Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[Terri O]

Terri,

I am in Genessee, not sure if you are any where near me. I have wanted to get some goats for a while now but would like to "bond" with someone to discuss raising goats. I have 18 sweet chickens and love every minute of it. But they don't eat the buckthorn!

Hi KF! Welcome to the Cheeseheads!

We can meet and talk goats any time! I live in Milford so not too far from you. Maybe a half hour or so? I have had them for 20 years or so so I have many stories!
The trip to Milwaukee went well today...got the incubator! It has a turner and the guy ut a computer fan in it too. $50 so not too bad...he said he paid $90 for it 2 months ago. I took one of my friends along for company (and safety) we had a great time. Coffee at Barnes and Noble and then we went to my parents' house and had a glass of wine. My Dad was disappointed that I didnt bring him any more pickled eggs. He ate the whole quart already! Then we stopped at Culver's for a salad for dinner. Very nice to be able to have a visit with no interruptions.

Try not to stress too much about the humidity BFam. You could always open it and let it out! I think It probably went so high because of the egg cartons getting wet. That is a lot of extra surface area to evaporate into humidity! Fingers crossed for a good hatch for you!

I got my 1,000 mealworms in the mail today! I was a little scared too open the box cause it was so cold and I thought they would be dead...but there were so many in there I think they generated enough heat by crawling around! The shipper included apple, carrot and bread for them to eat and they were all over it! I hope they get to it and start reproducing. The chickens really love them as treats...and I owe some to H&R too! (I didnt forget!)

Well, I have some work to do for the 4H meeting tomorrow night...better get to it! Have a great night. Terri O

 

[Bigfamily4me]

Hi FT... Mine is OLD apparently. It is more like model 2362 , 1583. It doesn't even have a tray or liner. It has water channels built into the bottom. I filled both channels. Turns out I must be missing a red plug. I didn't even know what the red plugs are for! Oh well, from the link you included, I'm supposed to get the temp to 100 and fill Both water channels. But mine arent as big as the ones shown in their example. I think I have done incredibly well since I have apparently been adjusting temps incorrectly too... LOL!

Six viable moving chickies in them today. Let's see how many can make it out

 

[FrenchToast]

Good morning! Lots to read again today--I like it! My coffee tastes terrible...I got a different type of flavored and I dont care for it at all. Of course I bought 2 bags! It lasts a long time cause we make it half and half with regular. THe scalloped potatoes and hap wer good last night DrH! See? Ya shoulda brought your pitchfork and barrow over here and then I woulda shared! (then I would have a clean coop too!)

We'd prolly still be working on it today!
Not sure what I am going to do for the day until it is time to go to get the incubator. The guy sounds questionable so I will probably try to get one of my friends to ride along with me. We are meeting at Mayfair Mall. He says he wants to sell the bator because he needs the $$? I hope I'm not driving for nothing! I wanted to go and get the feed from Cargill today but DH is traveling to Green Bay for a meeting and he didnt want to take the work truck so he took the "feed truck." That's the only one big enough to carry a pallet of feed...maybe tomorrow I can go.

Very exciting that we will have MORE chick pics soon!

And after they get too big to be cute my broody's should be hatching! She is sitting tight so I havent gotten to take a look at the eggs yet. I know she has at least 15 under there...they werent covered during those couple of really cold nights though so I am sure a few of them are bad.
No furry babies as yet in the goat pen...maybe the rest are waiting until the middle of February when I was expecting them? It is so hard to tell...they look huge for a long time before they have them!
MLH--fingers crossed on the kits! When I did rabbits the funniest stuff set them off. I never checked for dead ones until day 2. And then I would take them out with a hot dog tongs! The cages I had mine in had 3/4" squares and the babies would sometimes get their heads through and part of their bodies. I hated that cause they were so hard to get out. Many lived even after that ordeal though! I had one doe that always had the babies on the mesh instead of in the box. One time I almost stepped on them! They were really little and wiggled all the way through and fell on the ground. I couldnt believe how far those naked, blind things crawled! Anyway, I put the live ones in the nest and she raised them up just fine! Weird!

Well I think I better start to do something around here...it is becoming a pigsty again! I just have to much STUFF! Later! Terri O

ETA: I agree with MLH on the baby CC. Just pop it under here at night. I think the only way she wont take it would be if it is a yellow one and she has all black ones. Chickens cant count but they sure notice color differences! Hopefully the chick will be strong enough to keep up with the others...that is another way she could notice it is different. I would hate to have only one in the brooder though!

TO speak for yourself !!! I don't know about your chickens but that is the first thing I teach mine !!! They peck at the ground, 1 2 3 etc !

 

[Celtic Chick]

No, we haven't heard from Tiki in an awfully long time.

Bf4, maybe you should go to the manufacturers web site & see if they have a manual that you can download. Or you could shoot them an e-mail asking if &/or where you could get one. And make sure you mention how much you love their products.

Couldn't hurt. And good luck on your hatch!

Well, I did what Jim, MLH & TO said about my new chick, sort of. I waited until it got dark & momma was relaxed. Some of the chicks/hellions were already under her, but a few were still eating & drinking. I had the newbie in my hand & put her (on the outside of the cage) by moms face so she could get a good look at her & I could try to judge her reaction. She seemed mildly interested, so I opened the door & put her a little closer, but was watching that beak. No reaction either way. So after a couple minutes, I set the chick on the floor a couple inches from mom. One of the nosey chicks came over to have a look. No reaction. Then the new chick looked one way, looked the other, then promptly dove underneath mom like a shot. Now they're all as quiet as can be. Whew! Talk about stress! And over something so darn tiny too.

Oh, and the last egg is pipped in the bator! Hopefully by the morning we'll have our last chick.

 

[Celtic Chick]

Here is my very first incubator hatch!

 

[Celtic Chick]

DrH, whatcha got to compete with this for cuteness, hmmmm?????????????

 

[Terri O]

Just adorable CC! Great job on the pics for your first bator hatch! So that is the little one that you slipped in with Mom? I can just picture that...T

 

[Bigfamily4me]

WOW look at that baby! I want to get a Brinesa too. But I just started out with this used one. Thanks everyone for all your help and suggestions!

 

[Bigfamily4me]

DrH, whatcha got to compete with this for cuteness, hmmmm?????????????

DRHa... She's got you now!!! LOLOLOLOLOLOL!

 

[Susie"J"]

Thanks for the pics CC they are great. Thanks to all who answered my question on the maybe frozen eggs. All is good here but I am getting tired and thinking about sleep zzzzzzzzzzzz
Good night all