Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[jvls1942]

any dog takes supervision at first to learn not to
harm chickens. rather than segregating them, exposure
under leash is how to train them..
don't let the term "bird dog" influence you.
bird dogs do not catch birds instinctively, they
are trained just to locate them..

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

Hello fellow Wisconsinites!
Very new to the world of chickens - we are just beginning our journey with 22 in the incubator due to hatch on or around April 17th. DH and I purchased an old sheep farm in Rubicon, WI that had basically been left in ruins. The existing coop had caved in on itself so there was no salvaging it so the tear down is almost complete and we are building soon. Finalizing the design and run plans now. Current animals are 1 indoor/outdoor cat (good mouser) and a 14 month old Irish Setter (bird dog). So I researched that incubating and hatching chicks can help her become more of a protector of the chicks/chickens than a chaser. Hoping that works out.

Hi, welcome to BYC! Im glad you have found the Wisconsin forum! I love itish setters!

 

[HappyHippyChick]

Hello fellow Wisconsinites!
Very new to the world of chickens - we are just beginning our journey with 22 in the incubator due to hatch on or around April 17th. DH and I purchased an old sheep farm in Rubicon, WI that had basically been left in ruins. The existing coop had caved in on itself so there was no salvaging it so the tear down is almost complete and we are building soon. Finalizing the design and run plans now. Current animals are 1 indoor/outdoor cat (good mouser) and a 14 month old Irish Setter (bird dog). So I researched that incubating and hatching chicks can help her become more of a protector of the chicks/chickens than a chaser. Hoping that works out.

 

[bigzio]

Welcome to the cheeseheads Nichole!
Where did your eggs in the bator come from?
Hopefully you will have a great hatch season.
Did you candle eggs to check for fertility?
My hens are laying well now. I have 16 doz to
share in the next few days.

Stay Safe .. bigz

 

[jvls1942]

NicholeT, how big will your coop be ? Where did you get
your ideas for it from ?
It would be a good idea to ask for ideas rather than building
something that doesn't work, and you will have to live with
it for a long time.. just saying .

 

[NicholeT]

Welcome to the cheeseheads Nichole!
Where did your eggs in the bator come from?
Hopefully you will have a great hatch season.
Did you candle eggs to check for fertility?
My hens are laying well now. I have 16 doz to
share in the next few days.

Stay Safe .. bigz

We got our eggs from Merton Feed Company. They are all Black Sex Link and are all darker brown eggs so they are tricky to candle. I tried candling at the 7 day mark but there were too many that were iffy so its suggested I hold off and candle later. I'll just try to make sure none of them are rotting or weeping.

 

[NicholeT]

NicholeT, how big will your coop be ? Where did you get
your ideas for it from ?
It would be a good idea to ask for ideas rather than building
something that doesn't work, and you will have to live with
it for a long time.. just saying .

We ultimately plan to have a larger flock regardless of how the hatching goes so DH is planning for a coop/storage combo of 8x16 with the coop being 8x12 and a large run. If we ultimately end up with 14-16 Layers and 2-3 roosters that will be the ideal mix depending but we will see what happens. We have 7 acres so we certainly have the room. I have studied coops on here extensively- read as much as time allows over the last few weeks, snagged pictures of good ideas and DH and I have 'toured' friends coops and hear a lot about "if I were to do it over" so we are taking detailed notes. I will share the planned sketch on here once we lock it in.

 

[NicholeT]

Welcome to the cheeseheads Nichole!
Where did your eggs in the bator come from?
Hopefully you will have a great hatch season.
Did you candle eggs to check for fertility?
My hens are laying well now. I have 16 doz to
share in the next few days.

Stay Safe .. bigz

16 doz.- wow... Do you sell them or just share? I noticed you are Free Ranging...where in Wisco are you? I am still debating on Free Range. I may need to test it out to see what the daytime and areal predator situation is here. Haven't seen a ton of raptors in this area but I also haven't sent a fluffy buffet out wandering my property yet to entice them. I have seen two or three flocks free ranging in neighboring fields so that gives me a little hope.

 

[bigzio]

I share with family, neighbors and friends. I do have folks asking to buy them, but I prefer to share them instead.
Keep your fingers crossed that you end up with that few cockerels, but you never know what the results are going to be and that's half the fun with hatching.
Have fun with the whole process.
I'm near Marion about 40 miles west of Green Bay.

Stay Safe ... bigz

 

[TOR]

Welcome to the cheeseheads Nichole!
Where did your eggs in the bator come from?
Hopefully you will have a great hatch season.
Did you candle eggs to check for fertility?
My hens are laying well now. I have 16 doz to
share in the next few days.

Stay Safe .. bigz

Holy cow I should just move by you, would not need chickens. You must have extra refrigerator for eggs, guessing.