Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"



OK, pictures are loading faster today..
this one is the profile of the bottom edge of the side panels.
It allows the chickens to reach the feed inside of the hopper,
and the angle relief also gives them a little more head room..
 


this picture shows how full the feeder is with 50 pounds of feed in it..
well, it doesn't really show it very well, the feed is about the same color as the wood.
You will have to take my word for it, the hopper is about half full..
You might be able to make out the wood grain. where it stops is where the feed is ..


.....jiminwisc.......
 
so last night we heard a ruckus form the coop around 9 pm...went out there and a possum had gotten in and was not excited about getting out. Was a comedy of errors while hubby and I chased him out with a pitchfork, broom and bb gun. after 45 minutes of coercing him ...he finally left but that was a reality that our door needs a tighter seal. winter buildup of poop had left the bottom pushed out a little bit. need to do the spring clean this weekend. We will see how mobile I am...getting some toe nails removed that are ingrown today so we will see how I feel after that! yuck.

thankfully besides a few ticked off chickens, all were ok.

Of my dozen 4 week old chicks... can tell there are 2 roos for sure... of course they are the beautiful blue andalusians that I really wanted some hens from. We will grow them out to butcher otherwise.
I have a standard splash cochin chick and really hoping it is a girl. Would love a pair of those...so sweet.
 
You shoulda dropped that possum and let the chickens feast. Next time being one of these!
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If anyone needs to worm their chickens, I have eprinex, cydectin and valbazen. I'm sure I could find a way to ship small amounts. I always end up throwing about 3/4 of the bottle away when they expire. Just the cydectin alone was $70.
 
Let's talk winter.
How large is your water bucket, do you use a tank heater or a bottom heater, have you had water freeze, bottom nipple, side nipple, open water?
My coop will be a reach in, not walk in.
Do you insulate, heat, infrared, let it go?
Egg boxes inside or outside of main coop? Have you had eggs freeze ever?
Must we? Lol!
I have 3 5 gallon waterers that sit on heated bases. As Jim said, they work well unless it gets really cold. I have 1 that is about 13ish years old & that one doesn't do quite as good a job as the other 2 so we hung a heat lamp over 2 of them plugged into a thermocube. That also helps to keep the side walls from freezing together when it is bitterly frigid. The 3rd waterer & heat base have had no problems even in the coldest weather and that one is closer to an outside wall. Go figure.

I have a room inside my 20x20' coop that is about 8x8' that has a heat lamp, roosts and the nest boxes in. Even with all that, on the coldest days, I have had eggs freeze. Not rock solid but it has happened. Most of the nest boxes hang on the wall. I also have 3 covered cat boxes that I use for nest boxes that are underneath the poop board. My larger orps seem to prefer those.

I also have a reach in coop with the boxes on either side. It is not heated other than the waterer out in the attached run. Those eggs freeze often. But the eggs don't get collected until after 4 every day. HTH

If you have an adequately insulated, properly ventilated coop, you would not need a heat source other than for water. Chickens (large breeds) are more tolerant of cold than heat. My seabrights are another story. Lol.
 
so last night we heard a ruckus form the coop around 9 pm...went out there and a possum had gotten in and was not excited about getting out. Was a comedy of errors while hubby and I chased him out with a pitchfork, broom and bb gun. after 45 minutes of coercing him ...he finally left but that was a reality that our door needs a tighter seal. winter buildup of poop had left the bottom pushed out a little bit. need to do the spring clean this weekend. We will see how mobile I am...getting some toe nails removed that are ingrown today so we will see how I feel after that! yuck.

thankfully besides a few ticked off chickens, all were ok.

Of my dozen 4 week old chicks... can tell there are 2 roos for sure... of course they are the beautiful blue andalusians that I really wanted some hens from. We will grow them out to butcher otherwise.
I have a standard splash cochin chick and really hoping it is a girl. Would love a pair of those...so sweet.

I agree that you should have let the chickens feast. A possum in our yard is a dead possum. I know they are supposed to eat ticks and such, but they also carry disease.



If anyone needs to worm their chickens, I have eprinex, cydectin and valbazen. I'm sure I could find a way to ship small amounts. I always end up throwing about 3/4 of the bottle away when they expire. Just the cydectin alone was $70.

I have 17 adult and 10 chicks that have never been wormed. I am new to all of this. Should I worm them? If so, how much would I need and how much do you want for it?
 
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If anyone needs to worm their chickens, I have eprinex, cydectin and valbazen. I'm sure I could find a way to ship small amounts. I always end up throwing about 3/4 of the bottle away when they expire. Just the cydectin alone was $70.


I have 26 birds coming up on a year as well as 6 -6 week old chicks and about 25 2 week old chicks.

I looked into wormers over the winter but had some trouble deciding and finally gave up. I had so much trouble because many things aren't approved for poultry and have a technically lifetime withdrawal because of it. What do you recommend? What has the shortest withdrawal time but still works? And how much would you be wanting for some?

Thanks
 
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Nice afternoon to everyone. I really don't worry about worming the chickens until you actually see worms in their feces....it's never occurred here, and I've never wormed my over 30 years of chickens and close eye on what's going on....I never medicate without cause to....

I know you run a great program bbp...I'm not willin to medicate without due cause.

Peace..bigz
 

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