Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[DoodlesDuckies]

Hello All! I don't have a garden or a field to plant in but I can tell you the fields surrounding us are doing decent considering the start to the summer being so wet and cold. Corn is only about hip high (and that's being generous) Beans are growing- Ill leave it at that. LOL! I hear the sweet corn guy is in the area selling out of his truck. Will be getting some of that.

The 7 ducks (Tilly, Manni, Dave, Terrel, Bubbles, Tobi and gentleman Nettie- I had no idea their sex when I named them) are doing well-I keep taking their eggs and feel horrible when they build a nice nest and I have to destroy it all. I do though have a goose (Eddie) sitting on 2 eggs. I need to check them to see if they are any good. The male, Rusty, has been wandering alone since she has been sitting. He was so nasty to the ducks this spring that they wont even hang with him. Cannot hardly blame them. I barely talk to him after his spring behavior. Meanie.

Oddly we have not had much action for predators in my area. A lot of hawks and eagles but they don't seem to bother the birds too much. Rusty generally yells to the high heavens when anything or nothing is going on.

I have been cleaning our pines/evergreens- we have a vine issue. When we bought our property a couple years ago I noticed it and the previous owners did nothing for probably 20 years with the vines so the trees look kind of sad and I just keep cleaning out the vines over and over and over and over. Not sure what to do about those. I am not sure what it even is...night shade maybe? They get red berries in fall, have some purple flower on now. It just crawls up the trunk and covers the limbs. We talked about cutting off the bottom branches of the pines/evergreens - they all are to the ground right now. Not sure if that would help. Either way I took 5 gator fulls of vines to the dump area this weekend. Many more to go.

How is everyones summer going?

Renee

 

[Debbie292d]

Hello All! I don't have a garden or a field to plant in but I can tell you the fields surrounding us are doing decent considering the start to the summer being so wet and cold. Corn is only about hip high (and that's being generous) Beans are growing- Ill leave it at that. LOL! I hear the sweet corn guy is in the area selling out of his truck. Will be getting some of that.

The 7 ducks (Tilly, Manni, Dave, Terrel, Bubbles, Tobi and gentleman Nettie- I had no idea their sex when I named them) are doing well-I keep taking their eggs and feel horrible when they build a nice nest and I have to destroy it all. I do though have a goose (Eddie) sitting on 2 eggs. I need to check them to see if they are any good. The male, Rusty, has been wandering alone since she has been sitting. He was so nasty to the ducks this spring that they wont even hang with him. Cannot hardly blame them. I barely talk to him after his spring behavior. Meanie.

Oddly we have not had much action for predators in my area. A lot of hawks and eagles but they don't seem to bother the birds too much. Rusty generally yells to the high heavens when anything or nothing is going on.

I have been cleaning our pines/evergreens- we have a vine issue. When we bought our property a couple years ago I noticed it and the previous owners did nothing for probably 20 years with the vines so the trees look kind of sad and I just keep cleaning out the vines over and over and over and over. Not sure what to do about those. I am not sure what it even is...night shade maybe? They get red berries in fall, have some purple flower on now. It just crawls up the trunk and covers the limbs. We talked about cutting off the bottom branches of the pines/evergreens - they all are to the ground right now. Not sure if that would help. Either way I took 5 gator fulls of vines to the dump area this weekend. Many more to go.

How is everyones summer going?

Renee

Hi Renee,

Maybe someone else will know what that vine is, but it sounds quite invasive. I doubt trimming your pines will stop it. You'll probably have to try dig it out to get to the roots of it.

Our vine issue is the wild grapes, but mostly that stays in the forest behind us.

The crops are doing great here. I just took this picture this morning that shows the corn on one side of us. It's about 6' tall.



This is of a growout pen area. We bought a small but tall shed from over by Eau Claire (2 hours west of us) a couple of weeks ago, and hubby has it almost done to replace that wooden hutch. So I took this to show how shabby it looked before, to compare.

We have two ducks and about 40 or so silkies. I breed/hatch silkie eggs and sell chicks.

 

[jvls1942]

no trail cam here. often thought of getting one.
i think the critters have moved on. haven't seen them for about 2 weeks.
the corn around us is about 6' tall.
i gave up trying to get some to grow.
i dragged the corn plot plus the grass along the sides. i tossed about 5 pounds of buckwheat seeds on it. it is very old seed. if it grows, it grows. if not the birds can eat it. i will buy some fresh seeds from the feed mill.
if the goose is sitting on the eggs, they most likely are OK. you don't need to check them. if they arebad, she will roll it out of the nest on her own.

 

[jvls1942]

trying to get this thread to auto post again. need for someone to post something so i can see if it will work.

 

[saysfaa]

 

[saysfaa]

trying to get this thread to auto post again. need for someone to post something so i can see if it will work.

Did it work?

 

[chickenlover0805]

hello fellow cheeseheads! how is everyone doing today?

 

[jvls1942]

pleasant surprise this morning.
cheeseheads was waiting for me on the computer
i don't have to google anymore to read it .
thanks for all the posts that made it work

 

[bigzio]

Wow she is a 90 degree scorcher out there today.
Good thing the hens coop and run are in the shade. It's prolly better to leave them there, rather than have them running around panting today.
The move of the pullets from the brooder to the coop went really well, and they are enjoying their plenty of room new digs.
Hope everyone stays cool and keep a close eye on the flocks during this extreme weather.

Stay Safe ... bigz

 

[DoodlesDuckies]

Happy Monday to Everyone. Had an interesting weekend to say the least.

I had a duck that was acting a touch odd the past week. Honestly, I didn't pay much attention as they all go through their moments of hormones, chasing each other, and the heat slows everyone down. She was spending a lot of time alone. One night I even had to catch her to put her in the hut. She didn't come out that next morning and I found her in the drained pool at lunch that day-alive yet. I picked her up and she went on her way with the others. This was Friday. Friday I came home from work and she was laying under a bush while the others were in their pools. She let me touch her, my ducks aren't very affectionate. They will eat out of your hand but don't like being handled. When I went to put them in their hut at 830ish- she was dead under the bush, stiff already. I put her in a bag and she is in my freezer at the moment.

I have been watching everyone else like a hawk now..they are all pooping BLACK. Which I noticed some black before Terrel died now they are ALL pooping black. I have one duck that is acting simular to how Terrel did. My male is acting all rapey and after all the girls so he is annoying again. I have been trying to figure out what is going on.

I have not changed the food. They get pellets and forage 5 acres (and the neighbors fields- beans and corn) The beans fields have been sprayed A LOT this year for weeds. There is a giant puddle in that field they go too sometimes. The corn a few times per usual. I have cleaned the pools with dish soap and a touch of bleach for the algae. I rinse A LOT, rinse the ground and make sure they are not around when I do it. I just don't understand and don't want the rest of the flock to die. My 2 geese are fine, a-holes per usual but that's their normal.

Any ideas?


Renee