Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[jvls1942]

good mid day ,
I am late,, I was not notified that there were posts on chzhds.
that happens every once in awhile.

Instead of towels for our chicks, we use bed-liners. they are inexpensive, can be folded to fit whatever size you need and are disposable, just roll up the soiled one, and put in a new one. they have a shiny side and a fuzzy side, put the shiny side down.
after they are a few days old we move them to a larger brooder where we use straw and/or shavings.

I agree with CC on most of her post today, mark that one down on your calendar .
except I am still dead set against heat lamps. gotta disagree on something or I wouldn't feel right.

OK, maybe instead of cowboy beans, I will bring a couple dozen of those caramel rolls to the bash ?
maybe do a tutorial on the proper way to eat them ?

You new people might not be aware that we have a 3 day picnic/camp get together the weekend after Memorial Day.
It starts on Friday and we all go home on Sunday.
check it out.. there is a thread about it somewhere.
very inexpensive, your travel to get there is the most expensive part. but like they say, there is a good time at the end of a tank of gas .

jiminwiscwhohadcaramelrollsandcoffeeforbreakfast

 

[bigzio]

Snowy Day here again....no tutorial need Jim....hold in one hand and shove in your mouth....then repeat...no butter gob needed....it cuts the flavor.

Suzie made a batch of deviled eggs...just like potato chips....can't eat just one.

Birds are gonna be crabby today....no way they will venture out into the cold white stuff today.

bigz

 

[GranolaGirl72]

A lot of "Wisconsin" threads, might take me until the meet-up to find the right one..
Oh, lookee there, I "just hatched"

 

[wyoDreamer]

There is a link to the Cheesehead annual bash in the signature of bigzio's posts ...

 

[Sclark73]

Staci, so good to hear from you! How are the new digs & that cute grand baby?

Kristi, the smaller the breed of rabbit, the shorter their lifespan. Just so you know. Sounds like Irish has quite a few to choose from, as well as cages too. 

Jim, I agree with cs, you might have to make a batch (or 5) of those rolls for the bash. Yum! 

GG, if you can keep them inside for 2 or 3 weeks, then they will be plenty ready for a move out to the garage after that. Jim broods hundreds of chicks at a time so they have the added body heat to help keep them warm, along with a massive brooder hood. He has quite the impressive setup.

Welcome to the newbies! Hope you like it here. And congrats to the new chicks.

I don't remember who asked as it was quite a few pages back, but someone was asking about coops in winter. If you have a well insulated and properly ventilated coop, then you should not need to heat your coop other than a heated waterer base to keep the water from freezing. Most chickens, especially the large breeds, are much more tolerant of cold than they are of heat. I have a large uninsulated coop with a room in it that I hang a heat lamp in over the roosts. If they so choose, they can go in there to sleep or warm up, but the majority of my birds do not choose to. I have 2 seabrights (very small birds) who spend a lot of time under the lamp when it is real cold out. As long as you, as cs said, securely attach the lamp (more than once) and be sure to regularly dust down the lamp & the areas around it, you should not have any issues. I have a cage on mine to keep the bulb from falling out of it if bumped. The lamp is also pretty close to the ceiling & offset so as to avoid it getting knocked by an unruly bird. I also have one hung over my 5 gallon waterers, plugged into a thermocube, to help keep the top of the waterer from freezing shut. Nothing worse than trudging out in the freezing cold with 10 gallons of water & not being able to get the waterer open.

I have used heat lamps in my coops for 14 years and have never had an issue with them. You just have to be attentive and make sure you have addressed all the potential problems beforehand. If you go to TSC, they usually put them on sale for $10 for a 2 pack of them so they really aren't expensive, but they are expensive to run, as are most heating sources. But as I said, if your coop is insulated, you should not need to heat your coop. If you do decide to use a heat source, do the same as you would with chicks and have it offset so they can get away from it. That might mean that those lower in the pecking order might be chased away, but the majority of my birds do not use it much. I mostly have it for my bantams.

The vast majority of my breeds are orps which are pretty heavily feathered. HTH  

She's doing pretty good. I do have an appt. with a therapist in Eau Claire who specializes in toddlers. Have some concerns that she may be autistic. Court Monday in Chippewa.(daughter is suing me to terminate guardianship, was originally a few weeks ago but they postponed it) The Soc worker and GAL both agree she stays put with me.

New house is ok, just made the huge mistake of moving in before it was finished and this weather has got me in a slump. I can't seem to get back in the swing of wanting to get it finished when it snows every other day. Hopefully soon it will start warming up. We also had to buy more wood when we thought we were done for the winter.

Hatching chicks the past few weeks, kinda hard to get back into the swing of things with the ban last year but hopeful things stay quiet. Just hatched and sold 11 Blue Laced Reds and more hatching now. Finally have my first Swedish Flower Hen chicks after so much trouble for a year and half. 5 of 6 hatched so pretty good for the first ones. Fighting my Cream Crested with eating eggs, I'm not throwing in the towel and butchering them just yet. Too much invested to give up. Tons of birds and not enough laying eggs. I'm assuming it's the weather. My BLR are molting but the four hens are giving me 4 eggs a day for the past month or so. I got two pigs a little over a week ago and decided to let them live in my chicken run to rutt it up so I can re-seed it this year. Only problem is I'm going to have to pen my geese as they keep finding there nest of eggs and eating them. Poor geese had first nest of 19 eggs, started a new one and the pigs found it.

 

[GranolaGirl72]

There is a link to the Cheesehead annual bash in the signature of bigzio's posts ...

That actually links to a post on candling... but I found it under the profile page.

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

I'm trying something new. We'll see if my chicken's poop looks better after a few days. I feel like I should go out and put some cydectin on them to worm them too.

 

[Celtic Chick]

I agree with CC on most of her post today, mark that one down on your calendar .
except I am still dead set against heat lamps. gotta disagree on something or I wouldn't feel right.

Wow! I knew you at least wouldn't go along with the lamp. I was expecting your response to be much worse though. Glad it wasn't. Lol!

Staci, you never cease to amaze me with the resolve & inner strength you have. You keep getting knocked down in life & just keep battling on. I commend you on your strength and think you totally earned a little bit of a break from your house over winter. You busted your ***** trying to get that house built before winter set in. And you worked through some pretty nasty weather too. All the while raising your GD & going to court and all sorts of other red tape. That sweet lil gal couldn't have asked for a better grandma.

 

[Daethen]

Staci, big time cuddos to you for stepping up for that beautiful little girl.

Will you all say a little prayer that my son gets his turkey this weekend. We are near Wausau with the USSA hunt and he goes out for the first time in the morning. Soooo hoping that he gets his bird. He is 10, btw, and in a wheel chair so this is his first hunting experience period but hopefully not his last.

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

I can't believe the price of Turkey tags this year. My son and husband better both get one for what we spent.