Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[Strevale]

Oh yeah, best coops for 6 Buckeye hens in southeastern Wisconsin? I know we get all kinds of crappy weather, so I figured we need some special coops to tough through it.

 

[Strevale]

Valerie, BigZ has Buckeyes.

Sloppy outside, good day to stay inside!

Nothing to report here. Spending the day with the DH.

Unfortunately, it's a school day so I'm sloshing and slipping everywhere!

 

[Strevale]

When is chick season? When should I be picking up chicks? I don't want them too early because it's too snowy outside to fence and assemble a coop. I also don't want to miss out and have to wait until next year.

 

[cuties]

When is chick season? When should I be picking up chicks? I don't want them too early because it's too snowy outside to fence and assemble a coop. I also don't want to miss out and have to wait until next year.

It is always chick season!
I have started hatching for people. Most keep them indoors in this weather. I just give them a heat lamp, and they are set up in he sun porch. We also have a heater out there.
I think terrio also has buckeye.
Terri, I hope you heal quickly!
Just a little rain here so far today.
Hubby is off and says he will get my new rabbit pens set up ♡

 

[my2boysteacher]

I picked up some eggs from the P.O this morning. Luckily they all look great, hope I can get a few to hatch.
Question to those who incubate eggs....
I have seen that you can stagger putting eggs into the bator, but what happens when one batch needs to be locked down? Won't the increase of humidity harm the other eggs?

 

[wildsam]

Wow... I MADE IT! Through I don't know how many pages of catching up after more than 3-4 weeks of crazy busy disasters due to all this crap called snow. And go figure, it just started snowing again with the supposed incoming snow storm that is forecasted to bring 12-16" up here. And there I did SOOO enjoy walking around in a tshirt and enjoy the sunshine these past few days! Sure felt like spring starting. How wrong could I be!!!

Anyways, after several water line breaks and busts (of course on the weekends), a sewer line freeze up, over 6" thick ice on the roof that goes back over 5 feet on the roof and caused 3 major leaks in the house, cutting, chopping, stacking and replenishing fire wood before the next deep freeze next week, I am completely wore out, exhausted and sick and tired of anything snow or winter related now.

Wish it would finally warm up to 'decent' winter temps and start melting already!!! Plus, all the duckies sure would appreciate the mud to dig and play in, and the chickens would have something to start scratching again instead of being holed up in their coop they share with the duckies...

Oh yeah, the (black and nasty looking) duckies were brought in in pairs 2 weekends ago, after carefully laying out the bathroom in plastic, to take a bath (had to refill after each set, that's how dirty they were!), rearrange and preen their freshly cleaned feathers under a small heater, since it was still freezing outside and I didn't wanna chance for them to go out again wet and freeze. They were having a blast, splashing and diving and showering the entire bathroom. Glad I put that plastic down!
Now, these past 3 days, we put out the kiddie pool and after the first couple of gallons they all fell over each other trying to get inside! lol. Was a really funny sight, since the chickens sat a bit behind them, wondering what the racket was all about, watching them go all crazy!

So here is a pic (or two) of my duckies to enjoy... and hope u all stay inside, safe and without any more damage to hot tubs, houses, barns and sheds or chicken losses til this stuff FINALLY makes a disappearance

SOON! Cuz I sure had enough for at least another year...



Unsure chick watching the duckies head for the pool

 

[delisha]

Just thought I would ask you guys, are any of you WI people planing on going to the NPIP seminar on april 10th in stevens point I just signed up for it.

Sorry..I am not..

Cind-my sarcastic suggestion for health might be to , I don't know...maybe, get to bed earlier? I'd be dead energy wise and so on if I stayed up as late as you!

you going to camp out this year?

Hello everyone!

I am looking for 6 female Buckeye chicks this spring. I am located in Sugar Creek, WI (basically Elkhorn), southeastern Wisconsin. Is there anyone here that could help me out or direct me to someone who could?

Thanks,
Valerie

Hi Valerie,

I love my one buckeye..she is 5 and laying strong. If I had the room I would have a few more.

Terri is pretty close and she has buckeyes..also Big Z..he is a little farther north.
Some of us hatch now..baby chicks need to be in a pretty constant temp area for the first few weeks no matter what time of year. (95 degrees first week and 5 degrees less every week after)
some have chickens living in the house all year long (ask Terri)
If you want them outside and what to brood outdoors the Brinsea has a wonderful brooder.
I would not get chicks till late April with this weather we have.

I picked up some eggs from the P.O this morning. Luckily they all look great, hope I can get a few to hatch.
Question to those who incubate eggs....
I have seen that you can stagger putting eggs into the bator, but what happens when one batch needs to be locked down? Won't the increase of humidity harm the other eggs?

This is where dry hatching comes in handy..

This is just my opinion..I am not posting this for argument sake..this works for me and it might not work for you.
I get very good hatches with healthy strong chicks that are not sticky.
I make sure the room the incubators are in has a good humidity level. I monitor room humidity daily and keep it at 25-30%. If it gets low I just add a pan of hot water.

I do not add water to my incubator for this reason..I do not fill my incubator this time of year. I hatch 6-12 chicks at a time. ..If my breeding trios are working out and I do not see any obvious DQ I will set them up to hatch larger batches. Until than I stagger to hatch starting on a Monday.
If your eggs are fresh you don't need water inside of the incubator here in Wisconsin..we have high humidity inside our homes. You can bump up your room humidity by just adding a pan of water..give it a try. Check the humidity before the pan..add a pan of hot water..and recheck every 6 hours.
I do not do a lock down per se. When I hear peeping, I know they have internally piped. once they have internally pipped they can come off the turners. I move them to a different incubator that i just have set at 96 degrees. Different breeds hatch different times. Even a few hours makes a difference in some chicks. I let the chicks choose there own time or they are too sticky and have development issues. I have had Orpingtons from the same set day hatch at day 20 to day 25. If i moved them all into a *lock down* and increased humidity all those chicks that hatched on day 23, 24, and 25 would have died.

And yes..increasing humidity will harm the other eggs..get another incubator..

 

[delisha]

When is chick season? When should I be picking up chicks? I don't want them too early because it's too snowy outside to fence and assemble a coop. I also don't want to miss out and have to wait until next year.

you will never have to wait..we all will help you into chicken addiction..

 

[my2boysteacher]

Delisha- you are a wealth of information! Do you take homeschool family field-trips?

 

[Strevale]

you will never have to wait..we all will help you into chicken addiction..

Sorry, my local feed store only has chicks for a few weeks out of the year, so I though there was a chick season. >_<