Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[mrshaggie810]

Things in this country are pretty messed up on so many levels, but when our own governments start telling us that we do not have the right to feed ourselves and our children the way that we see fit then we've got a REAL problem.

Yes ^

Looks like I've got my first broody hen. Could she have gone broody when I brought day old chicks home 2 weeks ago? Of course not

Is it too late to put them under her?

I have my first broody too! Yay! She's sitting on 8-9 (I didn't actually count) duck eggs that I gave her and is a happy girl now....I just hope she has better luck than I do. :/

I wonder where people think their food is going to come from at this rate? If you take all the small farms thorough out the state.....add them up.. I'd be willing to bet they put more food on the table than any local large farm. We're losing the ability to provide variety of food types... heritage animals are mostly grown on small farms cause they're not profitable for large operations. My guess is........ people now in office in Lansing........ have no idea what a farm even is.

I know, right???!!!??? Sad, and scary.

Haven't checked in here in awhile...had my first go at hatching duck eggs....looks like I *might* get 2 of the 13 I set (well, 11...my kids mixed in 2 hard boiled eggs! lol) Can't wait for chicken stock! Going to construct my temporary coop for the pullets and turkey today so they can be in something bigger, and the ducklings will have a place outside to go once they are big enough....if my broody hatches ducklings will they be ok in the big coop with the other birds or should I separate them?

 

[SillyChicken]

see below, please note that these are my opinions and may not be the same as others... hopefully someone else will pipe in and give theirs as well.....I'm no expert!

Thanks! SO here is my first list of questions!! Be prepared, I am a country girl but grew up "in town" even if the town was barely called a village

Welcome!

1. What are the requirements to putting our chicks outside? Right now, they are currently in the house in a large tote and my "big" boys keep flying and perching on the ledge, which in turn creates a very upset mommy with all the poop on my carpet! General rule, once they're fully feathered they can go outside - in the mean time, put an expandable screen (you can get at a hardware store) on top to keep them inside.

2. How many nesting boxes do you need, and when do they start laying eggs? We built a quick coop, it's small but will plans of adding on a nesting box, but it will get us by JUST to get them out of the house for now. You could put in 20 nesting boxes and they always seem to want to use only one of them(at the same times even). I have only one box for 12 chickens... one box would be plenty for 6! Egg laying depends on the bird... so I'm not sure... they should start by end of summer or into fall.

3. Right now their food/water dishes are in the tote (obviously) but when we FINALLY move them outside, I am assuming we put it in the Run area, but how do you keep them from getting their water dishes all dirty? Generally you really can't keep them 100% clean..... I put my water outside on a raised block and they still get it dirty. A closed system, nipple waterer seems to be the best way to keep the water cleanest. I may go to this type fairly soon. I keep the food inside the coop hanging on a chain.

4. What is the BEST type of fencing to have for the run area? Hardware cloth - regular "chicken wire" is only good to keep chickens in, but predators have no problem getting in! We had a small roll of chain link fence given to us (and since the coop was built with ALL pieces of scrap wood, this has virtually been free of charge to us! BIG PLUS) but not sure how we are going to put that up, but also want to make sure we have the right type of fencing. Chain link will work... ideally you'll want to wrap at least the bottom of the fence with HDW cloth and either bury or bend a foot or so out on the ground and cover with something like gravel or grass to keep things from digging underneath. You may also consider some bird netting to cover the top of the run.

5. Does the run area HAVE to have wire on the top of it? Bird netting will work instead of wire. I only have this on one of my runs, the others are all open.

There is no real right or wrong way to do this. Do the best you can with what you have. Just keep in mind, things happen, birds live, birds die.


OK OK OK that's all I can think of right now, plus I should get a little bit of work done since I don't think the boss man would like to be paying me for asking questions about chickens!! I won't tell yours, if you don't tell mine! LOL!

 

[iamfivewire]

We just saw this on the news tonight...

http://www.abc12.com/story/22187216/shiawassee-county-family-fights-to-keep-chicken-farm

Just checked this out - is He a BYC member? Perry, MI is just up the road from Us .

 

[iamfivewire]

Here's our girls enjoying the nice weather

 

[gladahmae]

My chicks are shipped! My chicks are shipped!

We are going to be covered up in little peepers by this weekend! Last night, after the baby waking up twice screaming because he's cutting teeth, the CHICKS in the basement woke me up. One was cheeping really loudly and the others were answering. Last time that happened one had found a way out of the brooder and fell off the table the brooder sits on. So down I went to try to find this lost little chick, only to find that they were just being loud. And there are only 7 of them. And I'm going to have 78 more by Saturday.

Does anyone have a suggestion for how close together I can put the water nipples on a PVC pipe? We're planning on making a waterer hooked up to a 5gal bucket in the meat tractors, and I'm wondering what the "suggested" spacing is for them.


I'm making one of those vertical pallet flower thingys to cover up the end of our deck (where we like to store things like the kids bikes, the coolers, etc) to make it look nicer. I have HUGE pallets from a matress store, and last night we stapled double-up 4mil plastic to the back. I need more dirt, but I'm considering once I get it filled, covering the front with fabric and then just cutting holes in that where I want the plants to be. We are working from the "wrong" side of the pallet. I figured it would be easier to fill the thing with dirt and then add the slats where I wanted them, so right now I only have a top and a bottom slat which should make attaching landscape fabric easy. Anyone done one of these and have some tips?

 

[Ginger87]

Thanks for the info! I just want them to be safe! We did build our coop elevated with a ramp too! We started with 6 chicks (of mixed breeds- honestly don't know what all of them are though!) but when I was cleaning the tub out and letting them free range it in the house my daughter accidently stepped on one of the Bantams ( our littlest guy

) and that was a VERY rough night. We live in a house surrounded by corn fields but close enough to town, so we do get the occasional raccoon/opossum/feral kitty that wonders into our yard.

This whole "raising" chickens has my stomach in knots, this was supposed to be hubby/daughters thing but I am the one taking care of everything!

Oh, another question! I know this may seem just ridiculous, but my daughter was digging in the garden and found some worms/grubs and my father in law suggested feeding them to the chickens. Apparently they loved them (I was a work) but I was talking to a co worker who thought I shouldn't let that happen again? They are birds (birds eat worms) and they will eventually be outside where there are worms.... my Riley wanted to dig for more to give them as a snack before "bedtime" but I don't want to harm the little buggers!


I swear I am going to have a heart attack over these things!

 

[chickflick]

Ginger! Where abouts do you reside?? Oh gosh, the chickens love, love, love worms and grubs. Some of my hens don't eat worms but never, never pass on grubs!! Even find an occasional frog to eat, too! lol What does the co worker think they eat when they're scratching in the garden??

 

[RIRJen]

Oh, another question! I know this may seem just ridiculous, but my daughter was digging in the garden and found some worms/grubs and my father in law suggested feeding them to the chickens. Apparently they loved them (I was a work) but I was talking to a co worker who thought I shouldn't let that happen again? They are birds (birds eat worms) and they will eventually be outside where there are worms.... my Riley wanted to dig for more to give them as a snack before "bedtime" but I don't want to harm the little buggers!

They love bugs and worms! If my kid accidently leaves the lid off the grain and I catch a mouse in there I give it a quick thump on the head and throw it in with the laying hens, it's their favorite tug-of-war time

Gotta get that protein!

 

[Maah]

I know, right???!!!??? Sad, and scary.

Haven't checked in here in awhile...had my first go at hatching duck eggs....looks like I *might* get 2 of the 13 I set (well, 11...my kids mixed in 2 hard boiled eggs! lol) Can't wait for chicken stock! Going to construct my temporary coop for the pullets and turkey today so they can be in something bigger, and the ducklings will have a place outside to go once they are big enough....if my broody hatches ducklings will they be ok in the big coop with the other birds or should I separate them?

We just put our 4 week old rouen ducklings (they grow fast!) in our big coop/run with the big hens & rooster last weekend. There was NO ISSUE. The hens thought they'd boss the ducklings around for about... ohh 2 seconds! One of the ducklings got right up in one of the hen's face, said they were there to stay, the hen said "oh my gosh... I guess so", all the hens turned around and went back to their ground scratching business & they've all been happy since. It happened about that fast & was done. The hens don't like the kiddy pool in there for the ducks other than the occasional drink, the ducks think that's just fine with them so they can swim all day. There doesn't seem to be any kind of pecking order between the chickens & the ducks.

Eventually they'll likely be moved out of the chicken run, but for now there's only the two and they can grow up in there.

see below, please note that these are my opinions and may not be the same as others... hopefully someone else will pipe in and give theirs as well.....I'm no expert!

X2! Silly's notes are just fine.

Quote:

This whole "raising" chickens has my stomach in knots, this was supposed to be hubby/daughters thing but I am the one taking care of everything!

Oh, another question! I know this may seem just ridiculous, but my daughter was digging in the garden and found some worms/grubs and my father in law suggested feeding them to the chickens. Apparently they loved them (I was a work) but I was talking to a co worker who thought I shouldn't let that happen again? They are birds (birds eat worms) and they will eventually be outside where there are worms.... my Riley wanted to dig for more to give them as a snack before "bedtime" but I don't want to harm the little buggers!


I swear I am going to have a heart attack over these things!

They love worms & grubs! Let your daughter dig some up for their snack, it's fine. Give the chicks "chick grit" to help them digest & there should be no problem. IMO.

Enjoy your chickens!!

 

[NovaAman]

GINGER I LOVE this site... It has a lot of info. Sometimes it can be confusing too. You will get so many differing ideas, and what works for some, doesn't for others. The first thing I did when I was getting chickens, was go to the book store... Found a chickens for dummies book, back yard poultry for beginners book... Lots of basic bare bones information for the first time owner. You can find what is going to work best for you and your family.

Welcome to BYC and the joy of chickens! BTW, what kind did you get?