Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[Kildare49]

I feel hear ya Terri.

Predators have been hard on my flock. Lost the bcm this morning. Found the bird, just did not have time to set up for.........
Clipping wings 2nite...they fly the fence and become a meal. With so few hens left...the roo may be heading for freezer camp.
I can isolate him in meatie coop for a couple of weeks, but then the broilers will be leaving the brooder and need it.
The bcms chicks are over 6 weeks old. Not happy campers.

Swampy ground is a predators paradise. Coyotes are always howling in my marsh at night....train tracks are nearby and the whistle gets them howling.

 

[Firstchic]

Wow guess what I heard about swamp land was wrong then. We have never seen anything but wild turkeys, few hawk and some Eagles, owls that sort of thing. I have my girls in a tractor coop so they do not free range, so maybe that is why I do not have a problem...besides if anything was in the yard, our three dogs would put up a fuss.

 

[jvls1942]

It does have thorns on it, so it must be a hawthorn. It will make fruit later on after the flowers fall off. But they are real tiny.

if the thorns are along the branches and about 3/4 inch to about an inch long, I would go for thorn apple..

do the fruits get very red later in the summer, early fall ?

when they are dead ripe, they can be eaten,, or made into great jelly..

I will have to rethink hawthorn,, around here they are spiny tree-like invasive nuisances..if left unchecked, they send out runners and new trees grow up from them,,
the only way to control them is to remove them, roots and all,,

they also have short sharp protrusions on the trunks.. maybe what we call hawthorn is different than what you have ..

.......jiminwisc.......

 

[FrenchToast]

good morning,

I am going to put in my 2 cents about the new coop.
you can go on line and see hundreds of models of coops..  what you are going to come away with is confusion..  don't take this the wrong way, but newbies tend to look at how "cute" the coop is, and never consider the function of it..

the coop is protection when the birds are locked in it..

it is a place for them to lay their eggs..

it can be a place to store the sacks of feed in out of the weather and  convenient to get to for the person feeding the birds.. 

remember, the birds will spend their winters in the coop, which means someone will have to clean the coop out eventually,,
make this part as easy on that person as you can,,

If you are buying new material, $300.oo does not make a very large coop..

you mentioned that you would not let the chickens free range for fear of hawks..  
keep in mind that a hawk can snatch a chicken out of a run just as easil..

now we are talking about covering the run,,..  more $$$$..  keep in mind that snow will pull the cover down,,

in my opinion, a tractor for 4 chickens is the most practical way to go..
to avoid injury to the birds, move the tractor when the chickens are locked in the coop.

for 4 birds, a nest is not necessary,,, if you can reach the eggs, it is OK for them to lay on the floor of the coop..

I would make the floor of the coop out of 1/2 inch hardware cloth..  then bedding on top of that would be optional..  it they have a roost, floor bedding would not be needed ..

that is it for my thoughts,, I LOL many more, but this is getting to look like a FT post..

......jiminwisc........

I have to disagree with CC,,(big surprise)
 chickens are for everybody ..
you just have to be prepared..

See I read your posts Jim ! Guess I'm known for something ! Maybe I should have it written on my tombstone ! Oh wait not enough room ! LOL
Looking back at a few posts... not going to try to catch up! Have no idea where to start reading. Unk Dan....care to highlight what I've missed?

 

[jvls1942]

Quote: I caught your typo Brent, so I fixed it.. (see above)

 

[FrenchToast]

http://shop.arborday.org/product.aspx?zpid=846 Here is a link to the Arbor Day foundation description of the Washington Hawthorn.
Don't know if there is a.wild Hawthorn Jim.That would explain the invasive nature of the beast you are talking about.
Sounds like the flickin choke cherry trees around here. Cut one down....10 take its place.
Speaking of trees and cherry trees I bought 2 cherry trees on clearance at Walmart last week. They were in pretty good shape so I thought I'd give them a try. After looking them up turns out they need a pollinators. They are Tulare cherry trees. Anyone know anything about them. Come to find out they are for zone 5. I am in Zone 4. Was looking at the cherry trees in Rhinelander. Both Menards and Walmart had Cherry trees with zone 5. What the heck?
Should I even waste the time to plant these. Then have to find one as a pollinator. Why do they sell trees not good in your zone? I know $$$ but what a rip off.

 

[FrenchToast]

 

 
Early evening to everyone....I read your posts Jim and agree with you all the time...


  bigz

You

I caught your typo Brent, so I fixed it..  (see above)

 

[FrenchToast]

My neighbor got an order from McMurray and got a mystery chick.
Any ideas on what you all think it might be. At first glance I would say Easter Egger but it has a single.comb.

 

[Firstchic]

if the thorns are along the branches and about 3/4 inch to about an inch long, I would go for thorn apple..

do the fruits get very red later in the summer, early fall ?

when they are dead ripe, they can be eaten,, or made into great jelly..

I will have to rethink hawthorn,, around here they are spiny tree-like invasive nuisances..if left unchecked, they send out runners and new trees grow up from them,,
the only way to control them is to remove them, roots and all,,

they also have short sharp protrusions on the trunks.. maybe what we call hawthorn is different than what you have ..

.......jiminwisc.......

I think you might be right. I don't know if you can tell from the pics, but, we do see the thorns on the branches. It does grow up shoots from the ground, so I guess that would be runners and they do turn dark red, almost black in the fall.

 

[Firstchic]

See I read your posts Jim ! Guess I'm known for something ! Maybe I should have it written on my tombstone ! Oh wait not enough room ! LOL
Looking back at a few posts... not going to try to catch up! Have no idea where to start reading. Unk Dan....care to highlight what I've missed?

Great advice Jim. Wish I would have been told to lock them up before I moved the coop....then poor Gimpy would not be hurting now. She is slowly putting more and more weight for a longer period of time on that leg. The color looks normal now, but, it still hurts her. Altho, we had a dog once that got his paw hurt, we babied him so much, long after he was healed, he would lift his limp paw up and look at us with pity and expect loving.....so, maybe Gimpy is taking after Princess.