Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[FrenchToast]

Quote:
I heard 2 yrs old as well. Females might takea bit longer though. So I'd say between 2 and 3 yrs. Can't remember which sex it was but supposedly if you have a younger one in with older ones they might start early but can't remember if it was the male or female. That's why I don't want to get a very young one then to not know the sex !!!
I would like to get another hen that is the same age as mine which are about a yr old now.

 

[Celtic Chick]

Somehow I don't think she will have a problem filling it up, FT, what with so many chicken math enablers to help her out around here.

As for your carport renovation, MLH,

Awesome looking job so far. You found yourself a great handyman.
Just some ideas for you. Hope you don't mind.

In my carport, we laid wire fencing on the floor & let the rabbits run around with the chickens.
For lighting in the winter, we just have 2 heat bulbs over the roosts, but the carport has opaque "skylight" panels also. It keeps it somewhat bright in there during the day.
For installing hanging feeders, I see you have a dirt floor. Just put a shephards hook into the ground, hang some chains on them & hang the feeders from the chains with an S hook. Granted, your S hooks don't have to be as obnoxious as my one there........And please forgive the filth. The feeder has since been cleaned. The coop wall, not so much.

 

[Cindlady]

Jim.... thought you were going to pack up the bators for the year? I've made "burnt gravy" too.... just not intentional!

FT.... where was that cook book published? Those ingredients (spike & the broth) may be a regional thing.

MLH.... I love the lattice for the run fence! Very classy looking.... and it hides the hens! LOL Good work!

CC.... good idea with the shepherds hook.

How do you people find so much time to spend in the kitchen? I would love to bake more..... just keep running out of time!

Well, now I have a young Australorp gone broody! And for a nice peaceful bird she sure is defending that nest! She almost took a hunk out of me when I was trying to check for eggs! I think she has 5. DH (who thought I was nuts for giving Jasmine fertile eggs) asked if I still had the number to the guy I got eggs from before. I reminded him I now have 3 very active roosters! I also said I thought it was late to hatch. He said well, we could let them feather out in the sun room.

He's hooked

And getting quite good at chicken math!!!

...... too good at chicken math! Before I told him about the broody he asked if I could make room for about 40 more birds

I guess he was talking to someone who may GIVE us a bunch of hens and some turkeys!

He's going to find out more about them. So it's MAYBE... I don't want to feed a bunch of birds that aren't going to lay. If we do get them, he's going to have to find another place for the tillers! I'll need the whole shed for birds! Wow... d@mn chicken math.... I only wanted 12

! I have 40 now!

Hope everyone is getting over their "sick".

Anybody hear anything about the South Bash?

Night.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Quote:
I have read that they can start at 2-3 years old.

 

[Dr HaHa]

Good Morning Everyone! Looks like this aft will be spent hiding in the house. MLH looks like the chickens have a nice new coop! Hate to be picky but don't understand why the guy didn't remove some of the siding to attach it to the garage? The reason I bring it up is that when they added the back porch to this house they did the same thing. AND instead of matching the walls to keep an even flow to the house they made the porch a foot narrower on both sides and the roof line 2 feet shorter.

Looks really dumb! The slab is there to match the walls up so now when it rains it hits the slab and runs under the walls.

Enough rant! Got a nice warm extra large brown egg this AM. Probably should have left it in the nest as an incentive. Had a dream last night that there were 6 in one nest and 3 in another.

Noticed while mowing the other day that the grapes are turning think I'll give them a week and make some jelly. Have a tablefull of ripe maters waiting to be put in the freezer. Need to go through the freezers soon to accomodate the dead cow coming next month and arrange all the veggies in an orderly manner. They've just been tossed in as they rippened. Yup Bigz it's nice to have well stocked freezers and pantry of GOOD food. Never really paid attention to the price of veggies until the having a garden.

While doing all the work you think man is it worth it? You bet it is! Payday today

Have to go take care of that. Trying to wait till after the holiday to get gas. All the cans are empty and the Jeep is getting down there. Better get movin! Stay cool people!

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

I made the decision yesterday to not buy any meat from the store. I saw a truck full of calves going to the feed lot the other day and I wanted to puke. I've read too many articles on the treatmeent of feedlot cattle. And chickens and turkeys that never touch a blade of grass. So we will be eating the deer, elk and turkey my husband hunts as well as the chickens I raise and the 80 lbs of halibut in our freezer. I also buy 1/4 steer from my aunt every year. Happy cattle out to pasture, not injected with antibiotics or fed garbage. I should have made this decision a month ago so I could have broilers going.

 

[Terri O]

Good morning...just a quick note..."Spike" is a seasoning available at Sentry and Cub (I believe) maybe Pick 'N Save too...it is my Dad's favorite seasoning! He loves it on baked potatoes and calls it Dirt! LOL--I had forgotten about that! He had to go salt-free so he used it a lot! They live in the Milwaukee area...I think we have it here in our stores though....
Off to the shower. Terri O

 

[kingdr85]

Hi everyone - hope you guys are all doing well!

I have a friend who is buying his first chicks, so I told him to try to buy them local. He will most likely buy them from Sunnyside Hatchery in Beaver Dam (Special Black & Browns). Does anyone here have any pictures what they look like once grown (the pics on the site are really bad). He has 2 little kids that will probably be very involved with the chickens so does anyone know about their temperaments?

Thank you all for taking time to read this and help out!

 

[kristip]

Hey everyone... been a lurking week. Celtic... you just saved me lots of time and effort wtih your picture there. I was trying to figure out how to insert a cross beam on the roof of my run, under the roofing material so I could hang a feeder... duh... love the hooks and I have a few hanging around here!

Well basement is painted, furnuture moved in ( after a project that was supposed to take 6 weeks took 10), twins start 4 k tomorrow and are so excited, and their 5th bday party wtih 40-50 people coming over is saturday. Making brats, dogs and sloppy joes, and a cheese pizza for my non meat eater friends. Homemade potato salad, fresh veggies from the garden with dill dip. And of course deviled eggs!!!

Oh and get this... principal of kids school called and because we live about 3/4 mile outside of downtown, there is no bus to bring the kids home at noon. They thought there would be, but reviewed info and called yesterday to tell me I will have to pick them up. Lovely to know this 2 days before school starts! Luckily my schedule is flexible I can do this. Glad it is only for 1 year. My work and life schedule changes next year when they are in school full time!

Otherwise.. have to find a way to hook my trail camera up inside the hen house. Need to know who is laying... my BO is 23 weeks old and not sure if she has started yet. Also need to set up something for the bantys who are scared to go where the big girls lay. they dont seem to like the inside of the hen house and prefer to stay in the run all day and night. still working on that.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

Quote:
I started that about 3 yrs ago, I get a side of beef, a whole pig, from a farmer we know very well, hunt or grow any other meat we need. What turned me off of store meat was they are injecting it with who-knows-what, yuk, and like you say the conditions store meat is raised double yuk, plus the best thing is I can get what every cut I want, this year I started to get my roast with the bone in, its beef the way I remember. I render my own lard too