Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[Cindlady]

Just popping on to tell Dr.H I have the corn and it will take us at least a week to make the trip "come together" anyway. We'll give yo a couple days notice in any case.

The guy I got the grain from was cool. Just turned 79 and is "working" his son's farm-et 'cause his son has a "regular job" and doesn't work it. He mostly raises pumpkins. He raises the corn and grain for the stocks and straw which he sells for decorations. Forgot why he raised soybeans. Anyway, he makes his money in the fall and selling the grain is all "extra" spending cash. He dose have about a dozen chickens too!

 

[WIChookchick]

No worries, I already forgot my question! ha

Teri, thanks for the info. If I do start a beehive in my backyard it'll be primarily to help with the bee colony collapse syndrome & hopefully have some honey production. $ is the primary issue and I'm undecided if I really want to take on the additional responsibility. Time will tell. I am very, very fortunate in that I have a lot of bees in my yard because of bee friendly plants. They particularly love my anise hyssop. [(Agastache foeniculum) See: http://www.herbcompanion.com/Herb-Profiles/ANISE-HYSSOP.aspx] You can always to see a gazillion bees at my hyssop plants (which are extremely easy to grow, are perennial, prolific reseeders). Hyssop is a herb, makes great tea and the blooms can be dried for dry flower arrangements, etc. I know I have the most bee activity in my neighborhood (based on my walks) and it probably also has a lot to do with my being as organic as I can. Everyone on all sides of me and in my neighborhood generally love to poison the yards -- see all those little white yard signs warning of chemicals in use - very sad.... Anyhow, I very highly recommend this plant for anyone who want more bees in their yard. Hyssop grows in shade & sun and get really tall the more sun they get. I'd be happy to share if anyone wants to swing by for the some babies plants in the Spring. Of, if you want to send me an SASE in the Fall, I'd be happy to send some seeds. I'm very excited for this Spring & Summer as several of my fruit trees should start producing or have increased fruit this year. I will be watching them very closely for bee activity. May even plant more hyssop around each tree....

Well that's all for now, I'm out of time. Stay warm!
Elaine

Elaine,
I found this, perhaps they can help... http://madbees.org/

Dane county bee keepers assc.

 

[WIChookchick]

Well the kid called and called and well.. called some more.. apparently when I said between 5 and 5:30 he thought I meant anytime between when he was off school and when he had some hot date.. perhaps with a cow.. the mooing kind..

BUT.. tee hee.. I have my first incubator.. well real one.. the previous was a vague attempt to salvage some eggs last year.

 

[ElaineS585]

....Elaine-your question was about rabbit breeds are good meat rabbits. Well, there are actually meat breeds. There are also breeds for fiber/wool production. My first rabbit was one of those. An English Angora. He was the best bunny ever! A boat load of work though....
Anyway, the best breeds for meat are New Zealand and the Californian. The Cali was the rabbit most commonly uses but the NZ has surpassed them in popularity. There is also a great little meat rabbit that is gaining popularity because they are small as far meat rabbits go but still have a nice sized dressed carcas. They are the Florida While. There are also some other awesome breeds like the Cream D'Argent and the Champagne D'Argent to name a couple. The Rex comes in Mini (miniature) and standard sizes and I have been told the standard sized Rex makes a decent meat rabbit. As easy as the Mini's are to find, the standard sized rex's are hard to find.
There are also three breeds that are referred to as "giant" breeds. Those are the very popular and easy to find Flemish Giant, the Giant Chinchilla, and the temperamental Checkered Giant. The giants actually don't make good meat rabbits because of their meat to bone ratio. They do however make a great meat breed to cross with a smaller meat breed like the New Zealand. I've had FG's and they were fun and made great pets. We had one as our feed store mascot. His name was Harvey.
Interestingly, rabbit meat was very popular in the US and was at one point a table staple. That all changed in WWII when food was rationed and then during that time, in 1942 rabbit meat as an American table staple all but vanished when good old Walt Disney came out with Bambi. Thumper pretty much killed America's meat-rabbit- as- a- food- staple- industry for good.....

Very interesting indeed! Thanks for all the info!

Thanks, Carol, I've been lurking on that bee group's email for months.... very interesting -- and they're the ones offering the bee classes....

Anyone going to the garden expo in Madison this weekend? It's Fri. p.m., Sat. & Sun. I try to go every other year and may go this year if my sister comes to town... It's a lot of fun if you're going stir-crazy waiting for Spring!
Elaine

 

[Celtic Chick]

CC... Get off Craigslist for chickens. I'm cutting you off!!!


QUESTION: why would people use sand in their coop instead of pine shavings? I haven't heard of that practice until recently.

What's the matter? No willpower?

Sand is easy to scoop/sift chicken crap out of? Think "litter box". Although personally, I ain't got that kind of time.

Terri, I am so sorry about your sheep.

Cind, please tell DH I hope he has a great birthday! Raim, you too, and I hope he loves the suprise!

FT, glad to hear you're getting the boys neutered. That's what I always did with my rabbits. Boys are cheaper & for some reason, certain vets don't like doing the girls.

Like Jim said, do the boys & call it done. Female pigs don't get the bad attitude like the males, do they?

MLH, did ya remember your wormie question yet?

Carol. congrats on the bator!

Elaine, are you thinking of coming to the Bigzio Bash in May? We usually do a plant swap. As it gets closer to the bash, whoever has any plants to offer will say what they will be bringing if someone has an interest. If someone says they are interested, then they'll dig them out & bring them along. If you would like to bring some hyssop plantings along (if you're coming), that would be great. I would be interested in some, please. We usually will start a list going on the bash thread of who is bringing what. There is a link to it in my signature below. I will have Lamb's Ears to offer again this year if anyone is interested. That is a bee & hummingbird favorite around here.
Not much new around here. The chicks are flying out of the brooder like crazy, to mom's disapproval. One of them even flew up onto my lap almost from the floor.

They're getting so big so fast. I think mom will have to be heading back out to the coop pretty soon. Hopefully we'll get a few nice days in a row to help her reacclimate. I'll have to put her in with Jack for a while so everyone gets used to seeing each other again but can't "tear it up" right away. Jack will be more than happy for some company other than the rabbit, I'm sure. Well, better try to get to sleep. Sweet dreams, all!

 

[FrenchToast]

CC I guess the piggy girls can get quite temperimental at that time of the month. Piggy PMS !! She is already a little stinker !!!
According to one of the pot belly pig (pbp) sites they say they are prone to developing uterine tumors by the time they are 2 yrs old and don't live as long. I've talked to two vets and they haven't hear of that although I don't think they are pbp experts either !!
I guess if you keep them in the house the unspayed females will urinate in unwanted places, even on your feet !!! Weird hey?
Well, they are not going to be indoor piggys but for now the babies are in. Waiting until after their surgeries and warmer weather.
So I guess before i get a peafowl house I will get a pig pen built !!! LOL

 

[Cindlady]

Hi All!

WCc.... that looks like my bator... but cleaner, and less beat up!

Well, took the last of 5 Angle Food Cakes out of the oven. DH told the gals at work that I separated 80 eggs last night and they were amazed at that. then it turns out most of them thought the only way to make cake at home was out of a box!

I just hope they realize home made Angle Food is a little denser and richer but isn't full of chemicals to make it fluffy! I think I over beat the 2nd to last one though, it's not as high as the rest

Only bad thing is the bruise is back on my hand now! D@mn it! It was feeling good too! Must have stressed it doing the cakes.

Boy the girls were chatty when I closed up tonight! Maybe they knew I went to get them grain and didn't come down with any! LOL

Well, that's it... Night All!

 

[Dr HaHa]

Good Morning everyone! Happy B'day to Paul! And upcoming to Raim's DH! No TO I'm not taking out the other wood stove until I'm ready to slide the other in place. Pretty crowded on the back porch right now. Cind that sounds good about the meet up. Bf4 I was thinking about that I did all the pics and a note then I think i closed out before submitting. Sooooo Have a lot of running to do today and to do before that happens.

 

[Apyl]

Good morning as well. Just got my oldest off to school and my son is home with a fever and cough. Now its time to do more research on what fencing and how tall I want to get next week for the chickens and goats. I also need to be looking for a used Suburban or Tahoe to buy in the next couple weeks.
Happy birthday to everyone having b-days, it must be a popular week. My son turns 5 on the 12th and my mom also has her birthday on the 12th.

 

[Bigfamily4me]

Oh they're not nearly as ugly as I was thinking they'd be!

I think they're still kinda cute! But how many Roos you got in there? FT's getting low...

Good Morning everyone! Happy B'day to Paul! And upcoming to Raim's DH! No TO I'm not taking out the other wood stove until I'm ready to slide the other in place. Pretty crowded on the back porch right now. Cind that sounds good about the meet up. Bf4 I was thinking about that I did all the pics and a note then I think i closed out before submitting. Sooooo Have a lot of running to do today and to do before that happens.