Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[Hens and Roos]

Evening everyone, looks like today was a busy one here on the forum! Thanks for the lessons on potatoes seems like an interesting idea with the barrels Terry O, I can remember growing potatoes as a kid but haven't tried in our garden yet-maybe a new thing for next year!

WC-nice looking pictures of your coop, your chickens should be happy!

Annarie good luck with the new additions and Raiquee hope you're able to round up the escaped ones!

FM- I agree that the kids are ready to go back to school, they start Wed. Some days they pull all the stunts! Of course all 3 will be going with DS(5) starting kindergarten this year-he is so excited and ready! Of course it will be a big adjustment for me as he will be in school all day. Where did the time go......

Finished putting together the poster boards for our 4-H club to use at the elementary school open house tomorrow, the kids worked hard and they did a good job arranging the pictures and attaching it all to the boards. Now to have the kids work on the scrapbook.

 

[Raiquee]

Big ducks are outside! They are soooo much happier! Stretched out their wings and ran around the pen. Nibbled grass and ate some bugs. We got everything on the cheap! The dog pen is a little rusted along the bottom, but not bad. It's a 6 foot by 12 foot. We got it for $75, as oppossed to getting it new for $280. It came with a wind tarp, so that saved us money on chicken wire. We got two large dog igloos for $15 a piece. I know when I worked at the pet store they were over 100 a piece! And the water trough/pool Ed found on a side job and he gave the guy $5 bucks for, as oppossed as the same one at TSC for $20.

I couldn't take a picture of them because we put them outside just as the sun went behind the trees. Sigh

I got to watch them for a short bit, but that's it. I hope they do okay tonight, I am a worry wort

Well tomorrow I have classes until 3, then study after that. I'm about to go print 20 something pages of slides to make flashcards. Gotta jump in the shower and pack up the backpack. Watching blood dolphins and i'm totally into it though.

 

[WIChookchick]

Well I was supposed to get 4 more hens.. and the poor wonderful lady had a night fright or something came in and tried to get them.. but 3 or more died, 1 got a broken leg, and a bantam about
killed herself stuffing herself behind the coop or nest boxes.
I then saw an ad from the same lady we got the crook beaked Aracauna from, I got an EE and a lovely light brahma both are within a month or so of starting to lay.
SO I seriously have the mixed flock now..
I am mom to...
1 polish crested rooster, black white crest- Hercules
1 giant black cohin- Nell Carter
1 Silver Lace Wyandotte- Tammy Wynette (LOL)
1 Partridge Rock- J-Lo
2 Black sex links- Charmaine, Jenna
1 buff lace polish bantam- Buffy
1 gold lace polish bantam frizzle- Maggie
2 black silkie pair- bantams- Brave Heart and Vesper
1 buff silkie (hen)(my niece's) Flower
1 white silkie (hen)-Kumiko
1 blue/slate splash or sport silkie (rooster)- Yul (brenner)
4 chicks -(1 white silkie (dad is Yul), 1 black sex link/polish cross, 1 black silkie, and 1 black frizzle cochin bantam/brahma bantam cross) CUTE!! Both parents passed on before seeing their egg hatch.
And now
2 EE's - Honey and Ari
and Light brahma- Lin
and my barn owner has one production red- Faith
I will get pics tomorrow of all of them..
I love the new hens and the older pullets Ari and Lin fit right in with the bigger chickens..
We are keeping Honey in a large cage in the silkie coop until Yul quits being such a goob/mean rooster!!

I got a huge compliment from a former poultry judge.. she loved Nell my cochin and her feathering.. saying that if she were shown she would do well.. SHe was shown.. a couple of years ago, before I got her...

Carol

 

[Sweetfolly]

Got an e-mail this evening from someone I sold a pair of Runner ducklings to earlier this spring. It seems the female suddenly died this afternoon while she was swimming in her pond. They heard two loud quacks, and when they went to investigate, she was gone.

I've loved getting updates about those two all summer, I feel like I lost a family member!

But, I did have a great time today picking up all sorts of new ducks. We got the White Calls first. They're not quite the quality of the ones I got from duckluck, but they were extremely reasonably priced (comparatively, I paid more than twice as much for the ones from duckluck as I did for these), and they'll do great at the smaller shows in the area. So, here's my Call duck pen as of this evening (eventually, I'll separate the Whites and Butterscotches out, but they're all getting along so great, I'll probably let them all winter together - it's better to have all that body heat in one place on cold nights anyways

):

And then for the ducklings from AlpineRanch. I had a terrible time choosing - I actually had one duckling jump out of the cage on me and we had to go chasing it around the lawn! I brought that one home - it chose me, even if it is a sneaky little stinker.

In the end, I brought home what I'm pretty sure are two Splash/Silver Bibbeds, and one Pastel (it's hard to tell the difference in the picture, but the Pastel has faint eyestripes and dorsal spots, like a Mallard duckling, and the Splash ones don't) - you'll have to excuse the messy brooder, but they're all buddies with the lone Campbell/Hookbill cross duckling now:

And then we stopped at the pet store on the way home to get some live plants for our guppy tank, and there was a gorgeous pale-blue Lyretail Guppy in the tank! It was just him and two other Fancy males left after the weekend rush. So, we brought him home too.

All in all, a successful day...with a bittersweet ending.

 

[Dr HaHa]

Hot Sticky Morning everyone! Up way too early today. Had one of those painful gas bubbles in my chest. Too much onion and grn pepper in my meatloaf. Opened the back door to let Bob in and just about tipped over. WOW! Will try a nap later. Going to get the dishes out of the way then do the canning. Had to laugh yesterday saw one of my neighbors walking through the other neighbors yard carrying a feed bag. Didn't think anything of it till I saw him doing it again. That SumB was raiding MY sweet corn field. Might have to take a stroll this morning. Don't think there will be much outside work today.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Sticky it is today! Our group of pullets decided to surprise us this am(at least me)! They elected one of the younger Andalusian pullets to go outside the pen and perch on the top of the fence! Of course they must have dared her and she was up there but didn't want to be on the outside yet didn't want us to catch her either! DS(8) was finally able to get her and she was returned back to the inside... had to put a fix on top of the pen where the 2 edges of the cover meets so hopfully this isn't a daily routine.

Paperework for me this am, have to wait for the couple units to move out before I have to go clean! Kids are happy about that!

Have to go check the garden this am and see what we can find besides misquitoes!

 

[babylady4]

Blech...... 2 more days until school

but then I have to start getting up at 5:30

. I am NOT a morning person!

Spent time at my sisters last night while DH and 2 of the 4 kids were at the demo. She made sushi! It was pretty darn good too. I brought a few bottles of wine that mysteriously emptied during the visit......

I think a nice relaxing day is in order before the chaos of school begins.

Stay cool everyone!

 

[Terri O]

Good morning! It is cool here under the fan...not wanting to try the outdoors as yet...guess I need a few more cups to get fortified! So--DrH, are you going to visit your neighbor with a bat? Is it really YOUR sweetcorn field or his?

I was unsure how you meant it...hopefully you guys have an agreement!
H&R--that same thing happened here when my turkeys dared one out! Now they are all just out. I got tired of putting them back all the time! They sleep about 24 feet up in the tree with the guineas and a few chickens that think they are guineas. I really NEED to gather all scraps and "good stuff" and get that coop made. I think they are not wanting to go inside at night because of the roost space being so tight!
WIch&ch--I like that better...I guess you got more chickens than you bargained for! Let's see some pics of that coop now that it's done. (well I hope it's done anyhow!) Either that or you have put the cart before the horse...or is it the chickens before the coop?

At any rate...it sounds like something I would do! Now you have a flock just like mine...at least you have SOME idea of what yours are!

Raiquee--I hope your day at school is going well! Guess what? The duck in the feed bin in the barn hatched her eggs yesterday! I dont know how many are in there but there are a mess of them! I didnt want to take her out last night when I saw them so I just gave them water and food in the box. I imagine they will all be out on walk about by the time I get out there this morning! (BTW--my offer still stands...)

Annarie those ducks are so adorable! There is just something about their faces...they all look like they are having a great time together...I am glad that I am not the only one to use litter boxes as water holders! I chuckled when I saw that. I have a couple of young muskovies here that have that same look...I cant imagine that they would have that crossed in them but they sure have that nice head! Good luck to you in school too!

Yes the potatoe experiment was a failure DrH...I am going to have to try again though...it just makes so much SENSE, ya know? I HATE digging spuds. Had to do it on the farm when I stayed summers with my cousins in Pulaski. I think they always invited me up there when corn had to be sold and potatoes dug...or apples peeled or...I did look forward to it though; even if there was a bunch of work to do! That is where my love for chickens started I think...they thought I was nuts for sitting in the coop for hours just to see which hen laid what color of egg! (what can I say? I was from the city!) I always felt sorry for their animals...they never seemed to have too much food on hand and their water was always filthy!

One last piece of news from me...I rode my horse over to a nearby friend's place last night and she got a Jersey milk cow!!!! I am so excited! I invited her to come here too--she also has chickens. Her place is SO NICE! She has one of those old dairy barns but it has a HIGH ceiling...not like mine...so they built nice stalls for her horses and the cow with sliding doors etc. The jersey (her name is Terry!

) is due to freshen in 2 weeks and my friend (Jenny) is very nervous about it. I gave her a quick milking lesson. We are going to work something out so I can have some fresh milk again!!!

Can you tell I am excited about that prospect?

OK--I will stop talking now...guess I'd better go and get something accomplished! Have a fantastic day everyone! Terri O

(PS) Anybody notice I have hit 1,000 posts! Whooo-Hooo--yup, I talk too much!
Just ONE more thing...H&R--you are in the same boat as me...our youngest are in school! Well, yours in Kindergarten, mine a freshmen in college!

Yes--I feel OLD!

 

[Dr HaHa]

The only reason I'm confusing you TO is because I'm confused. No the field isn't MINE but claim it sometimes. Like I mentioned a while back I consider it payback for the early morning wake up from the spray plane. I could hit it with a well thrown rock and it's high performance so it has a megaphone exhaust. It's LOUD!!! Only take enough to eat within a couple of days. When I freeze it then I get it at a roadside stand. Have enough problems with my neighbors [not from me of course

] without bringing a bat into the picture. One is good the other needs a bat to the mellon repeatedly but nothing would change except my meals and sleeping arrangements. But it is 3 hots and a cot and a friendly roomy named Bubba.

DD just called their coming over to get the tent around 4.

Then I get to mow the lawn, been awhile was getting used to mowing dang near every week. Ended up with a qt of banana peppers and 3 more qts of L's marinara. They all sealed. Thinking one more batch of relish and calling it quits. Seems like I've been at it for nearly a month. Oh Ya, I have. What a great feeling to have so much delishious and nutrious food put up for the future. Thanks to all of you that volunteered your recipes and knowledge!

 

[Sweetfolly]

Quote:

We used to run a campground here by the Dells, and the tourists were always just going into cornfields and picking as much corn as they wanted to take home. We'd see people come in with trash bags full of corn, and we'd ask where it came from (just out of curiosity), and you'd be surprised the number of responses that went something like, "We stopped and picked it ourselves - from that big corn field on the way into town!".

We'd try to tell them that they couldn't do that (at least, not trash bags full at a time!), and they'd look up at you blankly like, "Really?".

Gosh, I miss the campground - we had two big ponds and a big, beautiful barn; but I do not miss the tourists!

Anyways - my dad came out from Colorado for the weekend and took my three youngest sisters up to grandmas. They were supposed to come back today, because they start school on Wednesday, BUT dad was rushed to the hospital the other night with a pretty bad, infected hernia. He's on a liquid diet and no driving for two weeks. So, mom gets to drive all the way to grandma's in Lake Tomahawk this afternoon to get the girls, and then all the way back home.