Michigan

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Good evening and welcome to the Michigan Thread.....Lots of great folks on here & lots of good advice!!

Welcome, gc, to BYC and the michigan thread

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Males??? Please tell me you'd like a male... or two. I have 7 for sure silkie roos... I am on the other side though, lake michigan side... but they'd be free.. They are going on 5 months...

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Only some? LOL
I only go 25 miles and the stories I could tell...


I am finally done painting the new coop for my chickens. I cannot begin to tell you how frustrating this project was, but the end result looks great. Now DH just needs to hinge in the door and add a few other things and it will be move in day.

tee - congrats on finishing the coop. Building projects can be quite frustrating.

My DD's school was delayed this morning which made for a little juggling to drop her off at a neighbors to catch a ride to school while I went to work at MY school which did not have a delay. The fog was pretty thick this morning.

I have plans to breed Nankins in the spring and wondered whether selling chicks locally would be better or worse than trying to sell hatching eggs. Nankin eggs don't do very well in incubators. Momma does the best job for these little guys.

I ran into an old friend who was wearing feather earings and she went on to explain that she is making jewlry and selling her stuff at craft shows. She complained about how hard it is to find feathers sooooo....I told her she could come pick up feathers at my place.
We worked out a trade for some jewlrey and our kids helped us for a little while picking up feathers in the yard, coop, and run. who knew!!

Hey everyone!!

First of all, to all the newbies!!

I haven't been feeling so well so I haven't felt like posting here. I can't see very well so if I type funny that's why.

Things are going really well here. Well, except for the egg production slowing down. It's a real bummer! I think we have just about everything winterized now, at least for the time being.

The last few days have been really nice weather-wise. With the exception of a bit of rain this morning.

I managed to get some photos to share..


No, it's not a dead rooster, it's just Gandalf (the huge rooster everyone saw at chickenstock) basking in the sun!


This is Sassy, one of the ducklings I incubated. She hatched with this tuft of fur/feathers on the top of her head! It keeps getting bigger too!



This is Xena. She is the one I incubated that had the twisted neck and that walked in circles over and over. She is about 95% healed!! I am so excited and proud I brought her through whatever it was she had!! She is named Xena after the warrior princess because she was tough through the whole healing process!


Xena loves her cuddles with me!

Below I have copied a couple of my posts from another thread on this site. I was told to post here where the Michigan people hang out. Did I find you all? Please read the quotes below and let me know if you can help me with my plight.


"Can anyone out there help clarify Michigan's Right to Farm Act and how it applies to local zoning ordinances. I have a copy of the animal code dated 2007 though I believe I picked it up from city hall in 2009 or 2010. The code states in reference to poultry "No person shall raise or keep game cocks within the City." also "Commercial chicken raising by batteries, etc., shall not be permitted."

So we went ahead and got 12 hens and converted our shed to a coop. The chickens have a large fenced in run but we also let them out to roam our fenced in backyard. Today we received a letter of violation from the city. They state the exact same code but they have it reading, "Live poultry and game birds shall not be owned within the City limits." They are giving us one week to remove them. Technically, 6 days since we got the letter the day after it is dated. Their stated code is not dated. I don't know when it was changed.

Here is my problem. If I say I am selling some eggs and put a sign out, am I protected from the zoning law by MRFA? Since I don't know when our local zoning law was changed. Or do I argue that I am not selling eggs and get the city to rescind the violation some how?

To tell the truth I wanted to sell eggs until we saw there was to be no commercial farming, so we figured we would give away what we didn't need to friends and neighbors. Now that I am aware of MRFA I am willing to sell eggs to my friends who have tried to offer me money for the eggs. Also, my hens are just now starting to lay. A few still aren't even producing regularly. What do I do?"

"I have skimmed through the threads. It seems that if I had my chickens and was selling eggs before the local zoning ordinance changed to no poultry I am protected by MRFA. But then I would be admitting to commercial farming which was against the local code. I am wondering what if I had my chickens when the zoning said no commercial farming and I wasn't selling eggs to comply. Now that the ordinance has changed can I start selling eggs in order to be protected? I truly thought I was in the clear when we got the chickens. "No commercial farming" was the code. Since I don't know when the code was changed I want to be clear on my approach on the matter when I talk to the inspector. Any advice on this matter?"

First off and welcome to the Michigan Thread.

Freedom, where do you live? When did you get your chickens? I wonder if you can be grandfathered in.

Keyt - that snuggle picture is adorable!

keyt love the pics, love the tuff on the duck, ...gcj and freedom Mi. don't have andy silkies, just oversized hens..... Daughter what do Nankins look like?

Thank you all for the warm welcome ! NovaAman- sorry dh said no more roos till we get more hens . RIRJen- lansing is a 4 hour drive from my house i may contact you the next few weeks if cant find any closer . Thank you all for the info .