Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[unkadan]

"Ewww good idea next fall I am going to try leaves... Do you chop them all up fine with the lawn mower? I had DH mulch the leaves all fine this year and put them on my perennials, I like the look of shredded wood on the beds, but I know it sucks the nitrogen out of the soil when it decomposes."

the leaves will get broken up by the chickens, no need to mow, plus this helps maintain any bugs/worms that they dig around for

Another nice looking material for this is pine needles, if you worry about acidity add some lime every couple of years

unklookingatallhisgardensthatarewhiteforafewmonthsyet

 

[jvls1942]

good early afternoon,,
I just want to share a couple of photos of the waterer warmer I made today.. I actually made 2 of them..




I cut 6" off the bottom of a 5 gallon plastic pail.. mounted the light fixture inside, flip it open side down and set your waterer on it..

I will let you know how it works after using it tonight ..

 

[unkadan]

Jim, the heaters should work might have to play with the bulb size,,,,

I'm thinkin' ya might wanna cleanup that work area b4 Annie gets home

 

[jvls1942]

Jim, the heaters should work might have to play with the bulb size,,,,

I'm thinkin' ya might wanna cleanup that work area b4 Annie gets home

Ooops,, too late.. busted ..

I just went out and checked the water in the chicken coop.. after 3 hours it is cold, but still liquid..

one added note.. I plugged it into the thermo cube, so the light will come on only if the temperature in the coop gets down to 34* F ..

another caution.. do not tighten the bolts so hard as to crack the fixture,, like I did on the first one..

I would suggest not setting the heater directly on straw or similar bedding.. put a pan or something under it.. we don't want to cook our chickens with their feathers on..

 

[delisha]

Quote: On the top of my DL I have some frozen poosicles up to today. I tossed in some corn and no more frozen to see. I do have some solid suckers I could not get off the poo board today, but tomorrow it should get up to 30 or so and I might be more successful at getting it off. I never completely clean out my coop. I leave at least a 6 inch base to start and add leaves and needles..all kinds of them including pine. I use straw and wood chips. It breaks down pretty easy if you keep a little left in the coop.

I do not use DE and I agree it removes the purpose of DL. I would use it in feed bins and in dust bathing areas outside of the coop.

good early afternoon,,
I just want to share a couple of photos of the waterer warmer I made today.. I actually made 2 of them..




I cut 6" off the bottom of a 5 gallon plastic pail.. mounted the light fixture inside, flip it open side down and set your waterer on it..

I will let you know how it works after using it tonight ..

Great idea..

 

[JustJohn]

How come when I have to take 3-4 days off from here to slave over a Lefse griddle, Everyone, and I mean everyone, including BigFam who pops up out of the "people we used to know" heap, has something to say that I could make fun of and troll all over, but now the moment has passed and the timing is all wrong. GRRRRR.

Still don't know if I can show up at cluck tomorrow. Just in case I get paroled for the morning. What time? What can I bring anyone? What can I bring everyone? What the heck is the address again so I can find the place? Anyone want a rooster?

amyb- That is a very nice buck you got. The deer's antlers are changing fast down here. 30 years ago all you saw was basket bucks down south. Last year I helped the neighbor track down a buck that could have been your buck's twin. That is a huge change in 30 generations. I blame Obama.


JJgoingbacktorollingLefse

Oh yes and...Chickens!

 

[bigzio]

FFF to All...Finally a chance to thank the Creator for the harvest. It was a nice doe that will provide delicious meat for more than one family. I'm just super blessed with the fresh meat. I always hunt hard and don't ever give up...I really feel good with the late harvest.

The fish bake was goodie tonight...the fresh loins are out...and all is good.

bigz

 

[Terri O]

As far as the light/heat differences of opinions: One thing I have always liked about this forum is, it is supposed to be about sharing and learning from each other. We all ask and learn from each other and than decide which direction to go for our own personal needs. There is no one right or wrong answer.

Another question for those of you that use the "Deep Litter method"?

My coop is about 12 x 24 inside....with 26 chickens. I currently have about 1-2 feet deep of pine shavings in most areas (Some areas more/some less). When I turn the bedding over, I am finding "poopsicles" under the roosts (Due to the cold temps). I know the concept is to continuously turn the bedding while adding fresh shavings so that it will all breakdown and allow some composting heat. How do you do that with the droppings freezing?

I agree with you wholeheartedly Ang.! Read a lot and form your own best path for success!
The deep litter method in my coop is also known as "the lazy woman's way to keep a coop." Since I cannot get a wheelbarrow into my coop, I tend to let it go, and go, and go. In fact it has been many years since I have seen the floor! I do not want to get to the floor cause there are critters that are tunneling under my building and the floor is cracked. In the summer I get a few buckets out of there a week...in the winter it is just like a dirt floor. The chickens dont spend too much time in there except for sleeping anyhow. It doesnt stink summer or winter so I guess all is good?
About a coop with poopsicles...the size of your coop and amount of chickens in the problem IMHO! You obviously need MORE birds in there if it is freezing...how about you take a drive down here? I have a bunch of birds you can have!
Quote:

Every morning I go to the coop I throw a small amount of scratch in the coop and let the girls stir it up for me haven't had an issue with poopsicles. Chickens and birds in general are one of the few creatures that will eat the seeds that aren't digested out of another animals poop, or so I think I heard somewhere sometime, grosses me out to think of it though. Glad I wasn't born a chicken...

Yeah it is gross...but what a great system! Mine LOVE the horse poo in the summer...I can hardly find a whole horse apple to scoop up! Another animal that will do that is a pig. I read a story about a pig that actually trained a horse(or maybe it was a cow) to sh!t when the pig bumped it's leg. The pig stood underneath with it's mouth open to catch the "treat!" Now THAT is disgusting!

I had read that about the use of DE, which is why we decided not to use it. A friend had give me a large bucket of food grade DE, anyone have a use for it?

I use it here in my dust baths...if you dont want it, bring it along tomorrow!

FFF to All...Finally a chance to thank the Creator for the harvest. It was a nice doe that will provide delicious meat for more than one family. I'm just super blessed with the fresh meat. I always hunt hard and don't ever give up...I really feel good with the late harvest.

The fish bake was goodie tonight...the fresh loins are out...and all is good.

bigz

CONGRATULATIONS! I am glad that you were successful! Venison for all! (I almost had my own tonight--good think I saw her in time and remembered that another one was probably following!) Nice big doe too!

OK--the edge is rounded at least...now time to head outside and do some work. Everyone have a great night and if you can, join us in Paoli tomorrow!

TerriOamazedthatitisnearly9PMalready!

 

[Terri O]

OOPS--I forgot to say that the reason the guys didnt like the idea of that 3-some BigFam was talking about is because(oh shoot--this is a family site isnt it?!)

Nevermind!

JJ--you can still add your comments! Just keep on rolling that Lefse...did you figure out a GF version? I used to LOVE Lefse, and HM donuts, and beer, and barley beef soup, and popovers, and German chocolate cake, and banana bread and Italian bread and dumplings and egg noodles anddddd ...............................................I better head out! TerriO

 

[Celtic Chick]

Awwwwwwww, c'mon Terri! Don't leave us hanging like that! Whoops, that did NOT sound right regarding a convo about a 3 some...........