Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[wyoDreamer]

Well, here is my enabling - my chicks are here.


The tote is very temporary, tomorrow they go into their real brooder.
I ordered 3 DP Special Black pullets, 3 DP Brown pullets and 9 DP Sagitta straight run from Sunnyside and delivered to my local store. One of the chicks is chipmunk colored - wonder what that means? I will check them out closer tomorrow when I move them over.
I have a heating pad covered with a towel as their heat source, I have read some really good things about this method and we really can't afford $100+ for a heat plate at this time and I really don't trust the heat lamps.

 

[dustergrl]

Thanks to everyone for the congrats! bigz yes we are working on names. Have been doing that for a long time now, but I don't want to know if it's a boy or girl. Just that it's healthy.

blueraven thanks for the heads up- I am also in SE WI (West Bend area) but know your area well. Got married at Glacier Hills County Park! Not looking for testing right now but will let you know if I'm interested in the future. I had been wondering if there were others here from this part of the state...

 

[bigzio]

Looking good wyo...if you don't have enough heat and the chics are huddled..a simple clamp light with a light bulb provides a lot of heat....it's all I use in the house and works great. Good luck! I like to keep it as simple as possible, as long as it works.

bigz

 

[wyoDreamer]

They are very quiet under there, not a peep out of them. The only noise is from the gossips at the food dish. I have a couple that are laying right at the front of the pad where it is only towel and no heat pad. I think it is warm enough, but I will keep checking on them as they are outside in my garden shed. It is probably warm enough out there that they will be ok, and I do have a heat lamp that the previous owner left so I can use that if I need to.

 

[bigzio]

Sounds good...a simple 60 watt bulb will help if needed , without any fire danger....so many times the heat lamps are over used...a simple light bulb does wonders for cold chicks that need a warm source. I always keep a thermometer close by to keep a special eye telling me where they are.

bigz

 

[wyoDreamer]

In the excitement of my chicks I forgot to add:

Sorry for the loss of the broilers to the fox.

Congrats on #1

Cute puppies, Jim!

and what else I messed.

 

[irishrovr]

Sorry, Kildare! Welcome to my world! The garden fence is mostly up and seems to be keeping the fox from getting to the chickens now. Also the neighbor with the dog suspect is supposed to be moving. According to a local dog walker, they have way too many dogs and cats over there. Someone called them in and their house was deemed unfit for humans. Hopefully they'll be gone soon and will not leave any critters behind!

Congrats on the expected child and grandchildren! Still waiting for my girl to get married and provide me with grandchildren so I don't have to borrow them!

Less than half of the garden is planted. I started with the seeds as the fence is not without holes and low spots on one side of the barnyard. By the time I'm ready to put in the plants I started I'm hoping the hubs will have the fence completed. (I can dream, can't I?)

Stay cool!!

 

[CherMoz]

Exactly 3 weeks old. I was able to find 1st staging area ( were the fox stashed close to coop...and then went and got another one. ).

It was late when I got home & it had rained. Dog was not able to trail to final cache site.
There was still one chick at the 1st staging site.

Oh well.. fix the chinks in the armor and do it all over again.

Has anyone ever tried rangers? ( with this setback..I'm only going to do 1 batch...I can easily do the extra weeks to get 2 weight ).

This is our second year with Rangers. We pick them up from Abendroth Hatchery in Waterloo. No shipping. Out of 51 chicks (ordered 50) we only lost one (my fault for that).

Here are some of them hustling up some grub for themselves. They are three weeks in this photo:

 

[Kildare49]

Thanks for the info CherMoz. About 1 1/2 hour drive for me. I can handle that.
They look very good for 3 weeks of age.

A question for the "old timers ".... If it has to be a coop & run going forward, will I lose quality ( taste ) both meat & eggs?
My parents & family LOVE the eggs. They are amazed at the taste & yolk. The broilers & heritage cockerels on fermented feed
are a big hit ( I'm sure the fox & her kits were discussing that today ). Outside of winter, its rare I have to feed the layers. Restricted to a coop & run
( run is about 50' x 60'....4 adults/6chicks ) I now have make sure I check the feeder daily. I cant help but think I'm going to be losing flavor.

I think I have more questions now....then back when I only did broilers. Gotta a business to run...so have a good night all!

 

[jvls1942]

Thanks for the info CherMoz. About 1 1/2 hour drive for me. I can handle that.
They look very good for 3 weeks of age.

A question for the "old timers ".... If it has to be a coop & run going forward, will I lose quality ( taste ) both meat & eggs?
My parents & family LOVE the eggs. They are amazed at the taste & yolk. The broilers & heritage cockerels on fermented feed
are a big hit ( I'm sure the fox & her kits were discussing that today ). Outside of winter, its rare I have to feed the layers. Restricted to a coop & run
( run is about 50' x 60'....4 adults/6chicks ) I now have make sure I check the feeder daily. I cant help but think I'm going to be losing flavor.

I think I have more questions now....then back when I only did broilers. Gotta a business to run...so have a good night all!

I have Cornish X chicks.. hatched on May 7.. at about 2 weeks or maybe a little later, when they were decently feathered out, I quit feeding starter crumbles and switched them to 50/50 finely ground corn and oats.. they dove right into it without ever looking back.. that is all that they will get to eat until we butcher them,, about a dozen of them will meet their maker in a week or two,,
I want to serve an individual chicken to each person at the table on Thanksgiving.. it's on my bucket list..

I have a 40 x 40 yard for them to exercise in,, there are about 85 of them .. I had started out with 100 but I lost about 15 on the second day after they arrived..they had plenty of heat, but decided to pile on anyway,, smothered about a dozen or so.. they are not the brightest bulb in the string..

anyhow, I figure they will have plenty of good flavor on the corn and oats instead of the crumbles.

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