Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[momgille]

Speaking of hot, I am babysitting my DGS(not quite 2) he has been warned about touching the stove(several times). He touched my canner today.....bet he has learned his lesson. Sometime experience is the best teacher.

That is the age my DS (now 24) learned the lesson hot (it was actually the wood stove). It also stopped him from sucking his thumb... As a mom who believes in natural consequences I called it a two-fer

 

[jvls1942]

I don't know what OCD is, but I will agree..

Annie and I improved on our butchering time.. last time we did 9 chickens in one hour..
today we did 12.. in 3 minutes less than an hour..
I had the water just right and got faster with the plucker.. less than 30 seconds for each chicken..

Annie cleaned out the apartment sized freezer and plugged it in.. the chickens should just about fill it when we have them all processed in a couple of weeks.. we will do an hour's worth every few days until all 80 of them are gone..

I turned the 6 new egg layers loose today,, no fuss from any of the chickens.. they just mixed right in with all the white meaties.

I have to research these black chickens some.. I don't think they are the production blacks that I thought I was getting..
these have black legs.. IDK, is that normal for the production blacks ?

as long as they lay eggs, I don't care what kind they are.. but if they are not the hybrids, I might be looking for a matching rooster before spring ..

time to go take a shower and change out of my butchering clothes..

.....jiminwisc........

 

[wyoDreamer]

Good job on the chickens, Jim! Getting 12 done in an hour seems pretty good to me. 80 is a lot of work. Do you keep them all whole or do you part them out?

OCD is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Who called you OCD?

 

[wyoDreamer]

@Firstchic you are not the only one to be OCD about your birds. Not necessarily a bad thing, but don't let it take over your life. Just relax and enjoy them. Let them be and get to recognize what is normal behavior for your flock. That way, if something comes up and they start behaving oddly, you will see and recognize that something is amiss. They are pretty hardy and can take care of themselves for the everyday things.

My chickens mob me at the door of the coop - they don't have run access yet. I know instantly when I step on a birds toes - no noise from them just an odd jerking of the body as they try to step away. I have enough bedding down, that it doesn't hurt them. I checked their feet the first dozen times. But they just can't seem to figure out to stay out of the way of my big feet.

 

[jvls1942]

Good job on the chickens, Jim! Getting 12 done in an hour seems pretty good to me. 80 is a lot of work. Do you keep them all whole or do you part them out?

OCD is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Who called you OCD?

nobody called me OCD,, first chik called herself that..

so far we are bagging them whole..
Annie cooked one yesterday that we butchered on Saturday.. we did not freeze it.
It was sooo tender and tasty ..
we only fed one 50 pound bag of starter crumbles to 100 chicks..
and then switched to 50/50 finely ground corn and oats.. fed to them dry.. made them walk 100 feet to their water..

so far,we had only a couple who showed any signs weak legs. they were the first to go to the freezer.. after those, we culled out all the smaller ones.. they are not going to grow much in the next couple of weeks.. no sense wasting feed on them..
None of these pullets died of heart attacks or anything else..
most of the ones left are going to weigh 4 pounds and up butchered weight..
the one Annie cooked yesterday dressed out to 5 pounds already.. we thought it was a rooster, but it turned out to be a long legged pullet..

.......jiminwisc.......

 

[bigzio]

Thanks for the response to the recipe momgille...thought it fell on deaf ears. I'm sure you know to keep them in the fridge after 3days. You will love these pickels, I'm bettin.

Kris...just 5% sevin dust here...and no vermin.

Just picked up 16 dutchee apples that fell pefect ripe.....suzie made a deep dish apple pie....

bigz

 

[bigzio]

I forgot to ask you Jim. Do those black chickens have a single comb? I know th javas have black legs, but also have a single comb.

bigz

 

[dustergrl]

@jvls1942 Could they be Black Australorps? All of my BA's have black legs. They are really good birds for me so far... my roo is also a BA and is super sweet to his girls and me. He hasn't reached maturity yet so that may also be part of it... but of my 3 breeds, the BA's seem to be the easiest-going and docile. The SL Wyandottes seem to be the most neurotic and stupid (hence the toe in thr door), and the Easter Eggers have the most individual personalities.

Does zucchini season ever end? I just picked four more! Average size is the size of my calf. I need to get more freezer bags so I gan grate i and freeze it for the infamous Chocolate Zucchini Cake we make so we can make it all winter! Recipe below:

https://www.penzeys.com/shop/recipes/chocolate-zucchini-cake/

Also picked a bunch of tomatoes, but many are being hit by late blight (can I feed the blighted ones to the chickens?). Picked some of the tail end of the broccoli, and some cherry peppers as well.

Looks like we will be getting some more storms tonight in the southeast part of the state. Time to close up the house pretty soon!

 

[unkadan]

Hello everyone,

Forgive me if you feel I am posting this question in the wrong area, but I can't seem to find an answer anywhere else. I am curious about what exactly qualifies as a "farm" in Wisconsin. We have 20 acres (yes I know that isn't a lot), chickens, and several other animals, and my neighbor told me all we need is one more different type of animal and we would qualify as a farm, then our taxes would be different.

I'm not sure if that is true, and I have searched online government pages, but I can't find any information on farm classifications.

Any knowledge anyone can share with me is greatly appreciated!




Thanks and have a great day!

Sara

Sara if you are talking about "property" taxes then the best place for advice is call your town assessor's office (most town's now contract this out). I know here in Vilas and Onieda ctys if hay is cut, or have fenced areas for livestock, or sell some farm products you can qualify for "Agricultural" classification. I am involved in some USDA programs and my land qualifies to various degrees, the woodlots are classified as "Ag Forest" the farmed portion is classified as Ag,,,,,both are lower assessments than straight Forest crop or single family dwelling.

Good luck,,,,remember to smooze the bureaucrats you will be talking to

 

[unkadan]

I have a few Black Sex links from 3 different years, all came from Sunnyside, all have black legs even though the original crosses were also all different,,,