Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[CheesePoultry]

Hello all,

My name is Megan and I just moved to the West Bend area from Germantown. My husband and I were looking for more space so we have now moved from a half acre to ten!

We just got our first batch of chicks from West Bend Elevator, who orders their chicks from Abendroth Hatchery (has anyone had any experience with Abendroth- good or bad? I can't find much online). We ordered what will hopefully turn out to be 14 hens and a rooster. My husband and I are currently turning a box stall in our pole barn into a coop for our flock of 5 Easter Eggers, 5 Black Australorps, and 5 Silver Laced Wyandottes. I have found the roo in the Australorps, but two of my Easter Eggers are still without tail feathers (all the others except the SLW have tails). I'm hoping I don't have more roosters; I know it would be hard to send any of them to freezer camp. All of them are starting to use their wings; I know it won't be long before they outgrow their kiddie pool brooder and need to be shipped out to the barn.

In addition to the chickens, we have also planted a vineyard and tilled/planted our vegetable garden. It has been a lot of work but we are thankful to have land to be able to utilize. We will see how it goes.

I have already learned so much from just reading BYC and look forward to getting to know you all!

Welcome, Megan!
We've driven past that big grain elevator a lot, but never ordered anything from them. I hope your chicks work out wonderfully for you.
What have you planted in your vineyard? Are you going to make your own wine?
Angela

 

[cuties]

Welcome to the newbies!!!
kristi,sounds like a lot of work for you. Maybe you could just put an ad out and find a dealer that might want a package deal?
we have a couple broodies here too. I am giving them the duck eggs. As we never seem to hatch the ducks well in the bator.
jim, I think I remember you saying you put some in. How long ago? You'll have very to lmk how they hatch!
We are near Waupun /Brandon. And absolutely love the area!!

 

[dustergrl]

Welcome, Megan!
We've driven past that big grain elevator a lot, but never ordered anything from them. I hope your chicks work out wonderfully for you.
What have you planted in your vineyard? Are you going to make your own wine?
Angela

We have 48 Landot Noir vines in right now, and have some Frontenac Gris and Niagara to put in once the land is cleared. We have dabbled in winemaking but would like to see if we can sell our grapes- maybe even to a small-scale winery. The husband and I are considering getting organic certification, which would definitely make the product more marketable. We currently have 5 gallons of Concord/Pinot Noir blend oaking; it should really be bottled this weekend!

 

[RBerryChicks]

going after a bunch of tomato plants.. thinking I might try the Amish canners.. they are sort of like the Roma.. we have only 13 quarts of tomatoes left on the shelf ..

the 5 boys and 4 girls are growing visibly each day,, we have Frankie on a supplemental calcium and protein formula.. gotta save her bones, doncha know ..
she really doesn't like it too much, but she ate it eventually .. might have to mix the powder in with some hamburger instead of making the liquid form.

Jim - Congrats on the pups! BTW, we've grown Amish Paste tomatoes for the last couple of years and absolutely love them. I think they are more prolific and meatier than Italian Paste (just my opinion).

Hello all,

My name is Megan and I just moved to the West Bend area from Germantown. My husband and I were looking for more space so we have now moved from a half acre to ten!

We just got our first batch of chicks from West Bend Elevator, who orders their chicks from Abendroth Hatchery (has anyone had any experience with Abendroth- good or bad? I can't find much online). We ordered what will hopefully turn out to be 14 hens and a rooster. My husband and I are currently turning a box stall in our pole barn into a coop for our flock of 5 Easter Eggers, 5 Black Australorps, and 5 Silver Laced Wyandottes. I have found the roo in the Australorps, but two of my Easter Eggers are still without tail feathers (all the others except the SLW have tails). I'm hoping I don't have more roosters; I know it would be hard to send any of them to freezer camp. All of them are starting to use their wings; I know it won't be long before they outgrow their kiddie pool brooder and need to be shipped out to the barn.

Hi Megan - we got 12 Black Australorps pullets from Abendroth last year and love those birds and the owners were very helpful. We will also be getting our meaties from them this year. We used Abendroth's meat grower feed last year and found it to be fresher, higher protein, and $3 less a bag than Farm & Fleet.


Hens & Roos - thanks so much for the eggs to put under our broody. She hatched seven and one didn't make it, managed to find the one little crack in the brooder pen and fell, we found it in the morning.

They are three and half weeks old and so far she's been a good mama - although the last couple of days she seams to have lost some of the interest in the little ones . . . she wants out with her flock. Here they are. I'll try to get better pics and then perhaps you all will have ideas on sex and breed. We set six Welsummer and six Golden Lace Wyandottes eggs under her.

 

[Firstchic]

Welcome to the Cheesehead thread Megan! Hope you like it here.
Welcome to Cheesehead country! Around what area might you move to?

Firstchic, not all chickens are that smart.

7 out of 7 eggs hatched yesterday. Whoo-hoo! 4 blacks & 3 blues.

Ok, so not all chickens are that smart. Last night all my chics went in the coop except, Gimpy. I was worried about her, so I went out and helped her in the coop, before I got out of the run part (I have a tractor coop w/run) she had come back out of the coop and was back on the outside roost. I decided it might be too early for her yet, so I was going to go out after dark but my son said if she got cold enough she would go in. The tractor is outside my bedroom window, so I can barely see them, because she is white, she stands out. So is she stupid or what?

 

[Celtic Chick]

Ok, so not all chickens are that smart. Last night all my chics went in the coop except, Gimpy. I was worried about her, so I went out and helped her in the coop, before I got out of the run part (I have a tractor coop w/run) she had come back out of the coop and was back on the outside roost. I decided it might be too early for her yet, so I was going to go out after dark but my son said if she got cold enough she would go in. The tractor is outside my bedroom window, so I can barely see them, because she is white, she stands out. So is she stupid or what?

Maybe. Or maybe the other birds are picking on her for the best seat in the house, if you will. I am pretty sure she might be at the bottom end of the pecking order because of her injury and they might be tormenting her inside the coop.

Does she appear healthy otherwise?

 

[Firstchic]

Maybe. Or maybe the other birds are picking on her for the best seat in the house, if you will. I am pretty sure she might be at the bottom end of the pecking order because of her injury and they might be tormenting her inside the coop.

Does she appear healthy otherwise?

Yes, she does, and she fights over bread or egg shells that I take out and generally wins. My son thought that the cold might make her leg feel better. I know nothing.

 

[jvls1942]

Hi all,

time out for a limon/lime drink..

I mowed my "hay" field for the first time this year.. almost two tanks of gas..

I took Ollie and demolished one of the black berry patches.. there are hardly no live plants growing.

the big patch behind the chicken coop looks just about as bad,, I think the snowless winter had something to do with the kill.

I did have a few duck eggs in the bator.. 3 of the first 4 hatched,, none of the earlier ones I set hatched... one of them had a equilibrium problem so I killed it,, one drowned in the watering dish..
the remaining one I put in with the meatie chicks and he is doing OK so far..

I will wait to send pictures of the pups.. they are not so cute until they open their eyes..

the runt died this morning.. we sort of expected that.. he was OK last night when I changed their blanket..

I have 10 chicks in the hatcher staring at me.. what an assortment of colors they are..
they belong to the Asian lady.. I have 3 or 4 odd chicks in with the meaties that I am going to give to her..

seems like I wanted to say something else,, maybe later..

........jiminwisc........

...
this is a puppy from her previous litter.. they all look alike ..

 

[Celtic Chick]

Yes, she does, and she fights over bread or egg shells that I take out and generally wins. My son thought that the cold might make her leg feel better. I know nothing.

That might be a possibility. But there are many possibilities that it could be unfortunately.

I don't mean last week or even yesterday. How does she look today? Still scrapping with the girls for food? Bright eyed, energetic, good comb color? These are all things you need to try to observe on your birds on a daily basis to help keep them healthy & catch potential problems before they arise or get too far gone to do anything effective about. I think you have been doing so since you noticed your red was not herself and for that you get an atta girl.

As you spend more time with them, you will recognize what is normal behavior and what is not. You want to try to catch it as early as you can if they are ill, but it can be difficult since they are a prey animal. They will go to great lengths to mask any ailment or weakness to avoid becoming a meal.

 

[irishrovr]

We spent the entire day fencing, mowing and trimming. It was a PERFECT day for me to work outside. Mostly cloudy and cool.

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