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Raising Chickens in Northern Wisconsin
June 12, 2023 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
$20.00
This class will take place June 12 and 14, 6:00-8:00p.m., at the Mercer Community Center, with instructor Bruce Bacon.
Learn about your choices in chicken breeds and their purposes in a home flock in northern Wisconsin. Learn about the equipment needs and costs involved in raising chickens. How do you get your first flock? Eggs, chicks or young adults?
The first 2 hour class will be inside covering lots of materials with handouts so note keeping will be at a minimum. The second class will start inside and then move outside to view equipment and if they are willing, some chickens. We will try to keep questions until after this so as to get through all the material.
We will cover the following topics:
- Proper housing, food and water requirements for northern Wisconsin.
- Sources for chickens.
- How you can hatch your own once you get a flock started.
- Brooder requirements for chicks.
- Eggs vs meat birds.
- Feed sources and costs.
- Predator management.
- The pros and cons of keeping chickens.
- Can you make money selling eggs?
Requirements: An interest in chickens and raising your own food. You will be given a list of books and magazines you might be interested in reading before (and during) you start your chicken adventure if this class gets you started.
Suggested Reading:
Bruce’s Top Picks:
The Small-Scale Poultry Flock by Harvey Ussery, 2011
Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow, 3 rd ed. 1995
Hatching & Brooding Your Own Chicks by Gail Damerow, 2013
Good Info on Specific Topics:
The New Rules of the Roost, Organic Care & Feeding for the Family Flock by Robert & Hannah Litt, 2018
The Chicken Keeper’s Problem Solver by Chris Graham, 2015
Fun Reads:
The Chicken Whisperer’s Guide to Keeping Chickens by Andy C. Shneider & Dr. Bridget McCrea 2011
The Field Guide to Chickens by Pam Percy, 2006
Choosing & Keeping Chickens by Chris Graham, 2006
The Illlustrated Guide to Chickens, How to choose them, How to keep them by Celia Lewis, 2011
Keeping Chickens, Getting the best from your chickens by Jeremy Hobson, 2007
Living With Chickens by Jay Rossier, 2002
There are also monthly magazines specific to chickens and other poultry and the bigger commercial hatchery catalogs have very good info on raising chickens. Examples will be shown in class.
Instructor: Bruce Bacon
Offline Registration: Download PDF Registration Form, complete and mail in with payment.
Registration Questions? Contact us or call (715) 892-3982 or (715) 476-2881.
Registration Issues/Troubleshooting: If you are registering with one email address for two or more people, please register each person individually (i.e. do not register all at once, but add students one at a time to checkout). If you continue to have difficulty or have another question, please contact us.