Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[gaitngirl]

Does anyone want some chicken wire...free? Just need someone to take it down for me. It's about 6 ft tall but I don't know how long it is. I could measure it if anyone is interested. I am guessing maybe 35 feet? It's still in good condition.

Wish I were closer!!! I would take it gladly . . .

 

[fuzzybutt love]

My poor little Spaz refuses to leave the coop. Bigboy must've really traumatized her...or maybe she is sick....?
Just standing on the roosting bar with face in corner (or sometimes I see her sitting on it).

I haven't been keeping up with this thread so i don't know the whole story, but it would be a very good idea to remove her several times a day to feed and water her, away from the coop where the others can't see. Very important they don't see, or they will punish her terribly. If she's too scared to come down she'll go downhill very quickly and soon be too weak to defend herself. I've seen them go downhill in a matter of days, even! Or eat non-food items in a desperate attempt to eat something.

Other thing to keep in mind is that when the rooster is over-mating, and is rough/ balds her at all the other hens seem to develop a disdain for the hen in question and will pick on her until her feathers are grown in. I have used saddles effectively to lessen this effect in the event of balding. As far as the disdaining goes, the only advice i can give is to keep pushing food into the little gal, if she keeps her spunk it may lessen over time. Hens and their blasted pecking order! It can be brutal.

 

[Scifisarah]

We finally got around to updating the inside of our 4x8 coop we built about 7 years ago. I never liked the ladder roosts - the bottom ones were never used and just collected lots of poop. I am loving the layout with the poop boards now. I just took the nest boxes out since they weren't getting used, but I plan on sticking some baskets in front of the three egg ports with some fake eggs in them to see if that will work.

 

[Lisa and girls]

We finally got around to updating the inside of our 4x8 coop we built about 7 years ago. I never liked the ladder roosts - the bottom ones were never used and just collected lots of poop. I am loving the layout with the poop boards now. I just took the nest boxes out since they weren't getting used, but I plan on sticking some baskets in front of the three egg ports with some fake eggs in them to see if that will work.

That is a beautiful coop!

 

[preciouskitty]

Well I was able to lock Bigboy in the coop/run by himself while I was holding Spaz & petting her in the shade in the breeze. Was concerned she was getting too hot since she wouldn't even go out of coop into pen.

She did drink some water right away. Did notice when she tries to poop it is just a bit of white & a bit of it is stuck in her feathers.

She is still acting a bit lethargic, did eat a little grass & a few minutes ago was cuddled in the shade with another of the girls. I suspect she hasn't really eaten much since yesterday morning , thus the lethargy. I was even more concerned with water & if she hadn't drank some, was gonna ask just how I force her!

Not sure how I can separate her totally right now as I have 2 FBCMs in the house in quarantine. UNLESS every1 would concur that after 15 days I could consider "q" over & bring Spaz inside with them. The 2 new ones seem fine. No resp illness signs, good poop, and in the last week eating like pigs, talking to, can really tell their initial stress is gone!

My Internet has been down for the last hour & I have been dying for advice!!!!!!!

 

[gladahmae]

A measly 3 eggs today from 12 hens. Bah.

 

[ladyrsanti]

A measly 3 eggs today from 12 hens. Bah.

This has been my story as well. We flip between 3-4 eggs a day to 8-9 but it's more often around 4 eggs. We have 11 currently laying. I chalk it up to the weather and the stress of adding new chickens to the mix. Who wants to sit in a stuffy nesting box with this humidity?

Did anyone see Dispicable Me 2? Just saw it this afternoon with the family. The scene with el pollito, funniest scene in the entire movie but I'm a bit biased. I won't spoil it any further. I'm gonna have to name a chicken el pollito now though.

 

[gladahmae]

What shocks me the most is that I'm getting 1 or 2 eggs a day from my Polish and Houdan hens right now. The 2 of them are out-producing my "heavy layers" by a LOT this week.

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

We finally got around to updating the inside of our 4x8 coop we built about 7 years ago. I never liked the ladder roosts - the bottom ones were never used and just collected lots of poop. I am loving the layout with the poop boards now. I just took the nest boxes out since they weren't getting used, but I plan on sticking some baskets in front of the three egg ports with some fake eggs in them to see if that will work.

Very nice!

 

[iamfivewire]

nice coop pictures scifisarah - gives me some good ideas on modifying our coop