Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[BlackBrookPoultry]

I am an official wildlife rescue volunteer. I will be taking in animals in our area until they can be brought to the rehab center. This should be fun

 

[kristip]

Morning all was neat to have a clear sky and watch the lunar eclipse this morning. H&R: very timely for your 12 year old, it's one thing to sit in the classroom and learn about such things, but to be able to experience it is the best! Well many of us seam to be in the same boat when it comes to egg production. Looks like there has been a major pillow fight under our row of pine trees, which is where the birds have been spending most of there time lately due to the raptor migration. We lost one of our little bantams to what we are pretty sure was a hawk. Little Blue, she is the one that hatched out four chicks just recently and was featured in this Cluck the Chicken Store blog post http://cluckthechickenstore.com/it-takes-village-raise-chicken the three remaining bantams are now confined to their covered run. I thought I'd share a pick of our RIR rooster. He is one of the four that Kristp hatched for us, she pegged him as a roo the day after the hatch . . . good eye Kristi

Sandy...what a handsome roo he is!

 

[Cindlady]

Hi All!

Down to 2 keets.... guess she tried to take them out today.

Night All.

 

[jvls1942]

good morning,

been up since 3:3o..

all cuppa'd up already,,

sorted out a whole rummage saled tackle box.. the guy must have been a bass fisherman.. twister tails up the ying yang .. I don't use those..

but I do use the slip sinkers and bobbers and lead heads and floating jigs, pliers and split shot sinker crimper..

I have to find my other tackle box and see what I have for wally rigging ..

there is a spot where I used to catch a lot of crappies from shore.. i might try it once before the ice forms.. yes , ice is coming.. lakes will be frozen in a few weeks..

I have to put a now tip on my wally rod... I have lots of tips around here, just have to locate them.

Cind, it is a small miracle that you even have 2 keets left.. If you can keep them alive for another week, they will have a chance ..

I will be putting the bucket back onto Ollie and going after that last stump , again..

this time I will use a chain and try pulling it loose..

Annie is still not over the shock of the large repair bill ..

time heals all wounds,,

Now that the leaves are coming down, my puter signal strength keeps getting stronger..
...........jiminwisc......

 

[sunflower4you]

Hello. I am new to this thread, but I thought I would break in and ask for some advice with the cold weather rolling in. My question is "Do I need to heat the coop???"

Background: I am new to chickens. This is my first year and I got my flock in July so I have not been through a winter yet. I have 3 EEs that are 23 weeks and 2 BA mixes that are 19 weeks. They have been in the coop since they were 5 weeks old with no form of supplemental heat.

My coop design looks like a big outhouse. It has pallet walls with plywood as the outer layer. We put fiberglass batting insulation in the pallet walls and covered it with plastic on the inside. The top has an angled roof (like an outhouse) and I left the sides open at the top for ventilation. So there is about a 6 inch gap between the top of the walls and the roof that is open, but covered with hardware cloth. Hopefully this explanation makes sense because I do not have a picture to post right now. Everything I have read says that ventilation is critical to release moisture because moisture is what actually makes the birds cold. I also have about 6-8" of deep pine shavings on the floor of the coop.

They all sleep on the same roost, which is a 2x2 board so they usually hunker down and cover their feet, but they have not shown any indication of being too cold (no feathers fluffed up or heads tucked). Since I have solid walls with insulation and deep litter, will this be enough to keep them warm through the winter? The thermometer said 34 degrees when I went to let them out this morning and I know it's only going to get colder! I would rather acclimate them to the cold than have to maintain a heat lamp - concerns are fire, power outages, etc. I want them to learn to go outside in the run during the winter, as well, and I thought they might not want to leave a heated coop to go play outside!

Thanks for your help.

 

[jvls1942]

good morning, again,

sunF4U, your coop sounds adequate .. maybe too much opening around the roof edge..
heat also rises and it will just leak out that opening along with the moisture..
all you would have to do is seal the hardware cloth opening and leave just about a 6" x 6" gap..

even cold acclimated chickens will refuse to go out on many of the coldest days,, no problem, just keep the door closed on those days and let them chill,, no pun intended ..

I do not recommend a heat light,, It is much safer and more economical to run a small ceramic heater plugged into a thermocube.. the thermocube plugs into the receptacle and the heater plugs into it.. it automatically turns the heater on and off at about 34 to 40 degrees.. just enough to keep water from freezing, (most of the time)..

 

[erinnoie]

Hey y'all. Spent the day yesterday cleaning the coop up. Ended up with a headache from all the roosters crowing continuously!! We also ended up with a lot more roos than originally thought. I'm sure the neighbors aren't happy, so it's time to deal with that.

We're pretty sure we'll be keeping the gray puff ball, as he's not crowing yet, and he's very friendly so far.



Roo #1 (Garth) and Roo #2 (#2 is kind of a jerk)


Roo #3 (This guy is a big jerk)


Roo #4


Roo #5 (think he might have something wrong with his right foot, he kind of limps and stands like a flamingo)


Roo #6


Is this a roo??


Are there any birds that stand out to you? That we should maybe rehome/sell instead of send to the freezer? Thanks!!

 

[jvls1942]

Hey y'all. Spent the day yesterday cleaning the coop up. Ended up with a headache from all the roosters crowing continuously!! We also ended up with a lot more roos than originally thought. I'm sure the neighbors aren't happy, so it's time to deal with that.

We're pretty sure we'll be keeping the gray puff ball, as he's not crowing yet, and he's very friendly so far.



Roo #1 (Garth) and Roo #2 (#2 is kind of a jerk)


Roo #3 (This guy is a big jerk)


Roo #4


Roo #5 (think he might have something wrong with his right foot, he kind of limps and stands like a flamingo)


Roo #6


Is this a roo??


Are there any birds that stand out to you? That we should maybe rehome/sell instead of send to the freezer? Thanks!!

nope, they all look delicious to me ..

 

[RBerryChicks]

Chickenscratch: we were considering doing the tour and would have loved to hook up with you, but New Glarus is hosting a Renaissance Faire which is practically in my, and Kristip's backyard. We've missed it other years and with the weather being so perfect, we decided to stick closer to home.

Sun4U: I agree with Jim (jvls1942) he knows his stuff. I would add that on the really cold nights we put a plastic bottle of two filed with hot water in the coop.

 

[Cindlady]

Rberry..... when is that Ren. Fair?