Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[CasieD]

CasieD, my freedom rangers were almost 13 weeks old. I only weighed one that looked to be about average size and it was 5 pounds. I did have one tiny little hen in there. I didn't weigh her but I bet that bird is only 2.5 lbs. I only ended up with 6 roosters out of 26 so they may have been bigger on average if I had more roos and less hens. There was definitely a difference in size between the two. I'm not sure I will raise meat birds again. With them and all my layers and bantams I had over 80 chickens and about a dozen ducks free ranging around the yard. When they were hungry I had a mob chasing me. I kept one hen and we'll see if she how long she lives. She was on the smaller side. Maybe she'll lay eggs and I can breed her with my Iowa Blue rooster and have meat birds for next year.

Good to know. We just did 4 CX meaties when we got our turkeys. We butchered those at 9 weeks and they were all 6#'s or more. Love them for roasting but just wish they weren't so gross to raise. I'm hoping the freedom rangers are more like real chickens and not just eating machines!

 

[unkadan]

good evening folks,

Jim sorry you got your shaft shortened,,,

just got off the phone with Wayne Meredith and have secured a Blue Wheaton Ameraucana rooster for these pullets,,,should make for some nice blue egg layers next year, and interesting eggs for hatching next spring

here's why I have been messing with these BCMarans;


I have made a couple contacts here in WI for some show quality stock that throw nice dark eggs, hopefully this fall I can add some of those birds and get these 9 sorted out for breeding next spring.
Jim roosters are easy to find,,,,but a good rooster isn't IF you plan on breeding for more than egg laying. (and I got the "bass turd" verbage from DrH)

still tired and sore from that old tractor ride,,,

tc

 

[babylady4]

good evening folks,

Jim sorry you got your shaft shortened,,,

ROFL!!!!!!! Holy cow!!!!

Jim! I had no idea..........

 

[Celtic Chick]

And now for another exciting chapter of As The Egg Turns: It was a pretty nice day out today so I thought I'd let the tweens mingle with the flock again. I had them out together previously on Friday with no incidents so I figured why not, since I was going to be out there with them anyway. Well, I let them out and one decided to be brave and mosey just a few feet outside the doorway to peck around in the dirt. No problem, I figured, since she was out of the line of sight of the adults and the adults never really gave them any grief anyway. Well, one of the bonehead lav roos comes around the corner and decides to chase or attack her for no apparent reason, so she freaks and runs, you guessed it, right into the middle of the flock.

Oh lord, the sky is falling! Chickens are squalking, feathers are flying, mom comes tearing around the corner on her scooter......... Musta been one heckuva sight. Thankfully only 2 neighbors might have been able to view the show. So I find her cowering behind a log that holds up a pallet for them to hide under, with Moose standing over her. And as soon as I got closer, he started clucking to his hens and they all moved away. I could almost swear he was trying to protect her from those two bratty troublemaker roos, which he does do with his "wimmin", as DrH would say. Silly, I know, but it was interesting to see nevertheless. Anyway, I could see her, but couldn't get close enough to reach her, so I'm bending over trying to coax her to me when I hear another ruckus start up behind me. I turn around to look just in time to see one of those roos chase another tween around the corner right at me. He stopped dead, but she used my back for a springboard to launch herself on top of the roof of the deer feeder, scraping the heck out of my back in the process.

Wonderful! Can I go spend the next couple days back in bed again? So now I'm trying to coax one tween off the roof while keeping an eye on the other one and also on the two rowdy roos. Not an easy feat since I can only see out of one eye.

At least by seeing the one on the roof, the other one came out and jumped on top of the pallet, but that made a roo jump up there too. Knocked him on his tail, grabbed the roofer by the feet when she got close enough (you can imagine how that went), then the other one got close enough so I could scoop her up too. Thankfully she wasn't a drama queen like her sis. Then have to drive back into the carport one handed while trying to hold onto two shell-shocked tweens. And some people actually wonder why I didn't have kids. And that was just the beginning of my morning. So how was your day?

Ok, guess I'll get back to catching up on my reading here, now that I've bored you all to tears.

 

[Celtic Chick]

good evening folks,

Jim sorry you got your shaft shortened,,,

ROFL!!!!!!! Holy cow!!!!

Jim! I had no idea..........

That is pretty darn hilarious. Maybe not in Jim's eyes, but............ hopefully only he and Annie have to see it.

 

[Bigfamily4me]

I've been good with the shaft talk so far, but since Mel started it...

Musta been a big shaft to have to be shortened... I wonder if Annie was complaining?


And why only see out of one eye Robin? Don't tell me you decided to start wearing a pirate patch to look cool. I can see it now... Pirate CC with her eye patch, sitting on her red scooter with a Lav roo perched on her shoulder. NICE!

 

[Celtic Chick]

Hate to admit it, but I do remember those commercials, DrH. And the bottles of Coke. And Tab, my moms favorite.

And the machines with the long, skinny little door on the side where you pulled the bottle out from.

You might be right about that infection, Unk. I think it started up right about the time she found our little site too. It's been cursing me right along with Bigfam. Nice eggs, btw. Sounds kinda odd saying that to a man somehow........

Regarding Jim's shaft:
Quote:

Jim that really sucks about the shaft! [Easy Bf4me}

Vicki, sorry to hear about your crop duster incident. Try having a hot air ballon land in your backyard. Twice. They're much bigger, especially up close! Oh my, the sky was falling. Can't believe I didn't have any cardiac cases in my coop.

Good luck with your broody butt.

Ah yes, Marg, the ol #3. P-U! Sorry if it has become such a topic for debate at your homestead.

Judge, I read a great article online about "Dealing with the cock in the flock". It was very informative, but I can't find the link to it! When I do, I'll post it for you. In the meantime, good luck with him.

Nah, no pirate patches as an adult here, Bf4. If the eye doc would have caught it when I was a kid, though, then I would have had to wear an eye patch then. I have amblyopia.

Gotta get to bed. Long day tomorrow. Ramses has to go to the cardiologist again, among other things. Poor guy is having labored breathing again.

Sweet dreams, all!

 

[jvls1942]

gutten evening,, my friend and I were standing on a bridge in the dark, peeing.. he said, boy that water is cold down there,, and I replied, yeah, and deep, too.. just sayin'...

for the little protection they provide, roosters are not worth keeping just for that reason..
Bambi's father did not hang around the doe and fawn either.. Hello boys and girls,, today's word is "fiction" ... Can you all say,, "fiction" ..?

Mom was a handful tonight.. I am tired.. got to get to bed..

.......jiminslumberland,,,,,,,,,

 

[unkadan]

good morning folks,

I have a yooper/Finnlander coming this morning to buy a piece of old equipment might be a challenge getting it loaded on his trailer,,,hopefully between showers

today the class assignment is google "Dealing with the cock in the flock" then report back here as to what you find

gotta get moving this guy could show up anytime

bbl

 

[Dr HaHa]

Good Cool Wet Morning All! fiction, who ever drew the that drawing screwed up. And to be quoted correctly the word was bassfeces but either gets the point across.

The kids are out playin in the puddles. Don't know why they think that water dumped out of a bucket is better than water in the bucket but they do. Must be a natural thing. CC wish I coulda been there with a camcorder! Dan it could have been worse you coulda been out there with a hand scythe. I love rye straw for the coop it gives the kids something to do in the winter. Looks like you have an albino BC Maran. Very rare!

That reminded me of some comedian that said his dad was super cheap and took him to a circus that had a giant midget, a stripeless zebra, and bunch of other stuff. CRS has kicked in not enough java maybe. Looks to be an inside mellow day could use one of the those. Will go out and get cukes and beans later.