Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[threeacresfarm]

Hi Everyone,

My wife, son, and I are expecting 3 RIR's and 3 Ameraucauna's in mid-September. We are new to chickens and this site has helped us out a lot already. I am nearly finished constructing the coop and ready to get dirty. In the next five years we are planning on developing our "farm" into a small scale CSA and chickens will be a key component to our success. We are all about organic, non-GMO, sustainable and local food sources. I appreciate the support of this community and look forward to interacting with everyone. I do have a few questions if anyone can help.

1. Will I need supplemental heating or insulation in my coop (5'x4' chicken tractor with a 1/2" hardware cloth floor and plenty of ventilation) through the cold Wisconsin winter months?

2. If I do need to provide additional heat, will the light bulb stress out the chickens if it is on all night for warmth?

3. Is there a good, affordable local source for organic chicken feed near Mequon or north of Milwaukee?

Thanks in advance for any help!

-Three Acres Farm

 

[vickiw]

Welcome Threeacresfarm!

can't help with your questions as I am in the northwoods. Up here insulation and heat are a must. I use a red brooder bulb so the "light" doesn't bother the girls. I am sure there are more knowledgeable folks on here that can give you more ideas.

Organic?

Several folks on here (me too) are all for a healthier way (keep a close eye on Bigzio's postshe's a wealth of knowledge as are many others)

Once again, pull up a perch and roost a while. Welcome to our coop!

 

[Dr HaHa]

Good Morning All! OHHHHH Vic kinda hope Bigz's eyesight isn't that good. HE might get upset! The one hen who went broody first is done but still have one in the box. Growly lil B. Big WELCOME to Bearchaser and threeacres! Sorry to hear of all the woes with the dogs and horse! Dang smillies aren't working right? Dan you and your hens must be doing right. Good %! Cind thanks for setting me straight! I tried to catch up on the reading but too tired to focus. Amber cool lookin roo! Crap now the rest is gone. Sorry!

 

[Bigfamily4me]

The guineas are hoodlums. They go after my roosters! I mean seriously... Hunt in pairs and grab onto the tail feathers. The roosters are quite a bit bigger than them. But the guineas put down their wings, puff up their feathers, and go for it! I actually feel bad for the roosters. Seeing something as ugly as a guinea, coming after me in pairs, would freak me out too.....

I got another pullet egg yesterday. Hoping it's a new girl, but we'll see.

One of the Icelandic roos legs seem to be failing? I'm not sure if it's the one whose legs were splinted as a chick or not. But it's knee joints seem to be getting weaker or something. It has a hitch when it walks. It hops and tries to shuffle? It is really weird. I'm just waiting and seeing what happens. But it's kinda like the knees are collapsing in and the legs splaying out. Hhhhhmmmmmmmmmm???

Silkies are doing good. Getting fluffy. I think I have 3 Roos. A straight white, a splash, and a silver? Anyone heard of a silver silkie before? It looks white, but then as you look closer there is gray mixed in, so it looks almost silver. But its not a blue its definetly white. Anybody???

School supply drop off today for 3 of the 4. Soccer practice thrown in the middle of the teacher presentations too. Thinking how am I going to manage it.

The big Cow Chip Festival is this weekend. Anyone within a coup,e of hours should come on down! We have a huge craft and art fair. A massive food alley with loaded potatoes, pork chops on sticks, chicken dinner, etc etc. Then of course is our actual cow chip throwing contest. The winner from here goes to the national contest! You can throw or watch. It's pretty fun! Not to mention a parade with lots of candy, and bouncing houses and slides for kids. Just in case you needed something to do Saturday. We also have bands and beer tents on Friday and Saturday night. I wish Jim lived closer... I'd love for him to drive that Oliver in the parade! But most likely it'd be hot and Jim in a bad mood and he'd flip all us off for making him do it. Actually, that'd be kinda funny too!

 

[CasieD]

Morning! Live you all I went out and did bird chores this morning before the heat gets too bad. We have our back to school night tonight as well so as soon as DH gets home we will be off to meet the teachers and get all those school supplies dropped off. Seems we have to buy more stuff every year! This weekend we have Marathon Fun Days so the kids will be begging to go on the rides at some point. I'm only interested in hitting St Mary's cheese curd stand!

I've always thought guineas were cool looking and have tried talking DH into getting some but after hearing everyone's stories about them I'm not so sure... not the brightest birds in the bunch and now gang violence too! lol


Welcome Three Acres Farm!

Here in my part of the state I don't use any supplemental heat in the winter. It gets darn cold but they are chickens and have lots of feathers for insulation. Our coops are insulated though and we made sure to have enough ventilation as well. Goes against normal thinking but you do need good air flow even in winter, just not a draft right on the birds. It also helps to choose chickens without big single combs that are prone to frostbite. Does the coop part of your tractor have a solid bottom or wire only? I would think that if it's only wire that would get too cold and damp for them. But that's just my thoughts.

Posting a few photos of your chicken tractor would be great too!

 

[jvls1942]

good AM< bf4me, It would take a lot less than that to cause me to flip you off..

I am having a really stout cuppa.. I couldn't wait for the pot to brew, so I caught some from the first half of the brew.. now THAT"S coffee !!!!!!!

have a few guineas hatched.. I can't tell if they are the purples or not.. I think so..

Annie made her first little noise about the cost of the tractor fix.. She should know by now that such repairs always go over budget.. Once you get into it, you have to put your head down and plow through.. HeII, had I known it was going to go this badly, I wouldn't have started it.. she seems to forget that she encouraged me to do it.. I don't care,, I am going to have a fine ride when it is all done.. I have not told her that I am going to buy a new temp guage and a new choke cable. and maybe a nice on/off switch.. she should be happy that I am not going to fix the hydraulic pump at this time,, ($1125.oo) .........

I fed all the birds already.. I will have to change their water as it gets warm later on..

the pups went back into their kennel without a fuss.. they are a couple of ("Odie's) ref:Garfield..

is that the right name ? anyhow, you get the picture..

newguy,, I keep a 60W white light on in the coop 24/7 .. so far I have not noticed any psychotic chickens running around..

I have never de-wormed my birds.. just saying.. when I had goats, I fed them tobacco .. that took care of their worms.. (if they even had them)? at any rate, they loved the tobacco treats..

to tell if your goats have a worm problem, .. take a Q-tip and roll their bottom eyelid over it..
if it is white inside = worms,, if it is pinkish = no worms..
that was given to me by a real old timer a long time ago..

since I am the last one up, I had better get running to catch up to the rest of you guys/gals..

............jiminagoodnon-flippingoffmood.............

 

[jvls1942]

Morning! Live you all I went out and did bird chores this morning before the heat gets too bad. We have our back to school night tonight as well so as soon as DH gets home we will be off to meet the teachers and get all those school supplies dropped off. Seems we have to buy more stuff every year! This weekend we have Marathon Fun Days so the kids will be begging to go on the rides at some point. I'm only interested in hitting St Mary's cheese curd stand!

I've always thought guineas were cool looking and have tried talking DH into getting some but after hearing everyone's stories about them I'm not so sure... not the brightest birds in the bunch and now gang violence too! lol


Welcome Three Acres Farm!

Here in my part of the state I don't use any supplemental heat in the winter. It gets darn cold but they are chickens and have lots of feathers for insulation. Our coops are insulated though and we made sure to have enough ventilation as well. Goes against normal thinking but you do need good air flow even in winter, just not a draft right on the birds. It also helps to choose chickens without big single combs that are prone to frostbite. Does the coop part of your tractor have a solid bottom or wire only? I would think that if it's only wire that would get too cold and damp for them. But that's just my thoughts.

Posting a few photos of your chicken tractor would be great too!

guineas are free spirits.. I do not think they are ugly.. turkens and turkeys are ugly.. but I like them also,, well, not the turkens..

I have some raised pens with wire bottoms.. I put hay or straw very thick in the bottom for winter .. I take the bales apart and use the patties for the bottom layer , without fluffing them up.. then I fluff up a good layer over that and it lasts all winter.. the hay provides good drainage so the cage stays dry.. the top layer gets crusty, but you can always add fresh fluff over that..

I even kept messy muscovy ducks in the cage one winter.. no frozen feet for them that winter..

I have one coop that is insulated.. I did not provide enough ventilation the first year and many of the ceiling tiles became soggy wet and just plopped to the floor.. looked like cooked oatmeal.. last year I put a small heater in there with a thermostat set to go on at 35F.. It worked quite well to keep the water from freezing.. and the hens kept laying eggs all winter..I figured that what I spent on electricity, I saved on extra feed..

so bottom line is: get some guuineas....

........jimwillingtostartyouwithguineas........

 

[threeacresfarm]

Thanks CasieD and jvls1942,

I will get some pictures of my chicken tractor after I finish it. I got a good start last weekend but I still have some things to complete. The two end walls are 1/2 and 3/4 covered in hardware cloth the 5' long body has 1.5' of plywood and a 6" vent all across the top. The bottom is just hardware cloth no plywood (took the idea from Eliot Coleman's "chicksha".

 

[Amyable]

TO... hate to say it... but getting the cat fixed came down to MONEY!

Believe me, I hate the thought of more kittens too! I'm good about getting pets fixed, just the timing was bad. The first time surprised us because she was so small and we didn't know how old she was. I do feel bad.

I was even checking around for some place that would do it for less than the area vets would.

Cind, check the local humane societies; we had our outdoor female spayed for $50 with their low-cost program. Sure beats the vet prices.

guineas are free spirits.. I do not think they are ugly.. turkens and turkeys are ugly.. but I like them also,, well, not the turkens..


so bottom line is: get some guuineas....

........jimwillingtostartyouwithguineas........

Free spirits is a good description. Mine have taken up residence in the cornfield across the road, and come back to eat some grain once a day. I keep expecting to find splatted guinea some morning. The main beef I have with mine is that this gal started out with 12 keets and she is down to 4! At this rate of losing one a week I won't have any by fall.

 

[FrenchToast]

Morning all.

Only thing new around here is we went to Argonne last night for supper and to hit a rummage sale. Well turns out the rummage sale didn't start til today. As I was sitting in the van in the parking lot I looked down and I had two different shoes on !!!!! Dang you guys and my leg jokes.... Its all your fault !!!!.... Just kidding. Good thing they were both brown and had zippers.... Geez I've only done that once before in 41 years..... That I know of. Easy to do when you have a leg laying on the floor with the shoe already on. Weird part is I just changed the shoe on it because we were going out. Then I put my chicken Chit shoe on my real foot anyway !!! Geez/

Then to top it off the van wouldn't start when we went to leave. I had left the key in the accs position the night before but I charged it before we drove 17 miles. Guess didn't charge it enough.

Had AYCE fish fry. Must have been salty cause I drank a 2 liter bottle of crystal light last night. Looked in the mirror this morning and other then my usual morning shock I noticed my cheeks are real puffy (from the salty dinner) and I have a koolaid mustache !!!! RED !!! Looks like I applied lipstick and couldn't stay in the lines !!! Geez.

So now headed to the laundry matt.... hope the van starts. Now to just get rid of this mustache first !!!


Have a good day everyone !!

Frenchiegoingoutofhermind !!


PS What's a squeezo Unk ? A food Mill ?