Michigan

[Chickmate]

YOU WERE THAT CLOSE TO ME AND DIDNT TELL ME AND WE COULD HAVE DONE LUNCH AND YOU DIDNT TELL ME AND I COULD HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HAND AND TOUCHED YOUR CAR you were so close??????

Where are you Mom? Are you downriver? I would have loved to stop to see you. I had a friend ride along with me, but still would have taken the time to stop.

SO CUTE! I wish my chicks were as friendly. I think it must have something to do with being broody hatched over incubator hatched... Their mamas tell them to RUN! Unless I come bearing peas and grapes...

My babies all run from me too. Mama is not afraid of me, but when the big huge muck boots come stomping she tells them to hide!! I'm going to work on getting them tamer with treats so I can catch them to do nails, etc.

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Another question: Has anyone noticed a correlation between early tail feathers and sex? I have two chicks that already have tail feathers, the other three have nothing. I'm hoping it's not a roo thing.

I have four chicks that are 29 days old today. Two of them have big feet and legs, their combs are turning red already and their little tail feathers are much longer than the other two chick's. The one little guy is so obviously a rooster and the spittin' image of his daddy Joe, I've named him Little Joe (Bonanza!) The other little roo is black with speckles and I think Joe is also his daddy. The other two I'm pretty sure are pullets. Here's Mama with her two boys.




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Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!!!!!!! I am soooooo happy to have been invited to the group. I don't know what kind of chickens to get, what I want are brown egg layers that are on the friendly side. I don't know if I should get day old or ones already started. Please help me with advice, all is welcome because I am a newbie for sure. Does anyone know where I ought to get them? My local elevator orders from a hatchery here in Michigan Zeeland I think.

Kimmie

Kimmie - French Black Copper Marans lay beautiful dark brown eggs like this. ISA Browns are quite prolific layers of medium brown large round eggs. Barred Rocks lay a lighter brown/tan egg but are not great layers like the ISAs. You'll have fun deciding which breeds you want to keep and waiting for your first eggs!

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Did you know there are also kinds that lay large green and blue eggs too? I think there's also cochins and silkies that lay light brown eggs? It all depends really if you need the eggs to sell, or if you just like them. There are quite a few kinds that lay brown eggs, but some produce more eggs than others. Some are better with free ranging, and some don't mind being penned. Sooooo many choices! Don't be afraid to ask lots of questions! Whatever you do build bigger than you need. See all the cute chicks? It's called "chicken math" and it happens every spring! (resisting the urge to buy chicks is rather like trying to eat just one chip)

 

[Stacykins]

Hi All, I am froma small town in the U.P. called Engadine (its at the eastern end) anyone else from around here?

Yay for yoopers! I am about two hours away from you in Esky. So pretty close by U.P. standards, haha.

 

[Opa]

Stay off line for a couple of hours and you have a ton of posts to read thru. Miss a couple of days and it becomes almost insurmountable. If I could make a suggest for something that might lessen our reading load.

Everyone seems to be getting the hang of multi quoting but are you aware that once you hit reply and the multiple quotes appear you can go into that quote and delete everything except the portion of the quote that you are wanting to reference. I think
everyone would be surprised by how much repetitious reading that would eliminate.
.

 

[NovaAman]

MEET Nova....geez. I spend 20 minutes with her and she's already affected my correspondence.

I have that effect on people. They just wanna be me. Hehe.

 

[Stacykins]

No pictures, but I just finished butchering the turkey. All went well, actually! It took a long time for me to do the entire process, because it was my first time. And since we had no pot big enough to scald feathers, he got dry plucked. He was a big boy, too, whew.

 

[babigyrl22]

of all that's Holy and Good....after MONTHS....I got a bantam egg today.

...popped it right in the turner.

Robin - 40 eggs a day??!! PM me again with the breeds? I am setting 42...my luck (knowing that I don't need that many chicks)...all of them will hatch...and they'll all be roos. heh heh

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

HH,
I don't know why, but I never thought a small animal swap would have chickens. I guess I just thought it was for guinea pigs and rats. Definitely let me know when they are, I'd like to check it out. My daughter would love to see all the different critters. The Apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

April 14
May12
June9
July14
Aug 11
Sep 8
Oct13
They will be set up from 8am till noon in the parking lot of the Family Farm and home. They have chickens of all sorts and sizes, ducks, turkeys, rabbits and more. There is no fee to sell anything.

Sam, you have the greatest outlook on life, and everyday things- and it causes everyone to gravitate toward you. I, myself, look forward to your daily posts- and I know when you DONT post, for whatever reason- you are truly missed and something feels incomplete about the day. Your daily dose of humor and goodwill is just enough to put a positive spin on the new day, and remind us all to have a positive outlook.

Granny is very blessed to have you for a son, and that sure is a wonderful thing that you are doing for her. Im pretty sure you have earned your wings many times over. You make my heart smile.

I totally agree with everything you said here Mom 2.

Good morning

I haen't been on much lately, been having a hard time lifewise (see Family thread) but I thought I'd pop in for a quick hello. Really glad that we had such a warm March. Wish yesterday had been as nice. I'm on spring break as of today and looking forward to having over a week off.

Take care and prayers for you

Positive thinking is supposed to work. With that in mind I need everyone to think positive about my winning the lottery tonight. The only reason I am asking is so that I can buy everyone a new chicken and Laura a new coop.

Oh, I hope you win and if you don't I hope we win

I just need a grow out pen for the summer.


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Hand thrown and carved, porcelain luminaries

Very beautiful!

Good Afternoon! Busy morning getting all the feeders and waterers filled. Let the chickens out for a bit and then it started to rain, and then snow, and then ice and now rain. And thunder! Chased all the chickens back into their coop instead of of hanging out in the garage.
Going to Chicago tomorrow with my kids and grandkids and visiting my son there. He has lots of plans for us, so goning to bring my comfortable shoes! Weather is suppose to be nice the next three days, so that's a relief. Gonna have fun riding the EL train thru downtown.
Prayers being said for those in need.

Have a safe and enjoyable trip!

Yesterday I noticed that my cherry trees and peach trees are blooming. This morning we have had snow and freezing rain.

 

[Opa]

Bio-security is difficult to be 100% certain of. Can you be sure that a sparrow hasn't dropped in to visit? Did you change your clothes and shoes after going to the feed store? Maybe the customer prior to you that you inadvertently bump against was wearing the same clothes he had own when handling his sick birds.

To the best you can with keeping your birds in a clean environment and take satisfaction in the fact you are doing the best you can.

 

[RIRJen]

You don't just lose a bird with MG. You lose the whole flock. And carriers don't have symptoms.

If it's something that really worries you then have a closed flock. Don't buy any birds, hatch your own. Don't let anyone near your birds (who knows whats on thier shoes) and don't take your birds to any shows/swaps.

Stuff happens and sometimes you have to rebuild what you worked so hard on. I take a chance every time I bring a new rabbit into my barn and if something is sick it gets culled. It's not worth risking my whole herd to save 1 animal. The only way to lessen the chance of illness is to close off your flock, but there's no 100% that it would stop something from happening.