Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[KV Silkies]

corn froze this weekend, no zucchini done yet. heading to a cabin with a friend and her son this weekend, my kids are excited. our chippewa flowage camping is put off till next year now. my father in law took a turn for the worse so we're gonna skip traveling that far and stay near here (pancreatic cancer). figure hayward will be there next year. will camp in the yard and cook our meals over the fire anyhow, day trips for the week. "staycation" here we come.

cuties your pond is awesome.

had a "issue" with our dogs and chickens. went from 20 silkies down to 7. my poor oldest is crushed. I told him we'd hatch again next spring. we managed to find alive 6 hens and 1 roo though. better than none.

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

I caught the chicken killer in the act today. It was my neighbor's.chihuahua! From the messy killings and large amount of injuries, I should have known. But I was in denial. I had a sheriffs deputy come out today. When they found out it was a fellow deputy's ex wife who owned the dog their tune.changed from fining her/getting restitution to she gets a warning and I need to work out with her paying for any chickens that were killed just today. But she was really nice and told me to get some numbers together and she would "make it right." But I know they won't keep that dog contained, so my chickens need to stay locked up.

 

[RBerryChicks]

Advise needed from the coop builders. Going to build coop this weekend for broilers ( this fall & future ). I'm a outdoors guy.tractors/backhoes/chainsaws...etc. Getting used to the smaller tools now.

For a simple buildout I thought I would do 2" x 4" frame with OSB, sheet it ( vapor barrier ) and side it ( used siding ).
Slanted roof. Will cut ventilation & wire, have a ton of windows from when we put in new.

Will never do more than 50 birds/batch. I was thinking 16' long, 12' deep, 8' high (sloped to 6' ).

What about run? Size/material ? Has to be predator proof.

Thanks

Tom

We do something similar to what Dan referenced. We raise about 150 meaties with a mobile coop (roughly 16'x8' on running gear) and 200' of the poultry net fencing which we haven't needed to electrify yet. We also have a pheasant net (100'x100' I think) over the coop and fenced pasture. The coop was wired with outlets so we can plug it in (like a camper) and brood the chicks in there too. We move the coop and fencing once during the growing season and have three pasture/garden areas. This year's pasture will grow things like millet, sunflowers, and other grain next year. The following year will be veggies then back to meaties. This was the reason for my question of a fall crop to plant (in this year's veggie garden) for next year's meatie pasture. Here are a few pics.


Coop moved into place & leveled for this year's batch.


This is last year's batch on day one inside the coop as a brooder.

Took this pic last week, shows the net that is pulled out beyond the net fencing. Once we open the coop to the outdoors (about week 3 when feathered out) only about 6-10 birds sleep in the coop.

good luck and as Dan said - keep us posted.

Hen & Roo: Very sorry for the loss of your Aunt.


Sclark: CONGRATS to you and the kids

bbl4: Sorry about kitty

and hope you get the "Willy Wonka" job

Cindlady: Glad your son and friends are safe.

Quote:

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Hey, look what Jim made for us to sit on..

Too cute! Love the pics of your weed clearing that's what we've been working on . . . yours looks much better than our weed removal, but we're getting there. Also you're right about the garden getting away from a person. Boy this has been a rough gardening year for sure. The roofing of the house really cut into the prime gardening time for us. Then the weather decided to be uncooperative. Oh well there is always next year.

 

[KV Silkies]

blackbrook I feel your pain! that is a cruddy deal that their "tune" had to change at all... i'm bitter and it was my own dogs, I can't imagine how i'd feel if it was my neighbors and the cops were doing that.

 

[Aronia]

Does anyone live near St. Catharines, ON?

 

[Angiebubs]

I caught the chicken killer in the act today. It was my neighbor's.chihuahua! From the messy killings and large amount of injuries, I should have known. But I was in denial. I had a sheriffs deputy come out today. When they found out it was a fellow deputy's ex wife who owned the dog their tune.changed from fining her/getting restitution to she gets a warning and I need to work out with her paying for any chickens that were killed just today. But she was really nice and told me to get some numbers together and she would "make it right." But I know they won't keep that dog contained, so my chickens need to stay locked up.

Oh geez so what happens now with the dog and owners? Will the deputy take care of this witht he owners or do you have to follow up with them?

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

The deputy said that she gets a warning. If it happens again she gets a "dog at large" fine. That could start a war, because my dog is not kept kenneled or leashed. He does wander into her yard if he's chasing something. So I'd rather not go there. I'll give her a list of what he's killed
Lemon blue bantam cochin hen, blue bantam cochin hen, swedish flower hen, English orp hen, 1 silkie, 8 cornish/rock, 1 mixed breed rooster, 1 blue fawn call duck, and I'm unsure if the Barnevelder will make it. I'm not sure what to charge her. Mostly because I can't really prove it was him the two other times. I know by the nasty little bite marks and the sloppy killing that it was, but I don't have real proof. What do you guys think?

 

[cuties]

There was a lot of animal help for sure!
Clark, ask if they will bring them all along
Kv, so sorry to hear abput your silkies. Our younger dogs still need to be monitored when they are out. It is getting to where we don't even have to watch anymore. As long as we are present, they behave. But the bulldog is obsessed with caged. The quail for instance. Work in progress.
Bbp, so sorry to hear about the neighbors dog. It was a long road for us and our neighbors. The only thi g thT has finally solved it is our chessy. I hope you have luckm if she is willing to make it "right" maybe she will be tired of paying the bill and keep her dog home...
Welcome Aronia!

Got the barn all cleaned out today! Always a good feeling

 

[cuties]

Rberry, forgot to say, that is a great setup!

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

When I was trying to catch that little dog he had the hair on his back standing up and was snarling at me. My golden retriever got in there and I think if I wouldn't have stopped him, he would have killed that dog. They normally get along, but he did not like that little thing threatening me.

I came up with $185.00 as the total value of everything killed. She wanted to know, so I'll give it to her. But legally she's only responsible for the Barnevelder, who is now gurgling blood, so will be dead soon