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Welcome, Bobbie! Look at the Chickenstock section, our annual pot-luck is coming up June 29th, at a nice park on the west side of Lansing. Please come! Mary

Ouch!!! Hope you can come anyway... Mary

I've never seen a black vulture here either. They are southern, at least so far. Immature turkey vultures don't have that red head, which might be confusing. I had to look that up last fall. And big soaring birds can be difficult to ID also. As I understand, turkey buzzards only eat...

I agree about the 'twist off' method of managing spurs. The bloody bone is left exposed and will heal, but it can't feel good! Once one of our roosters somehow got a spur caught on something and pulled off the spur 'nail part'. I heard him screech, and he hobbled around for a few days, until...

We trim spurs back, and a dremel works really well for big roosters. One person to hold the bird, and a second person to handle the dremel. Cutting them with a big dog nail trimmer isn't possible, except maybe for bantam roosters. Mary

Yeah. Not good at all, way too close. Guess we can party, and only bring birds requested, and keep them in our vehicles. That's my take on it right now, subject to worse news this month. Mary

Nothing good about this! Wishing it would all go away, and doesn't seem to be happening... Mary

:drool Want some! I have an EE bantam hen on seven eggs right now, should be hatching this week. I do love the banties. Mary

Cackle chicks arrived this afternoon, were shipped Wednesday. One dead out of nineteen, not terrible. And cute, of course! Pictures later. Ten white Chanties, and several EE pullets (we hope!). Mary

We also use the Victor metal live traps, without the windows. Chicken scratch is great as bait in there! Also, the trap doors can get jammed and fail to work. Check them every time... Mry

Glad you are all okay, @Swiss! We just had rain here, nothing exciting. This time. BBQ that food from the frig! And consider at least a portable generator, or best, a whole house generator. We have a Generax (sp?) and it's been great for our peace of mind, living in the country as we do. Mary

I'm using Victor live traps, the metal ones that can catch multiples overnight. Then they take a drive elsewhere into wild areas. Individual snap traps (the old wood and metal spring traps) work well in places the chickens can't access. We have used bait, in secure bait stations, next to the...

Here too, it's out near the pond, like mint, a happy plant. Mary

More AI, this time in Ionia county!

It may take three years before newly planted asparagus is ready for even a small harvest. it's longer term than most veggies! And one of our dogs loved the stuff, and cleaned us out completely. Mary

It's too soon to be sure about how we can bring birds to Chickenstock June 29th. If shows are cancelled, we still might be able to bring birds as requested, and keep them in our cars/ trucks, or on plastic under carriers outside. Or something. Mary

No issues here, may it stay that way! We will manage a tighter ship again, and hope to avoid disaster. Glad we don't have cattle any more, limiting visitors, and we do have many fewer wild geese this year. A very good thing! May all our critters stay healthy! Mary

:goodpost: I'm not that computer savvy... Mary

Just google MDARD, it's the Michigan Department of Agriculture. I get email notifications from their site. Mary

MDARD released a directive (report?) today concerning dairy and commercial poultry facilities, for AI management. Look it up! And poultry shows aren't going to happen until there are no new cases for 30 days in the state. I believe that's what it says, haven't really studied this yet. :barnie...