Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[chikenscratch]

Hello everyone.....It must be my anual stop over..lol

It is testing time again...With such a huge reduction in my flock, it takes only a few minute to test now. I only have George and Martha that are old now. I hope everyone is doing well and being sassy as ever!

Happy Birthdays, Happy Annivarsarys, Merry Christmas, and all the things I miss...


Vicki

Good to see you on here Delisha!

Does anyone know what kind of mushroom this is?

Looks yummy

Before:





After:





Doesn't look like it, but I have chicken wire up around the perimeter to keep the dogs out.

Jim- Does the chicken wire actually keep the maremma out? If so, I'll need to switch over. I've been using the green plastic garden fencing and it sucks at keeping Theo out!

CC- thanks for the link. I'll have Nathan see if our still has any.

Brent-I'll let you know whether to bring your rim to chickenstock based on whether we decide to buy the menards 36".

It was a busy Sunday here. Weather was warm and the sun was out. So, we tilled a bit & planted beets, okra, kale, and carrots. I also planted 2 flower gardens and mowed. I've started hardening off the seedlings and will hopefully plant them next weekend.

Chicks are doing well and though it got down into the 30s last night, they did just fine. I was worried that the temps inside the coop would fall too much for them and the heat lamp wouldn't maintain a temp that they'd be comfy with, but all worked out apparently! It looks like I might get a few hens out of this group, but does anyone want a welsummer roo? I'm not sure whether the sussex is male or female yet as I can't tell the two breeds apart. At this point they are identical.

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
that is not my fence..
all my fences are four foot high chain link.
they keep most things from going through, but the naughty rooster and a few of his fav hens go over.
It doesn't matter anyhow because I free range mostly.

My Maremma's are well behaved. they come when I whistle.
and they listen when I correct them most of the time.
If they look like they are going to do something I don't like, all I have to do is sternly say their name.. To them it is the same as NO ...

 

[chikenscratch]

Daethen - does the chicken wire keep out the dogs?

Also, in case you BYCers haven't seen the posting by the owner of the site, please read below:

Temporary shut down tomorrow - read only mode

Short Version: BYC will be converting over to another forum software platform starting (hopefully) Tuesday morning PST, and we're bringing pretty-much everything with us!

The site will be in "Read Only" mode for a few days as we move everything.

During the conversion, you can do the following:

1. During the conversion, get official updates on the conversion here: https://www.backyardherds.com/threa...ion-progress-updates-discussion-thread.35849/
2. During the conversion, if you want, you can ask your chicken questions on our sister site's chicken section here: https://www.backyardherds.com/forums/chickens-byc-conversion.98/

Longer Version:

The internet continues to evolve and change at an amazing pace! When I started the new BYC back in early 2007 (yup, 10 years ago), I never knew it would grow to be such a HUGE and amazing collection of people and information. It's amazing what we've accomplished in the last 10 years!

In 2007 we ran the tiny site on a little shared-server and clunky free software. At the time, it was sufficient for what we needed... but as the site grew, so did the complexities, problems, and resources required to run such an active site.

BYC quickly outgrew the servers and software that we were on, so 5 years ago we moved to a new forum platform, which we're on right now. Unfortunately the company that developed this software is going to be "sunsetting" the platform this year. Fortunately they are giving us plenty of time and support to make sure we find a nice new home for BYC!

So, for the past 4 months I've been CRAZY busy getting everything setup for the big move. This includes working with experts in design, programming, server management, and software / data conversion.

We've decided to move BYC to the same software platform that all of our "sister sites" (BYH, TEG, & SS) are on. This forum software is used by tens of thousands of forums all over the interwebs... many of which are much much bigger than BYC! Using this software will give us more control and access to do things we've been wanting to do for ages and couldn't do with the previous company's software.

The design of the new site is about 95% done, and it look FANTASTIC! In fact, it's so close to what we have here, that I often can't tell if I'm on the live site, or the staging test site!

We've also already run a test conversion of the site and are VERY happy to report that all of the most important information and data has already been converted successfully! This includes stuff like:

1. Forum users and user info (avatars, subscriptions, etc.)
2. Forum threads & posts
3. User reputation (ovations / likes)
4. Private Messages
5. Images (this is a MONSTER task)
6. Articles
7. Galleries / Albums
8. Badges, Awards, Medals (Like "Friend", "Spirit", "Greeter", etc.)
9. GFM / PPM account upgrades
10. TONS of other stuff!

There isn't much you need to do to prepare for this move (we've hired movers to do this for you!)

. With that said, there are a few things that will help you prepare:

1. IF YOU WANT (not required) you can familiarize yourself with the software on the other "sister sites". I'd suggest joining, posting, and interacting with the software on www.BackYardHerds.com to get a feel for that system.
2. Reply here with any questions you might have.
3. Keep being an awesome and supportive member of our group. We know that people really dislike change, so I, and our moderator team, appreciate your patience as we go through this monumental task!
4. During the conversion, get official updates on the conversion here: https://www.backyardherds.com/threa...ion-progress-updates-discussion-thread.35849/
5. During the conversion, if you want, you can ask your chicken questions on our sister site's chicken section here: https://www.backyardherds.com/forums/chickens-byc-conversion.98/

Thanks again for being such great supportive members of our awesome (and HUGE) community!!!

Questions Asked:


When the change is made, will there be a down time?
The site will be in read-only mode during the transfer. That's to make sure that any updates on the old system are not lost during the move. We have no idea how long read-only will be... it could be a few days (we have a LOT of data to move).

Will ovations be the same?
Ovations won't have the weird multiplier that we have here. It will be 1-to-1, so if you get a "like" your count goes up by 1. There unfortunately won't be any ovation comments, but we'll have an awesome "trophies" system that gives you points for all kinds of cools stuff, similar to these Trophies

Will post counts drop?
Nope, they should remain the same!

Will trophies start at zero?
Nope, it's calculated based on really cools stuff like how many posts, likes received, likes given, years a member, etc. We even have one for if you've added an avatar or not!

What about info in PM's, pictures, etc? Will it all transfer?
All PM's, pictures, articles, etc. should be converted / moved over, but if there are any pictures, attachments, etc. that are super important, we suggest you make sure you have backups. It's always a good idea to have local backups of stuff you have on the interwebs anyway.

 

[jvls1942]

i will tell you this:
if i have to re register and jump thru hoops to stay on byc,,, it ain't gonna happen.

I went thru something like this a few years ago on another web site.

they improved themselves out of existence .

 

[MizzHen]

I'm in the process of constructing my first chicken coop. It's for 6 chickens and is 5 ft x 5.5 ft. This is what I have so far. I plan to cut a window in on the south side for year round sunlight. I havent decided if I will make it an open/close window or just a pane of plexy-glass. I'm thinking of making white panels in the peaks vents. Would one vent be enough or should I make a vent on both sides? I don't want it to get too drafty either. The panels are about a foot high and 4 feet wide. Two vents will be great in summer, but should I board one up for the winter and just use one vent? There's plenty of room to hang a heat lamp as well, but I'd like to try and get by without. Any other suggestions welcome! Thanks!

 

[Celtic Chick]

that is not my fence..
all my fences are four foot high chain link.
they keep most things from going through, but the naughty rooster and a few of his fav hens go over.
It doesn't matter anyhow because I free range mostly.

My Maremma's are well behaved. they come when I whistle.
and they listen when I correct them most of the time.
If they look like they are going to do something I don't like, all I have to do is sternly say their name.. To them it is the same as NO ...

They don't seem to listen when they get want an egg snack in the coop. Lol!

 

[GranolaGirl72]

It is 6:00 and nothing really seems different or locked down.

 

[jvls1942]

It is 6:00 and nothing really seems different or locked down.

it is 8o and still OK it seems.

I wanted to hill the garden today. IDK if it rained too hard last night . it doesn't seem to be raining yet. all I need is about
20 minutes..

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

ETA:
It was 8:15 when I checked in the first time today.

I went out and hilled the garden and it went like a charm. got er all done.

by 9:05 I was back in the house.

I am a happy camper.

going to break down and get a yard of compost from Hsu's garden supply.
$41.oo/yard. it is a complete planting
medium and double composted..
I want to make a couple of raised beds for my beets and onions.

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

 

[bigzio]

Yep Mizzhen, a couple vents and at least one window that opens...two would be even better for cross ventilation. In the winter you can close up what's needed. If the coop sits in the sun, it will really be gag you warm without enough ventilation.

Time to go work on my garden.

bigz

 

[bigzio]

Welcome back to all the Cheeseheads...hope everything is going good at your place!

bigz