Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[BBZZZZTT]

tornado in SW Wisc.. was it near anybody here?
I imagine if it was a direct hit, we won't be hearing from you, eh ?

The tornado was like on the southwest side of Waukesha, and I'm in Milwaukee, so one county over. It was a big fat impressive looking tornado but not with very high winds at all. In fact, according to the weather man the rotation wasn't even picked up on radar. They kept showing an image of a pine tree tipped over so I think that was the only damage. XD

 

[CherMoz]

http://www.wkow.com/story/38154294/...utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_WKOW_27
Is this the possible tornado you were referring to, Jim?

 

[Daethen]

Heard on the radio this morning that there was an EF0 tornado in Fennimore. That is about 40 minutes away from us. All good here though.

 

[kokosmom2]

Finally got caught up on this thread and good to see everybody "survived" that minus temp weather and those bad snowstorms. Raining here for the next 3 days....ugh. I knew I should have mowed the lawn last weekend.
All of my 8 hens survived the winter...they are a year old now. And I got 18 day old chicks on 4/10. I moved them into the coop in a 4x4x4 ex-pen last week and they are doing fine. But I have some questions I'm hoping somebody(s) can answer:

Since I moved the chicks into the coop, 4 of the hens won't go in the coop at night. They will lay in the coop, eat and drink in the coop, but won't go in there to roost.

One of my Buff Orpingtons has decided to go broody the day after I put the chicks in there. I kept trying to keep her out of the nest box, but she kept going back in I now put her in a dog crate in the basement as of yesterday. Today she is still being broody. How do I stop that?

How old do the chicks have to be before I let them out of the ex-pen and in with the rest of the hens?

2 of the chicks should be roosters. 1 Welsummer and 1 Black Jersey Giant. I got 2 pullets each of: Welsummer, Jersey Giants, True Blue Whiting, Australorps, Cuckoo Maren, White Rock, NH Red, Ameracauna. Got them from Murray McMurray.

Now come to find out, I'm not supposed to have chickens at all....ooopppsss. My neighbors are all fine with it, but the lady at the town hall said I could have chickens before I got them last year, now I find out that I'm really not supposed to have any. Oh well.

 

[Celtic Chick]

My chicks were about 6 weeks when I let them out of their area to mingle with the adults. I might have done it sooner if the weather would have been better. That way, the adults are all outside for the majority of the time so the little ones can explore the coop. I also leave their area accessible to them with an opening too small for the adults to get through so the littles have a place to hide/escape to if they need it.

As for the broody, good luck. I have 4 broodies right now.

How large is your coop, if I may ask? Maybe put something over the top &/or a side of your pen to help block the sight of the chicks from your hens? HTH

 

[bigzio]

I would think you still have a little sweet talk left in you to get the overnight stay on new bunk mattresses and the life experiences and talk around the fire pit that only happens once ayear in your favor Jim...you know she will enjoy the time away from everyday...we all do.
Gonna set some eggs tomorrow in the brinsea.....not holding my breath because of the fertility problems I've been havin....however the candle in another 10 days or so will tell me if i'm lookin for plan B to increase the flock numbers here...
I'm just gitty to see your sunflower Robin...

bigz

 

[kokosmom2]

My chicks were about 6 weeks when I let them out of their area to mingle with the adults. I might have done it sooner if the weather would have been better. That way, the adults are all outside for the majority of the time so the little ones can explore the coop. I also leave their area accessible to them with an opening too small for the adults to get through so the littles have a place to hide/escape to if they need it.

As for the broody, good luck. I have 4 broodies right now.

How large is your coop, if I may ask? Maybe put something over the top &/or a side of your pen to help block the sight of the chicks from your hens? HTH

Thanks for your input. 3 of the chicks flew over the pen yesterday and spent the day outside with the big girls. (Now the pen had bird netting over it) But the big ones didn't seem to pick on those 3 so I'm thinking that is good. The coop is 9x10 and the chicken yard is 1500 sq feet

 

[Celtic Chick]

.
I'm just gitty to see your sunflower Robin...

bigz

 

[Celtic Chick]

Thanks for your input. 3 of the chicks flew over the pen yesterday and spent the day outside with the big girls. (Now the pen had bird netting over it) But the big ones didn't seem to pick on those 3 so I'm thinking that is good. The coop is 9x10 and the chicken yard is 1500 sq feet

If you didn't have a top on your chick pen & no adults jumped in to cause any trouble, I think it would be safe to let the little ones out on a nice weather day (so the big girls will be outside). Then the chicks can explore their new digs in peace. Mine are about 8 weeks & they have full run of the coop 24/7. I have 5 chicks in with about 30 adults. But that section of the coop is 15x20'.

 

[babylady4]

DH just missed the twister in SE WI, he was on his way here when the storms went through.... he was disappointed.

Nice to hear from you CC! Missed you! I was in your neck of the woods last weekend to get these:

That’s 12/3lb packages of bees in the back of my car...... roughly 120,000 bees.


I picked up a nuc for me, my cousin, and 10 for the guy who is helping me out. That was most definitely the white knuckle ride home! One hour in the car with all those bees!

BigZ, I did not get the bash thread going..... just too busy. Headed to Germany for the week tomorrow afternoon. I’ll try to check in.....

Best news ever: the hubs is finally moving out of his parents house! He is moving home to his house he never has the opportunity to enjoy! He finally landed a job at Nestle. It will be nice to have him home permanently. On top of that, my youngest daughter is going to intern in my office over the summer! It only took a year and three months, but we will all be back under the same roof.
Talk about testing the relationship!


Put some oranges out and these guys showed up right away.... so far we have seen three males.

It is so nice to be able to put up bird feeders and not have them emptied by English Sparrows! We see such a nice variety of birds here, just loving our little slice of heaven.