Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[gladahmae]

I haven't been able to get my containers sown yet, but maybe I'll get to it today between pick-up and drop-off for the foster dog. I can take 3 kids into the store to grab all the seeds I need. YAY!.

 

[chickflick]

. Has anyone ever heard of a shock collar for geese? I've got a realllly nasty gander and when summer comes I'm not going to want to be wearing protective layers. I've never had one that was nasty to me before but he makes up for a lot of nice ones.
Welcome KW and any other newby I've missed.

Is this the gander you got from Krisrose (Kristin)? He sure was a stinker!

 

[aart]

Don't think I've posted these here yet...got 6 chicks out of my hatch.
Will be adding 2 Welsummers tomorrow and a few more EE's and Amberlinks in a couple weeks.

Classic Peep Chick Pic:


Warm under their home made heat 'plate'


Chowtime in the Chickie Kitchen:

 

[ladyrsanti]

Checking in. You guys are busy, 172 posts since I was last in here. I see lots of chicks and goats in the pictures. Lookin' good!

I'm on day 9 of incubating. All sets of eggs are fertile, that's a first! Only one egg was clear - tossed, three more are iffy but they are mostly opaque so I can't tell for sure yet. Giving those another few days. So I have 22 eggs that are chugging along, some olive eggers, BCMs, wheaten marans and icelandics. The icelandics are the only ones I can see into properly and they're alive and kicking. 6.1% average weight loss at day 7 and that seems a little high so I upped the humidity a bit. Fun.

The chickens have been enjoying some time outside the coop now that some of the snow is melted around the foundation. They won't go any farther than that though.

We were at the Gull Lake Robotics competition last weekend and will be at the GVSU competition this coming weekend. Hoping to be at States come April, in Ypsilanti. My son's team did really well and made it to the final of the elimination rounds. That's pretty awesome. Balls this year. It reads like robot soccer. Lots of teamwork involved compared to last year (with the frisbees). Their robot is good at picking up balls very efficiently and has fairly good accuracy with throwing them. Here's a video I shot of one match (out of 80 qualifying matches - makes for a long weekend and a sore butt!). We are team Lowell Red Arrows, 3234.

 

[Trefoil]

Is this the gander you got from Krisrose (Kristin)? He sure was a stinker!

Sure is. Did I remember to thank her?

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

@gladahmae I think you've got a few weeks still if you're going to grow totally outside. I was going to do that until I read on my seed pkg that the tomatoe var I picked wouldn't be ready til the end of July. ... So we'll see how starting inside, then going outdoors goes. So far so good.

Any ideas on 4 o'clock flowers? My mom always had them, they grew as perennials, but I think actually they are a self seeding biennial. The seeds (if you're unfamiliar) are big and hard, seems like they'd benefit from the cold stratification. I haven't started those yet.

@ladyrsanti looks cool and fun! Congrats and thanks for sharing!

 

[snowflake]

Thanks for sharing the video, that looked like fun.robot basket ball,don't have grand kids into that so I have only heard about it

 

[KrisRose]

Sure is. Did I remember to thank her?

Yes you did thank me

roflmao!

 

[zndzant]

Wow this thread moves fast! It's fun to hear about all the things everyone is doing to get ready for spring. Working on my dad to get him to warm up to the idea of chickens. We had a bad experience with them once when we were newly transplanted city people. Local grain elevator offered 20 free chicks with purchase of 50lb feed. Well us dumb city slickers ended up with 20 White Leghorn roosters! One was so mean he rode the neighbor's dog halfway to the road before jumping off. That was 30 years ago, and we've learned a lot about country life since then, but Dad still has "fond" memories of sending them all to freezer camp as you all call it. lol

Mom and I have narrowed our choices down to a total of 8 hens: 2 buff orpingtons, 2 barred rocks, 2 gold laced wyandottes, and 2 Australorps. Dad has helped us come up with the best place for the coop so we can have access to the barn electricity and water, but it is a bit secluded. On one hand it is good, in that there are a few pine trees in that corner of the yard(old horse pasture), but I don't like the fact that it is bordered on two sides by a small drainage ditch that is grown up with brush and trees. Seems like it would be too easy for predators to slip in and out. I can build the coop and the run to be as predator free as possible, but am now rethinking the no rooster thing. It might be a good idea to have one to protect the hens? How do those of you with roosters deal with fertilized eggs? Maybe a dumb question, sorry I'm new to chickens. And do you coop your roo with the hens all the time? That would mean any fertilized eggs would potentially be crosses, which as long as they're not show chickens I assume is ok? And if we ever decide to let a hen hatch a brood, how would we know what the chicks would be?

Also, suggestions on which breed's roosters are the least aggressive?

 

[Folly's place]

That sounds like a good site; m ideally, shaded and wind protection on the north and west sides of the coop. Predators will show up no matter where it is, so a really secure coop and run are essential! A good foundation and/or buried wire around the base, hardware cloth firmly attached, no openings more than 1/2 inch! My birds free range in daytime whenever possible, and have a Ft. Knox coop and run.

!!! A good (not human aggressive!) rooster is wonderful, and one of your favorite breeds may work great. You may consider getting a couple of cockrels and pick your favorite, or get straight run chicks. Mary