Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[babylady4]

Quote:
r these ur ads? I was looking at them............ if ur in Hortonville, ur in my back yard

I was thinking of going to weyawega swap but couldn't find info on it??

Wega Swap is this Sat at 6AM at the Waupaca County Fairgrounds. 2$ admission for adults. You can find info in the Waupaca County Park and Rec. web site.

 

[ChickenNewbie5]

Thanks for the welcome. I have so many questions so its nice to have a place like this to ask them. My biggest question is: What to do with them when they are bigger? We have a room in our OLD OLD barn, that I really think was a chicken coop at one time. ITS HUGE. Has 2 south facing windows that open a nice door on the outside and a door to get in from inside the barn as well. I'm looking into making that into a coop again. However, its big. I mean big. I haven't measured it yet but I'll see if I can post pictures. I'm wondering after the babies are big enough to be outside, how to make this comfortable for them. Is there such a thing as too big of a room for 6-8 week old chicks? I could with chicken wire section them off so they only have access too half the coop for awhile. Also, when can they be outside in teh grass roaming around? I assume we have to be with them at all time until they are full grown, but can they wander before that? I plan on free ranging them. We live in Junction City and have 2.5-3 acres of "yard" and 30 acres of pasture but that has an electric fence because of beef cattle. I'm imagining at some point being able to open the doors at 8am or so and closing them all in at dusk. If they are in the same spot from 6-8 weeks on, will they know when to come home and where? Or will I be chasing in chickens every night? Will they lay before they out or after they come in? Will it perhaps be different every time? Can I use straw as bedding in the coop or perhaps a mixture of straw and shavings? Besides feed, can they have kitchen scraps? How much will i feed them after they come in at night if they have been on range all day? I know I seem clueless, I'm trying to be less cluelesslol. I figured the only way to learn about chickens besides reading EVERYTHING, ( but every book says something different) is to dive right in!!! I have 10 all female Buff Orpington's and 15 straight run Gold Stars due here May 6th! Hopeing for mostly girls! Is there any such thing as a "nice, quiet and sweet Rooster?? lol

Oh, and can 3 Rouen Ducks be in the Coop with the chickens? No one told me that I should be careful at the Tractor Supply store before I went. I now have 3 ducklings

 

[BigBadCryBaby]

Hey CN5, all good questions! Many of which I'm currently asking, as I'm in the same position as you with an old room in the older barn. It's where they used to keep the hogs, but it's facing south as well with much the same layout as you. I'll be posting pics tomorrow. I'm also wondering about the straw thing as well. I can't free range mine, but I've got a nice run for them outside.

I'm anxious to hear all the veterans giving you answers...it'll help me as well. I've got 22 chickens now, so they won't feel so gosh darn lonely!

 

[Dr HaHa]

WOW CN5 sounds you have a set up that's perfect. BBCB is right your asking all the right ?'s Being a newbie myself I can't answer all of them and if I'm wrong on some of my answers someone will correct my stupid. Can't ever remember the square footage per bird someone will chime in. It's also on the BYC site. Learning center I think. You need to get an outside run built to let them out into, size depends on the number of birds. Bigger is better. When I built mine I put a doorway in big enough to easily get the wheel barrow through it. The chicks can go outside as soon as their feathered out. Suggest in the run until they imprint it as their home. Build nest boxes and a roost before they get moved into it from the brooder. If you build proper nest boxes and keep them clean they will lay in them rather than around the yard for the most part. After a week or two in their new home they will know to come home in the evening after that. Keep food and fresh water available to them at all times in the coop and or in the run. Be sure to make everything varmit proof bury you run fence in the ground for diggers and your coop area must be tight to keep even weasles out. They like to kill just for the sport and can squeeze through a spot like a mouse can. I have a concrete floor in my coop and like to put down a layer of shavings then straw over the top. I do the same in the nest boxes but just straw would be fine, they don't usually mess in the nest. I have a roo named Peaches that I got from fordmommy, can't imagine a better boy. He does like to crow but that's his job. We always laugh when he does. Now you've got a lot of work to do.

Have a great day!

 

[babylady4]

CN5 and BBCB, my MIL kept her chickens in her barn. She and my FIL made a chicken wire room that took up a corner of the barn on the South side. Never really had an issue with the predators getting the chickens, just the eggs and the feed (but that is what a .22 is for...). They are out on 120 acres so they should have had issues but I have not heard of any besides the occasional coon or possum.

Good luck with your chicken pen plans! Off to work at the University today, fun fun fun!

 

[ChickenNewbie5]

Do I need a "run" even if I"m planning on letting them have at on 3 acres? Do chickens do steps? This room has a few steps down and then a wee little ramp type thing.

 

[wildabundance]

I apologize if I'm not posting in the correct place... I just joined and don't quite understand how this works. (Is there a way to start a new thread? Or is everything a reply to the Cheesehead thread?)

Anyway, I'm wondering whether any of you raise guineas, and if so, do you have any fertile eggs or birds you'd be willing to sell? We just found our first tick of the season, and I am not too happy about it. The kids were just playing around the house, not in a brushy or wooded area at all.

If no one has guineas/eggs to sell, would anyone like to split an order? Minimum is 15-30 depending on which hatchery we go with. Or maybe someone knows of a local source for fewer keets?

Thanks!
Nicole in Jefferson

PS: We have a small flock of mostly heritage birds (6 hens + 1 gorgeous Buff Orpington rooster) and have 21 week-old chicks of various breeds in the brooder as I write.

 

[fordmommy]

Quote:
What a bargain! Can't pass that up!

You better get on that quick, before they are all gone!

Quote:
r these ur ads? I was looking at them............ if ur in Hortonville, ur in my back yard

I was thinking of going to weyawega swap but couldn't find info on it??

No. Those are not mine. I just found them on Craigslist. I'm in Waupaca. And I am going to that swap. My friend from Manawa is going and she will be selling a couple Mallard babies

if anyone is interested. I just saw them the other day, and man! are they cute!


ChickenNewbie5 the standard living space per chicken is 4 square feet. And I would suggest building a run at some point. You might not always use it, but you might when you have babies or you want to seperate someone from the others, maybe breeding or sick or hurt, or maybe you just don't want them running around the yard because you are having a party or something, or a million other reasons. Just my opinion.

Well-I went fishing yesterday. No luck.

We saw 3 fish being caught all day and nothing worth keeping ......and one HUGE muskrat 2 feet away from me. It was so winding that the current was supposed to be going to the right....but your line was actually going up stream to the left.

Maybe I'll try again tomorrow if it's not too windy. I had to make "freezer fish" for supper last night.

It's just not the same.


Have a good one everyone!

 

[fordmommy]

Quote:

from Waupaca! Glad to have any new people join us! Welcome!

Here's a link to the swaps. http://www.uwex.edu/ces/animalscience/poultry/events.cfm Here you can probably find Guineas. Otherwise....I KNOW that there are guineas on craigslist all the time. My friend just sold I think 20 or even more just the other day. I know a few BYC members have them. Maybe someone will share or give you some fertile eggs. Who knows?!?

I'll shoot you a PM about our First Meet-n-Greet. Hope you'll join us there too!

 

[Sweetfolly]

Hi everyone!

I wanted to give you all first dibs on these three little ducklings I hatched this week:

They're Indian Runner/Dutch Hookbill crosses, and I'm kind of hoping someone who has a little more time to spend with them will come pick them up this weekend and give them a good home. There's another duckling, their runty sibling, that I had to help out of the shell and is too weak and small to be in the same brooder with them right now. Plus, I have chicks hatching this weekend, and ducklings coming from Holderreads sometime in the next two weeks, and I just don't have enough brooder space!

They'll be small, egg-type ducks - and beauties to boot. They're healthy and strong and eating and pooping like mad!

You can email me at [email protected] if you'd like to take these little cuties home!

Oh - and the daffodils finally bloomed yesterday! It's spring! It's spring! Actually, it feels like summer today - time to break out the shorts!