be comfortable being responsible for animals without first knowing what I'm doing. Honestly, hubby gave me the green light on the whole "Chicken thing" (as he calls it, LOL) for this summer but I'm just not ready. Medical care is my biggest concern. Looking for runny noses, pasty butts, bumble foot, or questionable droppings is about the extent of my chicken medicine knowledge. (And even that is just what I've read here at BYC) And then the vaccine debate. Oy.

I would love to get a few Wyandottes (sp?) but am hesitant due to some broodiness mentioned in owner reviews of the breed. (How much of a pain is that to deal with?)
Sex Links are on the top of my list too. Not sure if the different colors have different temperaments.
Also Rhode Island Reds, but again, I'm reading that they can get aggressive if they come from the wrong blood line. (Production vs heritage, I believe. How would I know the difference???)

Any hens I bring in would need to be docile as they will be pets first, then layers. Since my coop will not have electricity they have be ok with our lovely WI winters and walking on snow.

Has anyone used solar power to power a dog bowl heater? Or do I bite the bullet and run an extension cord to the coop in the winter?

Steph-I also moved from teh cities to the country about 6-7 yrs ago-and love it! Hate the 1 hr 15 min commute each way though. Honestly, read what you can ahead but learning while doing is your best bet! Until you have chickens and can see what normal is, its hard to know to watch for illness.

I have 4 wyndottes-2 hatchery and 2 breeder and what a difference the in the breeder birds! Friendlier personality and a lot more beautiful. In fact, I just posted on FB BYC a comparison between a hatchery and breeder to show the difference!

Hi all,
I'm Jim. I returned home to Wind Lake after being in Iowa for eighteen years. I've been a member of BYC for a while but took a break from it for a time. In Iowa, I had a lot of breeds that I shipped hatching eggs all over from. I've seen some names that I recognized shipping to. I plan to get back into breeding and showing but on a much smaller scale (until I find someplace to house my flock. Lol). Currently my flock is at my uncle's farm. Right now I have Iowa Blue, Underwood Rhode Island Red ( RC and SC), and LF Black Langshan. I have hens I wish I could find mates for but probably won't continue with some of these. I have Speckled Sussex (Reinhart line), Blue Ameraucana, a Black Cochin, a BCM, a Sizzle, and a BLRW.
I teach Biology and Chemistry at West Allis Central. I hope to hatch some eggs for my bio classes but don't have breeding pens set up yet. That will come in the next few weeks. I started Hosta seeds with the students and they want to see their seedlings daily. I can't imagine what they would be like with chicks. I may be stalking some of your pages seeing what breeds you have that may be close enough for me to pick up eggs.

Eventually I hope to have Icelandics, Ameraucanas, Marans, Halbach White Rock, and Sussex back in my flock with the intent to show them. (No showing for the Icelandics though)

I'm hoping to get to know you all like I knew my chicken friends in the past.

Welcome! nice variety of birds!

Hi All-

So I'm the new kid here... and I hope this is ok to do... But I am writing a research paper on- you guessed it- CHICKENS and would love it if a few fellow Wisconsinites could take a few minutes to answer a some general questions. Nothing Earth shattering, just a few areas of my paper that would benefit from a wide range of responses. I know the BYC website and this forum cover these topics in depth, but I am curious to see what my fellow WISCONSIN residents have to say. Also, my paper requires that I generate my survey questions and compile responses myself.

This little survey is geared for what I assume to be the traditional backyard chicken keeper (under 10-ish birds), and not so much farm/large flock settings. I will be summarizing your responses in my paper and will not include any identifying information. Write as little or as much as you want!

THANK-YOU in advance to those who participate, and please let me know if this not appropriate for this board and I will promptly remove it.

1. How many, and what breeds do you own? Any roosters?

2. How did you decide those on breeds?

3. How is your coop and run set up? Would you change anything if you could? Feel free to send a picture!

4. Do you allow for free range or foraging time? If so, how is that space defined?

5. How do you winterize your coop/run?

6. What are the best tips to save time/money on maintaining your flock?

7. How do you handle medical care for sick or injured birds? At what point do you see a vet or euthanize?

8. Do you have dogs or cats as well? Any issues with pet vs. chicken attacks?

9. Do you know the zoning restrictions on chickens for your county or town? Did you have to fight to be allowed to keep poultry?

10. What is the hardest thing about keeping chickens that people may not be aware of?

Thanks for your time!

1. How many, and what breeds do you own? Any roosters?
31? and around 30 soon to hatch 3 roosters Wyndottes, Faverolles (2 coops dedicated), Cochin, Orpingtons (Black, Buff, Lavendar), Sussex, Easter Eggers, Marans, Barred Rock, ..I know I am forgetting some...have some mixes: Iowa Blue, Pendensca, etc

2. How did you decide those on breeds?
I wanted a variety to determine which breeds I preffered and for color/variety.

3. How is your coop and run set up? Would you change anything if you could? Feel free to send a picture!
I converted a barn into coops. Yes-cement walls sometimes weep moisture, wish I had more windows inside, and electricity-which I hope to update soon

4. Do you allow for free range or foraging time? If so, how is that space defined?
Each of my coops gets out for at least an hour per day-weekends a lot longer. Takes time to rotate 3 coops.

5. How do you winterize your coop/run?
Heated waterer, thats about it.

6. What are the best tips to save time/money on maintaining your flock?
Plan out set up ahead of time. Fermented feed an cut down on feed bill and is great for the birds if done correctly-but takes a little more time.

7. How do you handle medical care for sick or injured birds? At what point do you see a vet or euthanize?
Aren't many vets that know as much as chicken owners/BYC people. However,I just read that the vet in Star Prairie specializes in poultry!

8. Do you have dogs or cats as well? Any issues with pet vs. chicken attacks?
Both. Dog is a hunting bird dog, so have to also rotate her outside time with the chickens. However shes accidentally been out with them and didnt hurt them...but went after a young cockeral once-not sure if why. Cats: Have barn cats (2 new kittens) who get along very well with the chickens..they share waterers and treats!

9. Do you know the zoning restrictions on chickens for your county or town? Did you have to fight to be allowed to keep poultry?

No issues-lots of chicken people around here

10. What is the hardest thing about keeping chickens that people may not be aware of?
How quickly you become addicted! How hard it is when you lose one.

I'm in Amery! So is Angiebubs. I do the ordering for Countryside cooperative. If you are getting hatchery birds (and don't want 25) I can order whatever you want next spring.

BBP can give you great advice! She helped me along when I first started.

Thanks Jim,
I have tried both what the incubator manual says and dry incubation upping the humidity between 55-62% for humidity. Still I can never seem to lose enough moisture and the chicks are sticky. My last hatch I incubated dry and just finished up this morning. The whole hatch was a flop. We had a few temp issues with a few spikes mostly mild but we did have a short one that was 109 but lasted less than 5 minutes. The other bad spike was very early on. I'm not sure how long it lasted and it killed many eggs but two dozen survived the first spike.

My humidity during incubation of this batch ranged from 24-36% with the average being about 30. I've no idea how the eggs could have been so liquid logged.

I am currently trying to figure this out. I was running at 45% and when I weighed them it didnt feel like they were losing enough weight. It was suggested to me to remove the water completely until day 18. However, when I converted weight from oz. to grams i realized they lost more than I figured (still not enough) so I am now running around 30% for a few days till I weight hem again.

Woo Hoo! Did I finally find the Wisconsin thread??? I sure hope so! It feels like everyone is miles away otherwise! I'm hatching right now.

I am a silkie, black ameraucana, and Plymouth Rock lover!


I have 18 set eggs:

3 hatched-

2 rocks and 1 silkie.
4 are pipped, and 11 are showing no movement yet.
They certainly got rolled around last night when the first 2 rocks came out!
Sitting on my hands.

Yeah! I have a week to go!

2 Noobie questions for you Cheese heads.

1. My hens are now 1 year and 1 week old. I've was getting about 90% eggs per day over the winter with a light on in their coop at night. The last week or so I've dropped to about 25%,like somebody flipped a switch! The light is still on overnight too.

2. I noticed about 2 weeks ago that a few hens were losing feathers on their back,right in front of their tail feathers. At first I thought pecking order,but now that I see it on a few different birds all in the same spot I'm not so sure. Is this molting?

Are the 2 questions related? This is my 1st spring with laying hens,so I don't know. Coop,food,water is all the same BTW.

Thanks for any help!

Hmmm if the feather lose is just on their back above the tail-do you have a rooster? Roosters can be pretty rough on the hens backs-many of the current roo favorites in my flock have almost bare backs :-(. However, the drop in eggs would point to possible molting....you would tend to see a lot of feathers around and lose in different areas on the hens though.

 

[kristip]

Angiebubs.... do you have standard Cochins? What colors? Any young ones you might be selling? Are you going to the bash and then could someone train some down to me pending earlier questions???? I never can make the bash as we are in the midst of soccer/softball/baseball season and our lives are in chaos... anyway... we had one cochin hatch of a dozen eggs I got from a gal and it looks like a gorgeous splash or blue rooster...now 5/6 weeks old...would love to find him some girls as he is friendly...

thanks

 

[67drake]

Quote
No,I have no roosters here now. It seems like the hens bellies are a little thin on feathers compared to the winter months,but not bald like their lower backs.
If they are molting,how long does this last usually?
Thanks!

 

[irishrovr]

YAY! I got the Yukon Gold potatoes planted yesterday - will do the reds today. Lots of seedlings started in the potting shed but this frost thing is keeping them in for now.

Anyone need any seed potatoes? I've got a few Yukon Gold and will have some reds as well.

 

[Angiebubs]

No,I have no roosters here now. It seems like the hens bellies are a little thin on feathers compared to the winter months,but not bald like their lower backs.
If they are molting,how long does this last usually?
Thanks!

Molting is dependent on the specific hen and there is a wide range. Supposedly, the faster they molt the better layers they are.