Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[Terri O]

Cind: So sorry to hear about Spirit!!!!

Welcome back BigFam

TerriO: I saw on amazon wall ceramic tile heaters (basically the same thing as the sweeter heater) for around 40-50 dollars....Keep trying to decide if I should get one of these for the coop. It would be good to have around for any of the pets really!

I lost "Ahmelia" yesterday-found her face down in her cage when I went in in the morning. Ahmelia is one of my original 8 when I started a few years ago...who ended up crippled at a few months old. Used to take her outside in the grass daily during the summer. Sunday night I had her out with the "big girls" eating leftovers and she seemed to be fine. Not sure what happened for sure. Obviously she had something gentically wrong-but to last this long? I sure hope it wasnt due to the cold and being alone in her cage.

I keep going back and forth with adding heat. I always read "Dont add heat" but I seriously feel like the girls are suffering! They are all fluffed up with their faces in the corner. No energy etc. I have been giving them scratch in the morning before work hoping that helps. Some fo them feel skinny too!

Which leads to my next question: I have been wanting/needing to worm for roundworms for awhile now. (Few months ago there were some signs of roundworms and the vet recommended working when they got to moulting. With the cold temps I keep putting it off not wanting to further stress them.

We are supposed to "warm up" to mid teens for the next few days-Would you all recommend giving Wazine tomorrow?

I will have to check those heaters out Ang. I like that the Sweeter Heater folks are here in Wisconsin though. But I might do some comparing anyhow.
If you think that the birds have worms I would worm them now before you really have to start tossing eggs. I wouldnt think that they got rid of them themselves if you saw them earlier in the fall...
Also if they are sitting puffed up with their heads in a corner maybe you should check out if there is a draft in there causing them to act that way? Like jim said (oh no not again!) they should be talking and walking about and pecking and scratching a bit. NOt as much as in summer but they should still be doing it.

Cold one out there today for sure.. I was never the one to heat my coops either, but chickens aside,, It sure is nice on me to be able to spend extra time in the coop and not freeze MY butt off..

the chickens are walking around and talking.. whenever they do that, they are comfortable.. when they are comfortable, they lay eggs..

went from 4 to 8 to 6 to 10 eggs per day.. today there was a pullet egg..

I might have to name that barock roo.. he is getting so tame.. I could hardly shake him off of my arm today.. I should find some treats for him.. I hope he doesn't get mean like his daddy was..
I am going to try to teach him to fly up onto my arm..

Man,,, this cold weather has me so bored that I am playing with chickens.. I never thought that would happen.. If I start taking them into the house,, somebody shoot me,,, please !!!

I had to quit using the plastic waterer with the red bottom try thingy.. I was hanging it in the guinea coop.. but the geese are in there,, and for the last couple of times, they have pushed the red bottom off and then all the water glugs out onto the floor.. I dug out one of my old timey metal waterers,, I do not particularly like it, but I can hang it..

what is the web site for those waterers that somebody brought to the bash as a raffle item ? can they be hung ?

Just what I need,,, more chicken equipment.. I thought I had it all ...

.......jiminwiscgoingshoppingforanewwaterer..

I was going to cut your post a bit but there are so many things...the waterer is from Premier. CC says that TSC also carries a similar one. I believe you could hang it if you were so inclined...but it does hold a lot of water. Mine finally froze up today--I guess it is just too cold! I have it on a 75W cookie tin heater I made. I might try a higher watt bulb after I thaw it out...or they get to go to the SS bowl with water like the rest of the birds in winter.
I have a roo that I got from my friend that flies up on my arm every time I bend into the 55gal barrel to scoop corn. He freaks me out every time he does it! I never expect it. I also have a young turkey that thinks it's funny to fly and land on my back when I bend over! What is up with that?

Last Spring I bought 4 white 'Texas A&M'...1 rooster and 3 hens. I built a cage for them with a solid floor. They are VERY messy so I had to clean it daily. One of the hens got picked on so I had to separate her, then the rooster started picking on the other two so I took him out too. I then had 3 cages to clean every day. The rooster was loud and sometimes started 'crowing' at 3am and the eggs were nothing special. I had bought these with the thought of hatching more to raise for meat but they were such a bother for the small amount of meat/eggs that I gave up the idea.

I hope you have a better outcome than I did. Good luck, let us know how it works out for you.

Yes quail do seem to do that if you dont have a big group. I keep mine on wire (I know you asked about that Fuxzi) and they do get bumble footed occasionally. When I had them on a solid floor they ended up with poop balls on their toes after just a day or two. Not something I have time to deal with so they are on wire. I do give them a pan with hay, dirt or shavings in it to lay in that I change out every day. Also a big piece of some type of rabbit (I think) flooring that is tin with a bunch of tiny holes to give their feet a rest--no poop toes!

Well, I dont know where the restof the posts that I "quoted" went to...this is probably so long already that your eyes are glazing over anyhow! I guess I will say goodnight.
Anybody else see that there is something blinking on the bottom of posts that says Save Draft? and then after a little while is says Draft saved? I wonder if it has to do with the lost posts that we sometimes complain about? Or maybe it is a perk for my Golden Feather membership? Oh yeah, that is expiring next month...not that I ever actually DID anything with it! LOL---

Oh yeah...goodnight! TErriO

 

[irishrovr]

Hi again--I just wanted to direct all of you to a blog I read about farming. This is a post regarding the Mercy for Animals video that was linked on here yesterday.

http://dairycarrie.com/2013/12/10/mfaabusevideo/#respond

Carrie makes some very valid points. TerriO

Some good points in the blog, TO. There is actual and undeniable abuse there and I suspected there was some stretching and spinning going on as well by the editor of the film. Here's another very interesting piece on abuse of animals by Mike Rowe on Ted Talks.

 

[Terri O]

Check it out! My friend Carrie made the WTMJ news!
http://www.jrn.com/tmj4/news/Cow-abuse-leads-to--235511201.html
AmyA do you and Julie know this farm that had the hidden cameras? They say it is Greenleaf--I am thinking you must!
TerriO

 

[irishrovr]

Last night the hubs and I hooked up a little heat lamp for the chickaroos. I think he was more worried about them than I was. They've stopped grumbling at me and I suspect they are now spending their nights shaking their coconuts in their bikinis and Foster Grant's while sipping on paper umbrella festooned pina coladas.

Meanwhile, back at the store, my renter mentioned that it was getting a bit too toasty inside and she asked me to check the thermostat. Long story short: We replaced a bad unit but still had problems so, rather than pay for a midnight service call, I camped out at the store so I could manually turn the furnace off and on. $150 later all is well and my renter didn't have to bunk with the chickaroos out in the cabana.

My car, which was sitting outside for nearly 24 hours grumbled and groaned when I started it up this evening. Even with a pair of mittens on my hands my fingers were stinging a bit by the time the heat started to flow. I should have parked my car in the cabana also!

I'm seriously considering joining mom in Florida for the duration! I sure hope this cold snap will be over SOON!!

Stay toasty!

 

[Terri O]

Some good points in the blog, TO. There is actual and undeniable abuse there and I suspected there was some stretching and spinning going on as well by the editor of the film. Here's another very interesting piece on abuse of animals by Mike Rowe on Ted Talks.

I just watched that video...thanks Irish! That is one man that I never did like...did you know that he is/was a member here on BYC? I now have a new respect for him. I always thought he was a bit cocky and made fun of the workers and their jobs that he "decided" to try. I might nave been wrong with my opinion--thanks again! TerriO

 

[Celtic Chick]

What a suprise. Bigfam returns and all heck breaks loose around here.............. Fight nice, people.

Cind, I am so sorry to hear about your kitty.

I am glad she was at home. Taking them in is so stressful.

So sorry to hear about losing your dad. I know that feeling all too well. The ache never really leaves.

Ang, sorry about your hen. I agree with Terri. Your birds should not be huddling in the corners. My coop is very large and anything but draft free, but my birds do not behave like that. They are scratching, foraging, kicking each others arses, you get the picture.

Take a stool sample to a local vet. They will check for worms for you, then you can decide if you need to treat them. It is stressful on their bodies, so I wouldn't do it if it wasn't that bad. Wait until it warms up a bit. In the meantime, try to fatten them up a bit. A little extra scratch, corn or suet might get them moving.

Ok, as for heating the coops, boys,

I have a small 8' x 8' coop inside my 20x20 "coop". I have a heat lamp running inside the small coop 24/7 all winter long. On any given day, I can look on the camera and see one chicken or another sitting under the lamp for a few minutes, then they take off. Yesterday I saw at least 8 or 9 different birds using it. Today I saw my 2 seabrights under it multiple times, and many others as well. I have way too many birds that won't fit inside that coop at roost time, and very many of them that choose not to sleep in there at all. There is a good bit of unused roost space in there, but it is there if they want it. I find that my youngest and oldest are the ones who prefer it the most. I have not seen any increase in my paltry egg production, so I am not too concerned about "using my hens up" before their time. And as for that, well, Jack was 13 when he died so.............. Just sayin'.

I know I missed a lot of what I wanted to reply to but

. Hey Terri, I just saw that saving draft flashing on the bottom. About flippin time!

 

[Cindlady]

Hi All!

Amyb.... Sorry about your Dad.

Angie.... sorry about you hen too.

Sorry I didn't go back and re-read everything, too tired. I couldn't watch/HEAR the interview with Mike Rowe... my sound card is shot. I did see the interview with TO's friend on the news tough! Yes, there was definitely abuse in that video, and I know day to day animal handling to non farm people may seem rough, but I'm glad even farmers are speaking up about it.

I broke down and let the "outside" penned roos in the coop last night. I couldn't catch one though. Hope he made it OK. I'm sure the girls are not happy about it!

Tired.... Night all!

 

[babylady4]

Terri HOW can you NOT like Mike Rowe????????? Have you ever watched him interviewed outside the show? I have always thought he was very genuine; because of that 'show' he has petitioned and spoken to Congress about our lack of a decent workforce. He has a scholarship program going now, he sells items in eBay to raise funds for it.

I get the save draft question too......

2* this morning! A heat wave!!!!!!

Jim, we would be lost here without our hatching guru......... So is a 2" bolt gun considered cruel?

 

[cuties]

Bigz, nice to see some pictures of the brahmas I asked over there, but did not receive any responses. Is the black that bleeds down the chest a little ok? Or should that be something I should "cull" against? Yours are gorgeous!

Amy, was very sorry to hear about your dad.

I agree that farm animals are treated differently then our pets. But some of that footage is quite disturbing. And I love Mike Rowe!
Chicks are doing great dustin up the house as expected.
12hours is getti g old as usual. Looms lime I will have this Saturday off!! And we don't have any huge plans this weekend!


Been good reading here lately ;-)

 

[jvls1942]

Terri HOW can you NOT like Mike Rowe????????? Have you ever watched him interviewed outside the show? I have always thought he was very genuine; because of that 'show' he has petitioned and spoken to Congress about our lack of a decent workforce. He has a scholarship program going now, he sells items in eBay to raise funds for it.

I get the save draft question too......

2* this morning! A heat wave!!!!!!

Jim, we would be lost here without our hatching guru......... So is a 2" bolt gun considered cruel?

good morning,, I D K what a 2" bolt gun is.. I had only one cuppa so far today,, maybe I am just not with it yet.?? ZING over my head...

maybe most of you people know this, but for the people who are not aware;

chickens are supplied with a cluster of eggs .. It is located way up in there.. each day or slightly more, one breaks loose and starts it's trip down the tube.. it grows as it goes.. the shell is formed last.. sometimes 2 break loose at the same time, thus causing a double yolker..

anyway,, when the supply of eggs is used up, the chicken cannot reproduce more of them and she cannot lay eggs anymore..

So, where is the cruelty of making them lay eggs by using light ? It doesn't shorten their life, It only shortens their time for laying eggs.. In my cruel way of using lights, I had hens run out of eggs, but they still lived to be over 8 years old..

we have to be careful to not inflict our human emotions upon our animals..

and one thing more,, for hundreds of years, cows have been milked twice a day.. the only time they are in pain is when they are milked too late .. most farmers I ever knew, milked on a very strict schedule..

It sure is funny how we justify our actions to fit our lifestyle..

BBP , I can't imagine what your store sells that is harmful to cows.. but if you sell it, you are part of the problem..

.......jiminwiscjustsayin'..........