Recent content by puddleglumWI

I have been putting chunks of sod in the brooder that I am cutting out of the edges of the beds around the house that are getting a little overgrown. The girls are really digging it, quite literally.

Went out yesterday with a well seasoned turkey hunter and his wife. A big gobbler popped out of the grass about 500 yards away, shortly after we settled into the blind, and was called in to within 100 yards or so of the decoys. Then some hens came over a hill and he decided he liked the look of...

I am going turkey hunting for the first time next week. Hopefully I will get some beginner's luck.

I originally planned to just get some hatchery Barred Rocks, but when I saw this breeder had Cream Legbars, I decided to give them a shot.

I got six Cream Legbar pullets that are a week old on Sunday from a breeder about an hour from me. Since Legbars are an english breed, I am calling them, collectively, "The Windsors". They are eating like pigs, drinking like ladies, and shoving each other around like barflies under the heat...

That is interesting. So if I grounded to the wiring of the run, it would zap the critter if it was trying to climb up it, and was touching the hot wire. I think I might be able to get away with a shorter grounding rod with a small energizer as I would only be looking at 32 feet or so of wire...

I wonder how large complex of a grounding system is required for a small single wire circuit encircling a small chicken tractor. I'll have to do more reading. Thanks for the info

The grounding rod can be moved can't it?

Hi all, I bought lumber and am starting to build a chicken tractor. It will be an A-frame style, with fully hardware cloth covered run. I am going to have an auto door on the roost area to keep the hens safe at night, but would like to add a little extra security to the run to discourage...

They are just about an hour away, so I may get some from them just because I can pick them up. They work with three breeds, so there is a chance they have decent stock. If I do go with them, I'll report back.

Hello fellow "great-state-of" Wisconsin residents. I recently found the Wick Place Farm website, and have chicks and started pullets in some breeds I am interested in. Anyone dealt with them before? Thank you, -pg

I am thinking of building a folding apron around the base to prevent anything from being able to dig its way in, and I probably would put an auto door on the coop section of the tractor, so even if a weasel or rat manages to dig its way in, it won't have access to the hens at night. Interesting...

My barn coop build is on hold, as the owners of the barn (my folks) are getting it re-sided this year, so building a run onto the outside is not going to be feasible until after that is done. I am tempted to build a small tractor, about 5'x8', for 4 hens. I can move then around the barnyard...

If the hatchery Australorps are just as likely to be feisty as a New Hampshire, then I might order up 6 Barred Rock females, 6 Delawares females, and 3-4 New Hampshires males from MurrayMcMurray or Cackle. Then I would have black sex link and red sex link chicks. A little variety in the flock...

I am hoping to be able to make one order with 12ish pullets and 3-4 cockerels from a single hatchery. I have no doubt breeder stock would be better, but am not really interested in spending days/weeks trying to track down local breeders and then have to get straight run. The hatchery sexing...