Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[birds4kids]

My strawberries are starting to ripen.

mine are in full bloom, everything is moving fast with the warmth and water of this week

 

[jvls1942]

good morning,
raining a little bit more than a mist ..
My corn seed did not arrive , so now they will not be here until after Monday. It is too wet to work in the garden anyway. but I sure want them here when I am ready .
FedEx dropped the ball on this one. I suppose they are short handed with people taking off for the holiday .

the chicks are liking their new home.
I made a cover for an old metal feeder I have . the chicks used to jump inside of it and couldn't get out. that won't happen anymore.

I am going to put the finishing touches on one of the 50# feeders I built and take it to the bash for a raffle item.
I have it divided so that you can put 50# of feed in it, or 25# of two different kinds of feed.

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

 

[wyoDreamer]

Jim, did you ever post a picture of your final product for the feeder? Hubs and I are working out the design for a feeder for my coop and I was wondering if the angled walls are working out like you planned.

 

[jvls1942]

Jim, did you ever post a picture of your final product for the feeder? Hubs and I are working out the design for a feeder for my coop and I was wondering if the angled walls are working out like you planned.

HiO, WyO,

No picture, and the angled walls are working fine.
I redid the feeder about 3 times .
it works pretty good for pellets and crumbles. but I don't think it will do so well for the ground oats and corn that I feed.

I built another one that is working very well for the corn meal texture laying mash I am feeding. I think it will work well for the ground oats and corn also.
If it is doing well with the corn meal texture, I am sure it will work very well for pellets and crumbles also.
It is a simpler design,, straight sides, tall and narrow.
I could send you some drawings in the mail if you want to PM me your address

I will take some pictures today and maybe you can glean some information from them.

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

 

[jvls1942]

this is basically the style of both feeders.
this one is 15 inches wide by 30 inches.
the side panels are 15 inches tall.
(because that is all the wider my planer can go)
the end panels are about 7 inches wide.
this one's end panels are an inch wider at the bottom than at the top.

the troughs are about 2 1/2 inches wide and about 3 inches deep.

the slot where the feed comes out at the bottom is about 1" . that can be adjusted for your needs by the location of the side panels

inside the feeder I divided it with two 15 inch tall panels tapered like a tent..

lllllllljiminwiscllllllllll.

 

[jvls1942]

this is what the inside divider looks like. I made a tapered top for it so that feed could not settle on top and become old .

this is the feeder that I am going to take to the bash for the raffle.
I have put a hinged cover on it since these pictures were taken.

there is no plywood in it. it is all red pine; lumber I had sawed and I planed ..

If it is kept dry, this feeder should outlive everybody reading this.

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

 

[chickendreams24]

Just got in from nightly chores, haven't had any trouble so the flock was out late again. Ugh lost two speckled Sussex pullets and a white Rock cockeral. Got a look at the animal but I don't have an identity yet. Was maybe 50 feet from us and showed no fear at all. We didn't have the gun when we saw it. I'm thinking weasel-ish family. But here's what I know. It grabbed 3, 9-10 week old chicks and left only a few small piles of feathers, it was silvery and black but not broad like badgers should be. I also don't think it was large enough to be one. It was very low to the ground and there was a distinct musky smell about the yard but not quite skunk. I am going to be searching for images online of what it could be. Please help. This thing is devastating our flock.

Fisher.

Everything I've read said they have dark brown to black fur but this things back was definitely silver. It was narrower than I thought a badger could be but idk

foxes smell sort of like skunk.

You took the words right out of my mouth!

Here ya go, photos all in one place may help a bit. http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/wildlifehabitat/furbearers.html

Maybe a possum?!

silver fox . we have them around here.

I have never seen a silver fox and foxes in general are pretty uncommon around here. That being said the animal we saw didn't have a fox shaped face but more a weasel shaped one. I would guess the animal at 2-3 feet long including its tail which was not that of a possum but furred and slightly bushy from what I saw. It also seemed to be a darker color than its silvery body. However the colors could have been thrown off by the yard light or our flashlights. The animal is also less than a foot tall like we had at first thought.

@chickendreams

Possibility??

Idk Daethan I think that's a wolverine and they're not supposed to be here then again neither are fishers but we're guessing Fisher or badger. We lost another bird yesterday evening, my buff silkie hen named, Ginger, I'm devastated. This is one of the girls(the main one) that would run after me this winter chasing me over three foot drifts to try and come with me for loving. She will be sorely missed. I'm hoping to find another buff silkie girl but Ginger will always be irreplaceable. We got the flock in hours before dark just before the huge storm hit and Ginger was not there. Odd since we had been outside weed eating and mowing. We never found a sign or hint. I hope her end was quick and painless and I hope she knew how vey very much her Mommy loved her. She was one of the first chicks I hatched and our sweetest silkie. These past few weeks have been awful and all in all we have lost over a dozen birds.

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
If foxes are rare around you, then Badgers are even more rare.
If you are losing chickens at all times of the day, I would still vote "fox" .

I would be carrying a gun every time I went outside..

whatever it is will keep coming until there is nothing left to eat.

 

[Daethen]

I am so very sorry about Ginger. I know how much you loved her. Yes, it is a wolverine but we do have some in the state. Very rare but a possibility. Have you called the DNR and asked them what it could be?

 

[unkadan]

I guess the bushy tail eliminates the Nile Crocodile,,,,,