Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[Dr HaHa]

Boy don't get on here for just a couple of hours. WiscoChiko

Your among good people here everyone will help you with your progressive illness. Your on the right path read as much as you can stand this site tells you almost everything you'll need to know. But there's always more ?'s and panic attacks. We're here! Yea H&R!!!! Bec that's just terrible! Hope you kill that rat and any more that are around chances are there's more than one. Perhaps a clasp on the cage like one for a dog chain. Good deal on the hatchlings!!!!! TO there's only room for one old goat around here and I'm it. Annarie an As* named doc Hmmm sounds familiar. Hope you get your chicks! And we know how the everyday thing will work out tell her that I want to know how Cuddles is doing.

Raimnel I'm pretty good [lucky] about my trees dropping where I want them but I draw the line at trees around houses but then again I've got a really nice maple that has to come down by the back porch soon. The center is rotting out of it, it looks like El Diablo from Romancing the Stone. Don't know how many blows to the mellon I've taken wearing a ball cap and not seen it coming. Don't know how many blows to th...... Sounds like that person is succeding in ruffling some feathers. But some just have no life of their own. Pitty them! I say dig your ond!

 

[WiscoChiko]

Hey guys/gals and thanks for the welcome! Well you can see my avatar pic is my space. Its a 8 ft wide x 10 ft long lean to with lattice work. and a dog pen 4ft wide x 8 ft long on the front of it. I just found out today that I can have chickens now and want to get started, but there were some things I wasn't thinking of. Electricity? Well I can run an extension cord for a water heater but thats it. Is there a chicken that lays in the winter with no heat or artificial light. Fleet Farm food works well have a fleet close by thanks! So one wall to my coop will be the side of a shed and one lattice work The front has a lil lattice then the dog pen attached to the opening. I was guessing I needed to build a strip of 8 nesting boxes each with own door off the ground but maybe an open box so they can coop up and stay warm? Will they still lay? Does the box need to be able to be shut up and locked at night? So the chickens cant have an open space with a open free to go in and out box or boxes? Will they still lay? The ground stays decent in there through the winter although some snow blows through, I will line it with some shavings and put "perches and a few branches! Oh goodness this is not as easy as buying some chickens and keeping them in an open pen with hay! Want to go about things the right way though. Any ideas or thoughts are much appreciated! And don't assume I know the most basic things about chickens but am willing to put forth the time and effort! Thanks again, Mitch
P.s. How do I attach a pic to my post?

 

[beckyschicks]

No chickens won't lay without light. They need 12 or 14 hours of light, can't remember which one it is. Our winter days are to short. Most people don't heat their coops in the winter. If you have nice area that's draft free, were they roost at night, they should stay warm enough. Last year I had a light in there, 1 for eggs, but 2 because it got below 0 so many nights. I also don't heat my water, I go down and change it out 2 or 3 times a day in a rubber grain bowl. I lock my coop at night. Don't want anything getting in there and getting them. I also let them free range during the day and they all come in at night. I don't have electricity in my coop, i run an extension cord out there from the barn. My girls go in and out of the nest boxes when they want to. I would just have a little shed like building for them to go in at night or on really cold days and let them wander in the pen area the rest of the time. That way they will stay warm and dry. Thats also were I would put my nesting boxes. On the many home page there is an area with coops, look at them and get some ideas. This is a great website, I've learned alot from these people over the last year. Also you can put pictures on by going to uploads at the top of the page, down load what you want to, then copy and paste them in the area where we type. Make sure you put a couple spaces infront of it and enter after each picture. Good luck!

 

[Dr HaHa]

WC Becky is right when it gets below O with a wind you'll want to have them in someplace as draft free as possible. Their comfort will give you more eggs and happier hens. You don't want them freeze to death. Once you get into it you'll fall in love with them and they'll end up in your bed. It's an illness I tell ya. I run a heavy extention cord to my coop and ran a water heater and a heat lamp when really cold. Wasn't going to run a heat lamp but couldn't handle seeing their combs start to freeze. But now that I'm retired might eliminate the water heater. It'll give me something to do when not ice fishin and I'll get to visit. Also put a 60 watt CFL on a timer for light. When I renovated my shed to a coop I insulated the nest boxes with styro around the outside and underneath. Don't let them have access to the styro! I see they've been pecking at the styro I have stored in my machine shed and will move it to the ceiling of the coop to hold a little more heat in the winter. I use straw on the floor of the coop and when it needs changing I put the cleanest in the dirt run outside. Works really well especially in the winter. They don't seem to like snow much. You'll find that the initial cost of chickens is a lot more than you expected but don't worry it's all worth it. ie; Coop improvements, feeders, waterers, feed and whatever. But a handy person can really offset them with a little imagination. After all what did our fore fathers do? We're spoiled! You seem to be a decient person so far so I'll go out on a limb here. I have extra feeders here that you can have. And I could hatch out some Silver Laced Wyandottes next spring if you are interested. But there's a catch you HAVE to be a good person and you HAVE to take care of your animals. If you turn out to be a bad person you won't like me very much. That I promise! We have all winter to talk and trust me we will. Oh ya then there's a brooder box, an incubator with egg turner, little hats for their birthdays, catering for the surprise parties. They just love it! There is a wealth of information on here on how to build your own feeders, waterers and such. If you have access to some scrap lumber and a good heart you can raise chickens! Now you get to begin to drive yourself nuts trying to figure out what you want to do.

 

[beckyschicks]

DR you crack me up, little hats for birthdays. Thanks I needed that. I actually just realized that a year ago today I got my little bundles of joys. Wow made it a whole year and I still love it. Oh I better go make a cake. Oh and WC if you work out you can have some cochin chicks from me, I just like hatching them out.

I don't always have room, but I have a hard time resisting them.

 

[Terri O]

Welcome Mitch of Portage! Could you show us a pic of the outside of the pen? It looks to me in your Avatar that I am in the pen looking out to the run area? Is there any way that you could cut a small door into your shed and set up an area just for sleeping that you could secure at night? It looks like the dog run has a dirt floor and stuff can (and will) dig under to get at your birds if there is nothing else to eat. (and sometimes just for fun!) Then they could use the lattice area to hang out in. In the winter I have a dog run attached to my pop door of my shed so whoever wants to check out the snow can. In the summer, and sunny winter days, I leave the people door open and they pile out into the yard to scratch and do chicken things. If you have a garden--fence it; if you have flowers you value, dont let them near! CHickens like to get into stuff and are really happy making dusty bowls in your best flowers for dust baths! But they are adorable and personable and very addictive!

Becky--I hate to tell you this but the old farmers say if you see a rat at night you have 100 but if you see a rat in the day you have 1000! I hpoe that is not the case at your place but...I got the bait stations and made some nice rat feeders" out of coffee cans. Put out some bait--and a big bucket half full of water. (your stock tank might work too) they go for the water after eating the poison and will accumulate in the bucket with water...this way you can dump them out and bury them and they wont startle you when you see a dead one lying about!

Got to run to that 4H meeting...I will talk some more at y'all later! Terri O

 

[raimnel]

WC i agree with TO about putting a secure "coop" in the shed, with people access from in the shed with a chicken door into that lattaced area. Oh and ur nest boxes could stick out into the shed with openable lid for easy egg collecting. check out the coop designs for that. Looks like it will work. Just be sure its critter proof so nothing will kill ur babies ie chickens!

oh and I

hatching chicks! I have rhode island red (RIR), silkies, EE, and brown and white leghorns! but I dont have the means of separting everyone so they end up mixing.

but Lordy are they cute!

bec stand on that bucket for me too! DrH thanks for the laugh! its not hard to ruffle my feathers when some one is bashing my family. I dont need that. all my trees that need to come down are near and around the house

TO a bucket with a dead rat!

Annarie how many extra cochins are there if you buy all them??? I would really

one that looks like its mommy!! and I can come to u that would give me a good excuse to go to our camper (near the dells) oh and TO it sounds like ur set up is kind of like ours, we just open the people doorand out they all fly/run!

too ta loo!!

 

[WiscoChiko]

Feeling a little over-whelmed! Oh my, I thought this would be a lil more simple.. I really thought you have chickens in a pen, you love them, feed them and water them and they give you eggs simple right? Ha fooled me!
Becky thanks for the reply and answers. I guess I will be running a light because I hope to have chickens this winter. How long or do chickens have a period to get comfy before laying if I got young adult hens, we can only have hens. As far as water goes I will be able to change it 2wice a day, We'll (my son and I) will be hanging with our chickens anyway. I wish I could free range but we have to keep them in a run or coop.

That was my attempt at a front shot of my area! I could cut into my shed but not sure(at this point anyway) that I want to do that unless I ilt a box inside of the shed and only used a portion of it.
Dr.HaHa Haha your funny! And yes I think I am a good person er no I am

I have 3 dogs, a Toy cock-a-poo, a pitbull, and a lab/collie, They are not my pets they are family! I also have a couple of fish tanks and a pond that we will be getting rid of to make sure we have the time for the chickens. I talked to my lil guy and he would rather have chickens

. I do plan on getting my hens(as of now) before next spring and can only have 8 although I appreciate the offer of chicks.
Betsy, there again thank you for the warm welcome!
Terri, yes you were correct on the pic. Thanks for making me think about critters getting my chickens I was mainly just thinking of keeping them in. Although I don't think we have alot of foxes, coons ect we do have cats around! Ahhhhh..
So in ending I do still have a couple of questions, What kind of chicken do I want? I am looking for chickens for eggs and pet. Maybe more than one breed? Something good in the cold, cool looking and friendly! Second is can my coop or box be one area or does it need to have seperate boxes?
I am really amazed that there is a forum for back yard chickens, and then to find so many people so quikly that are close by and willing to help! Amazing! You guys/gals are great! I'm just a young guy wanting to eat better and teach my son some lessons along the way. I am all about sustainability and organic eating as well as loving awesome pets!

 

[Dr HaHa]

WC do you have that I think I just stepped in it feeling yet? Get used to it! Take your shoes off and let it squish between your toes! It's great!

 

[friskebluegills]

WiscoChico- Orpingtons and silver or golden laced wayodottes are great birds to have in WI. Anything that's dual purpose with a smaller comb will do well. There's also blue laced red wayondottes that are pretty too. we have buff orpingtons, welsummers, blue and black cochins and barred rocks and all of them do well. The cochins actually are the friendliest, the buffs come in a very close second, but the cochins don't lay the best and the buffs have a larger egg. we've never had wayondottes, but have plenty of friends who have them and they love them. Good luck and enjoy your chickens