Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[chicksalot]

About 5 out of my 11 girls have started laying now...I have opened up 2 nesting boxes for them, as they were lining up to use the 1 box & someone decided to just let one go on the floor! Crazy girls! lol. They seem to have a lot more to say to each other these days, too...brawwwk (I layed my egg already, what have you done today!?)...brrraw, brrraw, brrraw (you dumb cluck, my eggs are the biggest of anyone here!)...aaawww, bukawk (push that egg out & move out of the way!) ...and so it goes all day long.

 

[bigzio]

Good Evening. Another busy day collecting the harvest before the big killer tonight. The harvest isa blessing this season, even though it was a rainless, cool growing season. Maybe the cool saved the lack of rain?

Yep, the hens are quite vocal when they get older. 4 & 5 year old hens are quite set on their ways, and will let you know if they are upset. I get scold quite often from the ladys if things aren't just right. Jelious hens are quite fun to deal with too.

The first egg from the new pullets is so much fun. Don't worry hank, they will start laying. The chicks hatched in early spring always start to lay by fall. The later summer hatched chicks sometimes wait til spring. Additional light should do the trick, however most pullets that start to lay by fall, will lay all winter without any extra light.

~ bigzio

 

[fordmommy]

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I not sure exact age. I was told they were hatched sometime in March or April. Some of my girls are laying. I'm still waiting for some to start laying and the anticpation is killing me.

I have 15 chickens and one is a cockeral. I have gotten 5 eggs in one day, twice. But some days I get nothing. Last weekend I didn't get one egg for 3 days. Crazy chickens.

Yesterday I got 4 eggs.

When we made the coop, I went to Fleet Farm and bought some clearanced paint. It was a mis-tint and cost about $10.00. It's a really light yellow. I figured the color would brighten up the joint and reflect the light as to help them through the winter. This way I don't need the extra light. This is the theory. I also have 2 windows and a door with windows, in the coop.

Here's some pictures from a few months ago. We are still fixing and building. We got the building FREE off craigslist. Actually 2 buildings. My DH gave me 6x12 for my chickens. He kept the rest for the "toys". I just added 2 more nesting boxes yesterday for the 8 more chickens I got almost a month ago already.

 

[chickenkid68]

Thanks again everyone for the support! Still no eggs, but not 20 weeks yet. Mine were hatched the weekend of Memorial Day.
Your building looks awesome! I also painted the inside of my coop, but I used white. I have 9 hens and 1 roo, and I put 4 nest boxes in there last weekend, and haven't seen any evidence that anyone has even gone in one......?? Anyway, I still look for eggs every morning, afternoon and evening! :

 

[chickenkid68]

Also, I hope they lay this winter, cuz my next project is to build a home made incubator and hatch some of my own for next spring! The kids are excited!

 

[fordmommy]

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I check for eggs 5-6 times a day. We love to go and just watch our chickens. See what they're up to. I just got back from out there and I got 2 eggs. One is still warm. I love those. I put them in my pockets to harm my hands for the walk into the house.

Let me know what you're going to be hatching and if you're going to be selling. I plan on getting some chicks this spring.

And thanks about the coop. I wanted white but the mis-tint was so much cheaper. But I painted the ceiling with white. I had 1/2 of 5 gallons of left over ceiling paint from when we bought the house.

My DH and I call ourselves "Professional Rumage Salers" and "Recyclers". We try to re-use everything we can. We try not to waste anything. We try to find a purpose for everything we can. Too much stuff just gets thrown away in this world.

Don't get me wrong. We're not junk collectors or anything like that. We just try to save money any way we can.

 

[chickenkid68]

Quote:
Quote:
I check for eggs 5-6 times a day. We love to go and just watch our chickens. See what they're up to. I just got back from out there and I got 2 eggs. One is still warm. I love those. I put them in my pockets to harm my hands for the walk into the house.

Let me know what you're going to be hatching and if you're going to be selling. I plan on getting some chicks this spring.

And thanks about the coop. I wanted white but the mis-tint was so much cheaper. But I painted the ceiling with white. I had 1/2 of 5 gallons of left over ceiling paint from when we bought the house.

My DH and I call ourselves "Professional Rumage Salers" and "Recyclers". We try to re-use everything we can. We try not to waste anything. We try to find a purpose for everything we can. Too much stuff just gets thrown away in this world.

Don't get me wrong. We're not junk collectors or anything like that. We just try to save money any way we can.

I hear you! We had an old entertainment center in the basement that wasn't really fit to be an entertainment center anymore, but wasn't quite bad enough to make it into the trash yet.....now it is nest boxes!!!

 

[fordmommy]

See. You get it. I wish every one would do a little. You see all the time people just throwing things out because they have no use for them. Teens, IMO, are the worst next to "rich folks".

You know, I read the other day in a post that someone gets eggs but won't eat them. They give them to the dogs or just throw the eggs away. I couldn't believe that! What a waste when people every where are starving. It's the same with "stuff".

"Oh." someone says, "I don't like this....'fill in the blank'...anymore." And in the trash it goes. Just to take upp space in the land fill. How disappointing.

 

[babylady4]

I just call it recycling myself.... nothing wrong with that! I do it all the time!

Ugh, I have a NASTY cold and still have tons of fruit to process and pick......

 

[bigzio]

Evening to all..... yep we hate anything being wasted too. Reusing stuff is the new living green. Heck that's always been our way of life.

Before our stove died, we would pull free burners from the stoves that were thrown out at the recycle center. The heavy canners tend to smash the supports under the cheaply made burners today.

I also picked up new wheels for the gas grill there.
Simply have your tools along. You just might need them.

fordmommy, that's a really great free coop. I really like the cost. I need to build another one. I saved 50 2x6x16 treated boards from my old deck. I'll use them for framing.

~ bigzio