Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[minniefarm]

We mixed the big girls and the little girls this weekend. They free ranged together pretty well. Tonight however, one of the big girls cornered two of the young uns and beat them up pretty good! They both had feathers picked out around thier ears. No blood. They are still separate in their coop. Now I am leary about taking down the barrier. Is this just a rite of passage? The big girls are about a year or so and the little girls are 14 weeks.

I also made a new feeder. Epic fail. lol I made the holes too big and the base is a pie plate. It filled to the very top of the pie plate then the girls billed it all out onto the ground. Tomorrow I will figure out how to make the holes lower than pie plate and hang it so they can't bill out so much. Live and learn, eh?

One last thing. I have one girl with a messy bottom. I add ACV to the water. She seems healthy and her poops look normal. Could it be that it just doesn't clear her butt feathers? Poor girl, I named her Messy!

 

[Nigellas]

If you have signed up on the chickenstock attendance thread lately I haven't forgotten about you... It looks like I'm locked out of editing it (apparently they only let you edit threads for a a short while after creating them) - Waiting on info from TPTB.

 

[Mom 2em All]

Good Morning friends-

Ive been gone awhile. Been busy feeling sorry for myself. Ive been struggling to smuggle a couple of my chickens after the city said they had to go- I got rid of everyone- I moved them all to Robins' house. Waited MONTHS, then brought a few girls back. THEN, the house next door had an inspection and the guy looked through the privacy fence. Cited us with a warning to get rid of the chicken coop, etc and expect a court date.
Gave everyone away again, minus some quail that I am looking to give away. And my little OEGB that is virtually invisible unless you are right up on her. Keeping her and her occasional egg, even if I have to bring her inside when inspector comes around.

So, I have been in a major depression- didnt come here, wasnt going to Chickenstock..but I miss you. I miss Sams' morning coffee and I miss the collective you on this thread and the friendships that are far more than just chickens.

Lifes crazy, work, kids, etc but theres been something missing- and that is something that I find right here in this spot. your friendship.

So, where's the coffee?

 

[nluoma]

So, where's the coffee?

Sorry to hear about all that's going wrong. Sounds like you definitely deserve coffee. Here's a cup of my dark italian roast and glad to meet you!

 

[eleanorkay]

Beautiful!! Glad you're enjoying the "wild" birds. Out of the seven chicks I got at TSC 2 are silver seabright roosters. Would anyone like them? I have too many roosters and need to get rid of them. Would be glad to meet you somewhere. They were hatched in March.

 

[taprock]

That's what we're doing. I'm in no rush to spend $25 on the meds, or fill my chicks with meds they may not need. Everyone seems to be doing fine except for 1 pullet who wants to lay on her side.....and I think that's more of a breed issue and not a bacterial/viral issue.

A few years back when my older flock went through cocci there was no question if it was or not, there was so much bloody poo everywhere it looked like something had been killed.

Yes, we will definitely quarantine for at least a month. Did you do anything special to integrate since you were adding roosters?

I have added grown roosters. There were some minor issues but not as bad as I expected. We however free range so there is lots of space involved. I put the new guys in a cage first for a couple days so everyone could walk by and check him out. Each time I also introduced hens so he wasn't the lone new bird.

So, I have been in a major depression- didnt come here, wasnt going to Chickenstock..but I miss you. I miss Sams' morning coffee and I miss the collective you on this thread and the friendships that are far more than just chickens.

Lifes crazy, work, kids, etc but theres been something missing- and that is something that I find right here in this spot. your friendship.

We miss you. Can you get away with a house chicken? A Silkie or Showgirl could pass for a poodle.

Titus the puppy seems to be doing well. His favorite snack is chicken poo and he follows the birds around happily. We put a bell on the door he can ring when he wants out. Yesterday he rang the bell, I let him out. He ran around to drink out of the water dish I have for chickens up by the house. It seems he is a big paw guy and dumps both his food and water. He eats the food off the floor but just asks to go out since he knows there is water out there.

Today DH finds out if he has healed enough to drive himself again. I hope so but I also hope he isn't too disappointed if he hasn't progressed that far yet.

 

[Huston's Happy Hens]

Yes, we will definitely quarantine for at least a month. Did you do anything special to integrate since you were adding roosters?

Actually, after we've added the newbie(s) we spray cologne on everyone after dark; this method has worked wonderful! Much less if any friction when adding newbies to the flock. Good Luck

 

[ladyrsanti]

We mixed the big girls and the little girls this weekend. They free ranged together pretty well. Tonight however, one of the big girls cornered two of the young uns and beat them up pretty good! They both had feathers picked out around thier ears. No blood. They are still separate in their coop. Now I am leary about taking down the barrier. Is this just a rite of passage? The big girls are about a year or so and the little girls are 14 weeks.

I also made a new feeder. Epic fail. lol I made the holes too big and the base is a pie plate. It filled to the very top of the pie plate then the girls billed it all out onto the ground. Tomorrow I will figure out how to make the holes lower than pie plate and hang it so they can't bill out so much. Live and learn, eh?

One last thing. I have one girl with a messy bottom. I add ACV to the water. She seems healthy and her poops look normal. Could it be that it just doesn't clear her butt feathers? Poor girl, I named her Messy!

Mine get whomped on too. I have the divider open a little ways so when the old ladies start getting mean, the young ones can retreat back into their pen and the older hens, while they can follow, usually think twice. It's fun to watch the pullets dash out for a scrap of food under the old biddies fluffy butts and run back to their pen to eat it before they get caught.

As for the new feeder, I found the PVC feeder to be the best ever feeder. One six-foot piece of 3" PVC, an elbow joint, two end caps and you have a feeder. Just have to cut out a section for a trough. Easy and holds almost a week's worth of food for 11 pullets and cockerels, that can be refilled outside the coop. Just my 2 bits.

Here's the feeder on the grow-out pen. I will make a couple for the new coop too, when it's built. They're cheaper to build than most feeders you buy at the store.

 

[uchytil]

Mom, hope you do make it to CS. I'll have some FG's I'm bringing for folks that ordered them. I may have one extra if you want another. Laura, our Hummers are hitting the flowering bushes and feeders but I'm more interested in the orioles. Cindy takes care of the hummers, I put out the oranges.

 

[Opa]

Sometimes it is hard to stay positive. So many things loom up to challenge our abilities, both physical and financial. Yet, for all our woes there is always a bright side. Some times we just need to remember that we have friends who care. While they may not be able to do anything to improve our situation, just the knowledge that you are important to someone else is enough to see us through our difficulties. Some times we just need reminders of how fortunate we are. Like the man who wanted to complain about his shoes hurting his feet until he met a man with no feet. Everything is attitude and perspective.

Oranges are great attractants for orioles but try grape jelly in a small dish. You'll be amazed at how they gobble it up. David feeds the orioles at his house and they absolutely love the jelly. He has tried orange marmalade and they ignore it in favor of the grape.

The feeders made from PVC work great and I would suggest that rather than using 2 end caps you use an inspection plug on the bottom. An end cap is a couple of bucks, the inspection plug about 50 cents. Also if you sand the top of the pipe it reduces the diameter so the cap will be easier to remove. Also in lieu of a 90 degree elbow use two 45 degree street els. The feed will flow better.