Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[Celtic Chick]

Good afternoons everybody in WI! I'm in the antigo area and it's been mid 80's. Anyone else's chickens turn off the production a bit ?! Good luck getting that plucker done. I hope to raise some Cornish x next year for butcher. They're unbelievable compared to store bought

Welcome to the Cheesehead thread! Hope you like it here.

Between the hotter weather and molting season creeping up, I have noticed a decline in eggs too. It was in the 90s down here on Tuesday & I only got 2 eggs.

 

[jvls1942]

Good afternoons everybody in WI! I'm in the antigo area and it's been mid 80's. Anyone else's chickens turn off the production a bit ?! Good luck getting that plucker done. I hope to raise some Cornish x next year for butcher. They're unbelievable compared to store bought

and a good afternoon it was, too..

I got all four corner braces, cut out, routered doweled and glued in,,
No AC in the shop,, had to take a couple of lemonage breaks in the house..

found a board all cut and drilled, but now I don't remember where it is supposed to fit.
I haven't worked on this plucker since last fall..
this is my 5th plucker that I am building.. made the mistake of selling the last one before I made a replacement.

Annie baked the smallest chicken we butchered this week.. 3 pounds.. it was fall off the bone tender and tasted sooo good ..

45 in the freezer and 33 more to go..

based on 75 live chickens.. the cost was $7.50/each,, that includes all the feed, the purchase of 100 chicks.. had bad luck on the second night,, 15 of them suffocated..

only bought one 50 pound bag of starter crumbles.. then switched them to ground corn and oats for the duration..

I want to order 25 more early next week.. I want to butcher them in November or earlier, depending on their size.. I want 1 to 1 1/2 pounders for Thanksgiving .. each person gets their individual bird ..

Now I have to go up and turn on the Packers..

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

 

[irishrovr]

Welcome to the Cheesehead thread! Hope you like it here.

Between the hotter weather and molting season creeping up, I have noticed a decline in eggs too. It was in the 90s down here on Tuesday & I only got 2 eggs.

Ditto!! Feathers all over the place right now and very few eggs.

 

[Cindlady]

Hi All!

Yep, starting to look like my chickens exploded too! Lucky the young ones should start any time now.

Jim, I thought some of this batch were going to be your Thanksgiving birds.

Night All!

 

[Sclark73]

I haven't been working too hard the past few days as the heat is really getting to me. I went over to the Marshfield fair Wednesday and watched the poultry judging and was very impressed with their cage set up, the cleanliness of barn and birds. Great job they are doing, now if our barn could look like that I would be ecstatic. I did get the "sitting room" floor framed and will be working on the bathroom and Anellias room next after I move a bunch of crap out of my way. Neighbor is coming early this morning, anytime after 6am to lift the roof on which I've been waiting for a few days so I can start putting floor down and not have to worry about rain ruining it. I can also work on some of the stud walls once floor is down. My main goal is to get the floor framed and outer walls on as I can work on the inside anytime once those things are done. I'm currently contemplating hooking up sewer and using an outhouse(or one of the 2 bathrooms in the other house) as I can run the kitchen, bathroom and laundry drains out on the ground as it's clean wastewater. It would save me a ton of time, money and aggravation doing it this way. Another neighbor(my hay guy) has a falling in barn who let me take barn boards last fall for the chicken coop build(on in the way back on right) has given me the go ahead to take ANYTHING I want off the barn for this project. I'm so excited as I did want the entire outside rustic and part of the inside also. Anyhow I'll keep posting updates as I move along with this huge project.

 

[mhegge]

Hello fellow Cheeseheads Newbie chicken owner here. We just got 5 hens and a rooster last Saturday, 11 weeks old now, special blacks originally from Sunnyside hatchery. All seems to be going well and we are loving our birds!

 

[bigzio]

Fish Fry Friday again already....great weather for the outside cooker today....it's gonna be Walleye with home made fries and fresh onion rings.

Welcome to the Cheeseheads all you new chicken fanciers....once you get hooked, you will enjoy them the rest of your life...nothing more fun and satisfying than raising poultry for meat eggs and showing.

I received a letter from the Dept of Agriculture for Avian Influenza Workshops....I figure everyone with a premise ID should be getting the notice...one in Madison, one in Wausau, one in Appleton, and one in Eau Claire...just a heads up if interested in attending one....they are asking for pre-register to attend.

My cockerels will be butchered on Sept 24....time to fatten then up some more.

Have Fun, stay safe...bigz

 

[chickendreams24]

Hi everyone. Hope someone can help give me answers we got our first egg a soft-shelled 2+ weeks ago(then started layer feed and oyster shell) and about a week later got one hard shelled egg in a nest box. I think that both were laid by one of our Isa browns, Lily, as we saw her lay the softshell. We haven't seen "hide nor hair" of an egg since. Lily never squatted and never sang the egg song, we have heard some quiet egg song attemps since and all our girls are beginning to redden up, some are squatting. The roos are going nuts, mostly failing lol but they dance and try their bests. We go on a daily egg hunt and nothing. Our girls and boys free range a lot and this usually means they spend part of their day in the corn field. It's been so hot I haven't wanted to keep them locked up to get a better idea. At least four girls look like they could be laying. Is the heat holding them back? If they were eating the eggs would we see pieces? Please help. I'm trying to be patient but I just wish I knew. The corn is seed corn so they should be picking it shortly. Any help or ideas would be great. Why would one egg have been layed in the box and then no more? Assuming they are laying despite the heat. Our girls range from 19 week old isa browns to 18 week old sl wyandottes and 17 week old EE and buff Orpingtons.

 

[jvls1942]

Hi everyone. Hope someone can help give me answers we got our first egg a soft-shelled 2+ weeks ago(then started layer feed and oyster shell) and about a week later got one hard shelled egg in a nest box. I think that both were laid by one of our Isa browns, Lily, as we saw her lay the softshell. We haven't seen "hide nor hair" of an egg since. Lily never squatted and never sang the egg song, we have heard some quiet egg song attemps since and all our girls are beginning to redden up, some are squatting. The roos are going nuts, mostly failing lol but they dance and try their bests. We go on a daily egg hunt and nothing. Our girls and boys free range a lot and this usually means they spend part of their day in the corn field. It's been so hot I haven't wanted to keep them locked up to get a better idea. At least four girls look like they could be laying. Is the heat holding them back? If they were eating the eggs would we see pieces? Please help. I'm trying to be patient but I just wish I knew. The corn is seed corn so they should be picking it shortly. Any help or ideas would be great. Why would one egg have been layed in the box and then no more? Assuming they are laying despite the heat. Our girls range from 19 week old isa browns to 18 week old sl wyandottes and 17 week old EE and buff Orpingtons.

the answer could be ,,yes..

it is too hot,,

they are laying in the corn field..

they are eating them,, there would not be any evidence of an egg.. they eat all of the shell..

I would confine them in an area that if they are laying eggs, you could find them,,

beginning chickens, (pullets) will walk along, squat and lay an egg and walk away,, the eggs could be anywhere..

we have a cool down coming,, I would confine them then, and see what is happening..

your laying mash might be " diluted " by their free ranging..
meaning that they might be filling up on lower protein food and eating less of the laying feed..

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

 

[chickendreams24]

Bummer but then why not eat the egg that was in the nest box if indeed they are eating them? And why haven't any more been laid in the box if they arent? We also give them meal worm treats and veggies and scraps plus they get plenty of bugs in the yard every evening I watch them chase bugs around the yard and they are eating their feed still too.
Yeah we will all be grateful for a cool down even if its just slight. We have the week and a half old oegb chicks in the sun porch in a brooder and have been having to cool the porch its insane. I would prefer them in the house but we have very curious cats related to Houdini. Although I don't think they would kill them as food I'm sure the cats would believe them to be delightful toys.
Thanks Jim I will definitely be locking them up come the next cool down to get a better idea. Is there any one of those things you think is more likely?