Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[jvls1942]

good eve.,

imagine that,, a fowl odor coming out of a chicken coop.. to keep chickens from smelling,
cut off their noses..

CasieD, what kind of chickens are you going to order ? I don't really NEED any chicks, but maybe I can help you out.. we live only a few miles apart, ya know.. If You can order a mixed bag, then I could tell you what I would take..? I would consider some Cornish X's..

One of the young peahens died today.. IDK what happened.. just came up looking dosey, and a while later it was dead.. and so the cycle of life goes..

Annie collected 38 eggs today.. but she thinks some of them were from yesterday..

...jimwonderingwhyhefeelssoambitiousatnightbutwhendaylightcomesitgoes....

 

[GhostRider65]

back again,,  like the rabbit said to his girlfriend,, this won't take long, did it ?

I got coffee made and while it was perking I fed the birds,  crushed the blackberry patch and "freed the turkey"..

Yeah TerriO,, we are back at the same time posting again,, I didn't mention it because I figured it would go away..

I should have taken pictures of that patch..  there was no way anybody could have pushed their way through it..  the stalks are an inch thick and 10 feet tall..  this particular patch is on top of where the old chicken yard once was..  lots of good nourishment for sure..

I didn't crush the whole patch.. I left the younger plants alone,  but I did make a path through the middle of them..

anyhow, I sure had fun with (naked) Ollie..  

the sun is out and you can actually feel the warmth from it..  the peacocks will be struttin' today..  and the 2 Toms.. yes, there is an upstart Tommy out there..  

I took a quick head count this a.m.

3 roosters,66 chickens, 26 guineas, 13 geese,2 peacocks, 5 peahens, 2 Toms, 7 turkey hens
I don't think I missed any..   124 total in aggragate..    and just 8 years ago, I started all over with 6 pullets "just for my own eggs"..  yeah, right.........  no wonder my feed bill is $5000,oo per year...  I should get rid of all these birds and get a horse..  I think it would be cheaper..

.......jimwonderingwherehewentwrong?..........

Heck Jim for that price you can raise at least 2 3 if they are easy keepers like mine, I spend half that a year for all three........... I think I actually kept track 1 year when I first got them 10 years ago, and it was only about 1200 bucks, for the three, but feed and hay have gone up considerably...especially seeing as how this year everyone is out to become a millionaire on there hay...... I seen small squares the other day for 10 bucks a bale............ ridiculous....... idiots I hope they get stuck with that dam hay and it rots, so they can't even give it away........... what greedy nasty stupid ppl...... I guess they don't realize that they are driving away there customers, because there is cheaper hay out there I am still paying 2 bucks a bale......... and be damed if I will pay more than 3.00......... ggrrrrr

 

[judge]

good eve.,

imagine that,, a fowl odor coming out of a chicken coop.. to keep chickens from smelling,
cut off their noses..

CasieD, what kind of chickens are you going to order ? I don't really NEED any chicks, but maybe I can help you out.. we live only a few miles apart, ya know.. If You can order a mixed bag, then I could tell you what I would take..? I would consider some Cornish X's..

One of the young peahens died today.. IDK what happened.. just came up looking dosey, and a while later it was dead.. and so the cycle of life goes..

Annie collected 38 eggs today.. but she thinks some of them were from yesterday..

...jimwonderingwhyhefeelssoambitiousatnightbutwhendaylightcomesitgoes....

Hey Jim- just curious.. what does one do with peacocks/hens? Do they lay eggs, or do you sell the feathers, or are they just beautiful pets?

 

[Celtic Chick]

cs, your head starts hurting after going off the antibiotics because the antibiotic isn't strong enough to kill the infection, just suppress it. Doctors have been pulling that weak antibiotic bs since the drug-resistant bacteria started getting more common. My doc kept trying to give me amoxicillian every time I had a sinus inf. til I told her where to ram it. I'll be darned if I'm gonna pay for a doc visit, a useless prescription, then an emergency call & another stinking prescription, then another ER call & yet another script. I played that game once, but never again.

Sorry to hear about your peahen, Jim. That stinks.

Speaking of stinking, 3 FEET of litter, Terri?????

Yeah, I'll say you might wanna clean it out one of these days.

Aren't you afraid you might find some missing birds under there?

 

[GhostRider65]

Ok caught up again............ I would be wondering what you plan to order myself CasieD if ya are getting BCM, or wellies, or even maybe a couple more SLW, let me know and I'm sure we all can put in a few chicks if you can mix them, I have seen a few places that wanted you to order only 1 breed at 25 chicks......... per order......... that is crazy too.... and besides straight run of 25 will result in probably 15 roosters anyway......... so order big chickens that can be butchered early.......... LOL at least you'll have chicken in the freezer.

So how is the mouse hunting going BigZ........ I didn't get my better mouse trap built today it was too nice, so I cleaned the puppy pen, the barn, and the chicken coop........

CS.......I have no smell at all I use sand, and DE and baking soda, to help keep the smell under control, and ft it ever gets too smelly I will just chuck the old sand and add a new load, its cheaper and easier to clean than shavings and does not stink......... the DE and soda makes it a bit dusty though if ya add it too often....... but mostly its easy to clean, and It has never frozen here yet as long as no one spills the water that is...........I add the De and soda every 3rd cleaning, so that's 1tx a month..........and I use very little baking soda about a cup per 4 of the DE......

So anyway Adam is in Homer Mi. tonight, just made his last pickup and was almost out of drive time so pulled over to grab a bite and sleep till morning, then its like 10 1/2 hours to Omaha NE, then who knows if he will get a load back here or off too some other godforsaken place in NE............ I hate that state for driving long, flat, boring, drive that seems to take forever to get across........when I drove out to Colorado, went that way once, never again I'll TAKE THE LONG Way OVER THE TOP ANYDAY....much more to look at and not even remotely boring, even when towns are far apart........ So anyway its been a long day night all........Kim

 

[judge]

Evening all. Not much new here. Sorry to here about your peahen Jim.
Went to my nieces BB game tonight. She is a sophmore star varsity player. She played against my alma mater tonight. Well my nieces team won and I guess for me it was a win- win situation. She scored 25 points!
So you all know that I am able to get some chantecler eggs, and now I have to get a incubator. It was suggested to me to get a Genesis 1588, that it is the easiest one out there. Anyone know where to get one? Maybe just Amazon?
I talked my dad into building me a brooder box, and I was wondering about what size I should build. I will probably never hatch more than 12 birds at a time.
Oh and one more thing. Since I know nothing about hatching eggs, does anyone know of a site or something that can give me step by step instructions? I mean- I just found out what candling was today...
Unless of course you all want to be bothered by my incessant questions (which btw I really appreciated all your knowledge)
Hope you all enjoyed the milder temps today!
Thought I would share a few pics of the turkeys that were in my yard yesterday

 

[jvls1942]

here is one of the peacocks.. I will take some better close up pictures now that they are a lot tamer .. I will get some updated pics of the hens, too..


still here,, Judge, peafowl sell for good bucks.. I have a 2 year old , and now 2 soon to be 1 year old hens that I hatched.. one that died today was from last summer.. the hens do not lay eggs until their second year.. the hatch rate is not real high.. I think it is because the peacocks are so busy showing off that they forget what they are after..

peafowl are very touchy to raise through the first few months.. just like turkeys..


and yes, the peacocks are pretty .. the hens are not an ugly bird, but they are colored for camoflage,

and I do have them because they are pretty.. some day, when I have them coming out of my ears,, I would like to butcher one..

I didn't clean out my coops this fall because Ollie was down.. Now I will wait until spring.. I have about 8 to 10 inches of wood chips, shavings , and now straw on top .. I like the wood chips on the bottom , it makes cleaning much easier with a shovel.. and water drains to the bottom much faster than any other bedding.. the straw weaves together into a mattress.. but if you can get under it, it comes out easier.. I almost had a bale shredder, but the guy didn't want to sell it,, although he was not using it anymore..

........jimloadinghiscameraforaphotoshoottomorrow............

ETA. Judge, or anybody else,,,Just ask away.. I have some incubation instructions that I put together for myself.. I have shared it with many many people.. I could PM them to you..

 

[delisha]

If you do get that bator Judge, you don't really need to know very much. The directions are quite clear and it is a great bator. it is all computer chip operated.
All you will need to do is plug it in for 24 hours before setting your eggs.
I usually do not add water till day 18, others do. If it is dry (under 30% humidity) I will add a tablespoon at a time. I just do not like water setting around for 25 days. It collects germs and bacteria.

Set your eggs in egg cartons when they arrive with pointy end down for 24 hours to let air cells settle and fix. (Basement is perfect place since it needs to be cool)

Everyone who incubates has there own way. In Wisconsin we have high humidity so I do I tend to dry incubate until day 18. Day 18 till all eggs hatch the humidity is raised to around 60%. I add water on Day 18. They start piping around day 20-25 and can take another 24 hours to hatch. You leave the chicks in the incubator for 24 hours after hatch, and place them in a brooder.

Average hatching days is 21 for chicken some breeds take less, some more. Yours will probably be 22 or 23.

I am happy you found eggs!
It will be fun and exciting!

 

[Celtic Chick]

Wow, that's a pretty bird, Jim.

I know you're down one now so bad timing on my part for asking, but if you were to sell some in the future, how much do you think you'd sell a peahen for? One old enough to be past the touchy age? I'm just curious.

 

[jvls1942]

Wow, that's a pretty bird, Jim.

I know you're down one now so bad timing on my part for asking, but if you were to sell some in the future, how much do you think you'd sell a peahen for? One old enough to be past the touchy age? I'm just curious.

hey people,, quit posting,, I want to go to bed..

hens that are of laying age,, say 2 years and up, go easily for $300.oo and up.. I am the everlasting tightwad, so I never paid that much for any.. I did pay $200.oo for a trio..
An India blue peacock, an IB hen and a pied hen.. the IB hen was ambushed in her nest last summer and I lost her and all 8 eggs.. foxes have a special liking for peahens.. prolly because they will not quit their nest and run..