Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[otonoh]

the Kittens are cute, I am sure dr. Ha ha will be a great dad. I don't remember him having a beard, Guess I was more interested in his chickens. LOL Have a good day, starting to snow a bit more, or it could be coming from Rib Mt. They are making snow for the runs.

 

[JustJohn]

Well it looks like I am skunked for gun season. I sat in the woods this morning and it was complete silence, no wind no squirrels, and finally the deer came. unfortunately they were 70 yards over the fence into the state owned closed land to the south of my place.

Too far to shoot track and drag un-noticed.

Crappy!

Thanked the wife for hitting the one with the car.

 

[Bigfamily4me]

Wow! DrH must have visited a barber! I have never seen his beard so trim and styled!

Bahahahahaha!

 

[jvls1942]

good AM , starting out bad,, made a typo on the third letter of this post already..
the pup was delighted with his first experience with snow.. rolled in it, tasted it and jumped around like a, well,,,,, puppy..

I on the other hand, if I roll around in the snow, it will be completely accidental...

I heard a rumor, that Dr H eats cats ?? just didn't want to say anything before the transaction..

I slept in today.. got to bed a little after 4 AM.. Have nothing planned to do.. prolly watch the Packer game..

going to search for a picture to post.. on a different post,, I don't want to lose this one..

....hereIgointothearchives..........

 

[jvls1942]

this is from the inside of my main coop.. there are brooder cages above the nest boxes.. It can be one long 16 foot cage, or divided up into segments of 4 ft pens with plywood inserts.. each segment has it's own brooder light with it's own switch..

the 10 nest boxes are interchangeable,, they just lift out for cleaning.. despite the nice nests, some chickens prefer to lay on the floor, and others like to hide their eggs all around and about the homestead..

in the space above the nests, I have plastic trays to catch the litter from the pens above.. I just pull them out and hose them off for cleaning..

the doors are sliders.. that is one slight drawback,,.. I made the glides to too close of a tolerance, and they tend to stick.. I am going to have to loosen them up a bit..

the older chickens like to use them when I forget to close the doors.

 

[Angiebubs]

Ugh holiday almost over which means a return to the work world. Anyone have ideas on how I could make a living raising chickens? herbs? fruit? lotions/soaps/candles? ANYTHING? lol my dream <sigh>

 

[Bigfamily4me]

Good morning!

I'm sure you all wish I would post more meaningful stuff more often (except for those couple folks I know...).

I had one of my wheaten Marans pass the other day. Her comb and wattles stayed small, shriveled looking and pale pink. She always looked rather sickly because of that. She also rarely left the coop. I saw her in the nesting boxes sleeping. I shooed her out and the next day she was gone. I'm glad it wasn't a predator. And she must have stepped foot outside to die in the sunshine because the kids found her outside.

I also miraculously got 8 eggs the other day! I was pretty excited. I have yet to see my ducks born in May or June lay an egg.i have yet to see a guinea egg. Who knows if they aren't laying or totally hiding them. But my Cayuga mix is supposed to lay black or grey eggs, so I'd like to see that!

Terri do I have to do anything special with the ducks for winter? They don't go in the coop. They won't go in the shed. They just wander the farm as they see fit. My hubby thinks they're going to die in the winter because of that. Any suggestions?

I still have all the chicks alive I hatched. The ones from Stella (CC's dominque) are mixes. The one does have the barring like momma, the other is plain black. I hope the barred one is a pullet.... I also will be moving them outside to the brooder with a lamp this week I think. I'll wait for an uptick in temp though. I have a 150 watt on them now. I think I have even stronger wattage from the farm store. Not sure if the 150 will be good enough for brooding the coop in the winter? Or do I go higher watts?

I've been a racing fool. I did my second 10k in Chacago a few weeks ago. Ran the entire 6.2 miles. . Then my 9 yr old and I did the Berbee Derbee 5 K on Thanksgiving. It was his first. That race was sucker because I couldnt run through the back spasms I get when I run. I use kt tape over the spot, and it allows me to run the race, but not Thurs. sucks having to walk any of it. I also was running harder down hills to try to pick up time. My legs have been SO sore because of that brilliant idea. I'll be better just in time to run the Santa Hustle in Milwaukee next weekend. Jeepers, one race a month is a lot, let alone 3 in 3 weeks. Better planning in the future for sure!

Oh and Terri... Nice pic of you guys! You're son looks like Derek for sure. And holy cow! There was lipstick and a pearl necklace on Terri!!! Holy hell and toasted marshmallows... You clean up nice!

 

[CasieD]

Jim, I love those brooder cages and your nest box set up! Thanks for posting those pics!

 

[Bigfamily4me]

this is from the inside of my main coop..  there are brooder cages above the nest boxes.. It can be one long 16 foot cage, or divided up into segments of 4 ft pens with plywood inserts..  each segment has it's own brooder light with it's own switch..

the 10 nest boxes are interchangeable,, they just lift out for cleaning..  despite the nice nests, some chickens prefer to lay on the floor, and others like to hide their eggs all around and about the homestead..

in the space above the nests, I have plastic trays to catch the litter from the pens above.. I just pull them out and hose them off for cleaning..

the doors are sliders..  that is one slight drawback,,..  I made the glides to too close of a tolerance, and they tend to stick.. I am going to have to loosen them up a bit..

the older chickens like to use them when I forget to close the doors.

Jim that set up is AWESOME! Nice job!!!

 

[Angiebubs]

Jim-I missed your pics (Thanks Heather for reposting) What an awesome set up!!!