Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[BlackBrookPoultry]

I spent the big bucks today and got some Mazuri waterfowl maintenence. But, just as I suspected, the pieces are pretty big. Not sure my call ducks will eat it! May end up being VERY expensive chicken feed.

 

[denisemhogan]

The chicks were ordered from Ideal. My friend and I ordered some 2 weeks ago. We questioned Ideal many times and if they'd put in heat packs ..which they don't...but they said they'd be fine. Those chicks were fine...and we haven't lost one and it was even colder than today. So I felt confident that they would arrive OK. They were in MPLS over 24hrs. That shouldn't of happened. There was no reason that they didn't make it to us yesterday afternoon. Just some idiot didn't do ther job. I however will never order chicks again via mail in winter. I abhor and am sick with the waste of life. It is not worth the risk.
Ideal was fabulous to work with..offered to replace or refund. I chose refund.

I did get my chicks into a temp. Brooder that will last about a week if I'm lucky. These chicks are in my house...they are starting to have that chicken poop smell...I've been cleaning them day and night. In the new brooder I put a layer of bedding and then a layer of hay...oh man...those hicks loved the hay. I'm a little nervous though with heat lamp and hay...I keep checking...hay is not hot. How long do they need to be under a light anyway? I always think I leave it on way to long. These chicks hardly stay under it. My house is 68...advice? Is there a rule of thumb?
I also have a photo of a chick I want you to see. Out of my chicks...I have 2 that look different...and chirp different than the others. They are also about a 3rd of the size of the others. I'll try and upload it tonight.

Alright...I have to go...Thurs are the busy night...one kid has dance..the other goes to therapy...chat later...and hope to hear what the little egger is.

 

[Bigfamily4me]

Hey... Old guys... I need your brain power!

We have an old old Rebecca Washington wood burning oven. It's in rough shape. I want to get it to the point where I can paint it. But there's rust, peeling chrome looking stuff, and cast iron. Do I look for a chemical to take off rust? A cast iron cleaner? Just sandpaper the he!! Out of it? Think wise ones.....

I'll go take pictures with my phone and see if that gives you guys ideas. THANKS!

 

[Bigfamily4me]

 

[JustJohn]

Hey... Old guys... I need your brain power!

We have an old old Rebecca Washington wood burning oven. It's in rough shape. I want to get it to the point where I can paint it. But there's rust, peeling chrome looking stuff, and cast iron. Do I look for a chemical to take off rust? A cast iron cleaner? Just sandpaper the he!! Out of it? Think wise ones.....

I'll go take pictures with my phone and see if that gives you guys ideas. THANKS!

COOL STOVE! I would really dig having one like that for maple sap cooking, but I would not need the rust off as it would live in my barn.

 

[Celtic Chick]

don't put all the blame on the hatchery.. somebody had to order the chicks in this nast ..
and sending them with the usps is a gamble at this time of year..

Usually I always agree with you, Jim, but ya know...........nurseries will not ship when they know their stock will not survive the temps (and cannot be planted, I know). So why would a hatchery ship when there is even a chance that the weather would be a factor? If they were shipping to a southern state & there was a freak cold front is one thing, but shipping LIVE ANIMALS to a northern state in January? I think it not a wise move, especially when they could very easily have a disclaimer that they will not ship until the temps are favorable for the animals, AND in the quickest way possible. The USPS is anything but.
I still love ya, though, Jimbo.

 

[otonoh]

evening all,

Hope all is well

Denise, I am so sorry about your chicks, I am sure it was horrible. I was thinking about ordering but not until March or better April, I don't trust our weather,.

Jim- glad you are ok falling asleep at the wheel is easy to do,

Gonna get cold again, I checked the girl and got three eggs. I am sure they will be fine

stay warm

David

 

[unkadan]

Good late afternoon,

after a busy day "saving money" and covering a good chunk of north central WI we got home an hour ago, did the chores and now have warmed up a bit. Had time to go and have a cuppa with Annie and Jim, I chuckled when I saw he had actually filled all of his feeders today. Always fun to see the various birds they have, Annie even showed me a cockatiel that was just a few days old.....thanks for the invite Jim,,,and thanks for the hospitality Annie!

Jim, you might want to post about the "sample challenge" you are faced with (I can't wait for the answers/comments)

caught up on the posts here, here's a link to a brooder heater similar to the Brinsea,,,,sold by a fellow in WI,,,,various sizes. I would almost guess that with some research )perhaps Ebay one could find them cheaper.

http://www.sweeterheater.com/bizweb.asp

too bad about the lost chicks,,,,ordering this early is an obvious risk this time of year

good luck with the rest of the hatch judge

bbl

danhopingthedinnerisalmostreadyheonlyate2oatmealcookies

ETA; heather I used to restore cookstoves, try and get some good closeups of the damaged areas and shoot them to me,,,,that could be a rather valuable piece

 

[Hens and Roos]

COOL STOVE! I would really dig having one like that for maple sap cooking, but I would not need the rust off as it would live in my barn.

how many trees do you tap? We have 4 silver maples that we tap- we didn't tap trees last year due to the funny temperature swings but hoping to do so this year. We use 2 small burners(from the turkey fryers) with stainless steel kettles to cook the sap in outside on our open deck until we are close to finishing the batch, then we bring it into the kitchen and finish on the stove.

 

[judge]

Chick number 2 is here!!

She first pipped at 1:30 this afternoon. The only thing is- she has this fleshy ball on her butt. what is that?!
There are 2 other eggs that have pipped. One of them broke through sometime between 1 and 6:30am. I can see her working on it kind of, she pipped under the egg, and she is still chirping and moving around. Is that still within the right time frame? The other egg pipped at around 4 this afternoon. Today is day 20 so I am really surprised.