Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[gladahmae]

I think my brain is going to explode. I'm really irritated by craigslist right now. "email only" and then don't respond. "call and leave a message" and then don't call back.

I'm trying to track down some new birds since I'll have 2 tractors to use for quarantine after tonight, and NO ONE will get back to me with what they still have available! DH doesn't want to incubate any more this year (doesn't even want me to put our mutt eggs under the broodys!), and wants to just start with chicks or pullets. I'd rather not ship chicks because it's so hot, but I also don't want to drive a long way (several hours) for birds either. And if I wait until fall for chicks, then I'm stuck running a heat lamp a ton. (But if anyone wants to go in on some chicks from Sunny Side Up Micro Farm.....chicks4myfamily on here......... I'd be interested in doing that. They're in Ohio, and ship express, so we could wait for a not-90-degree-week to ship.)

OK. Done complaining now!

My tomato plants are nearing the 4ft tall mark after the rain we got Sunday night. I thought I had done a really good job spacing the rows far enough apart, but I'm going to have to shimmy between them when they start to ripen. YAY! My green bean plants are flowering, so I'm expecting to be able to start picking in about 2 weeks on those.......I could probably start more beans so I have a fall crop of those too. Hmmmmm.


Does anyone have any good canning recipes for cherry tomatos? I have......several......cherry tomato plants and other than salads and feeding them to the chickens, I don't know what I'm going to do with all of them!

 

[preciouskitty]

Quote:
---- I swore I wasn't gonna chime in any more on this topic...but I simply can't stop myself. ---- I do not understand how asking for the money it cost to raise the birds PLUS the cost to get new birds to replace those lost results in a profit. UNLESS, one were to ask for the replacement money and NOT actually buy/raise new birds. ---- If it were me, I would ask for what I had already spent to raise the birds lost (sunk costs) & what I estimate I would need to spend to fix any damages plus the cost to get new birds to replace the ones lost. If, when all was said & done (damages fixed, new birds purchased, etc), the actual cost was less; I would return any excess to the dog owner... ---- I just believe when all is said and done, you should not be out any of your own money ---- What I neglected to mention is for the replacement birds, I would assume I would still have all the costs to raise them; I did not mean to imply that I would want to end up paying nothing for my meat/layers (we all know that we have a cost associated with raising birds); so I guess, in the long run, just getting reimbursed for what has been spent to date on the lost birds & any fencing damages would probably suffice

 

[Scifisarah]

To me it seems unfair to ask him to pay for both the replacement birds, since his dogs have done no harm to them (yet) and the original chicks. The money he would give you for the birds, care and feed you lost should cover the new ones. Otherwise you are getting everything for free and not having startup costs at all to get your meat birds this year. I hope that makes sense? I am not trying to be the "bad guy" - I could just see that asking him to pay for everything lost, PLUS more birds might make him upset and less willing to cooperate. To bring the broken window example in, you wouldn't expect someone that broke your window to pay you for how much the original broken window cost, plus the cost of a new window. Or perhaps since you need to buy older birds, charge him the higher price for the older lost birds, but not what they would cost now, plus what they cost originally? Just my two cents, ignore it if you think otherwise!

Crummy situation, I hope it gets resolved soon for your sake.

15 meaties x 7.75 in feed = 116.25
15 meaty straight-run chicks x 1.67 = 25.05
4 hatchery pullets x 2.71 each = 10.84
shipping for above estimated @ $20 (was $17 for 70-something, was quoted $35 for 6.....this is in the middle)
EE pair (2) x 2.00 each = 4.00
3 BLRW cockerels x 10.00 each? (that's what seems to be the going price for straight run for similar 'lines' from what I can tell) = 30.00
3 bags of feed for non-meaties x 16.00 = 48.00
Total for COSTS of chicks and feed lost = $254.14

Replacement of similarly aged layer chicks on CL sell for $6-15ea.....so let's call it 10.00 x 5 pullets = 50.00
Cost of 15 5.5# chickens for the table (just guessing here.....it was the rooster pen, so it was probably more like 6.5-7.5) @ $2.00/# (non-GMO fed since that's what we use) = 165.00
a dozen eggs from the same BLRW breeder shipped + incubator costs = 47.00
Total for replacements = $262.00

Grand Total = $516.14???????? Holy crap.

That number just seems........huge. I'll have to talk to my husband and see how he wants to go about this. The guy basically said to give him a bill and he'd pay it.

 

[SillyChicken]

It's still costing her money out of pocket to replace birds. I would present both to the neighbor. This is what I lost, and this is what it will cost to replace to get you where you were before damages. Maybe he'll pay both. And maybe he'll realize that they're not just chickens and that there is real money involved with owning them. I imagine when he said he would replace he's only thinking a few bucks at the most... my bet is he has NO idea what he agreed to.

I don't see how it could be considered a profit to get back to the same position she was in before the incident. Paying for new birds are a recovery cost. She will basically break even.

However, if she has to get more chicks to raise, Shes' losing money because now she will have to pay for twice as much food to get them to the age of her birds at the time of loss.

Not to mention physical damage to fencing etc if any. Now, I would agree that charging him for all new and better fencing would be taking it too far, she should include damages to the property in her bill.

What ever she decides is her choice on what will make it right by her and her neighbor... I just hope he doesn't become a jerk about it.

 

[Living the Simple Life]

Morning all!

Sorry about the losses. Stray animals can be a challenge. DH had a lady stop by yesterday looking for her dog that had gotten loose. It was found next door, a chihuahua, but still not a good situation. It's all about responsibility.

DH learned a lesson yesterday. He filled the guineas feeder in the a.m.....these guineas that we got for tick control that have become his total babies....so, anyhoo, DH decides that he will mix a scoop of scratch into their feed so that they will have a little treat when they eat. When he went to close up the coop last night the darn birds had emptied the entire feeder. There was feed scattered everywhere. He came to the house grousing that they would just have to eat the feed off the ground, etc, etc...I just smiled and said, "Oh, they went a little overboard for that crack-scratch?" Duh!!!

 

[Amastacia]

as a dog owner, i do have to say there are few things worse than your dog having gotten out and not knowing where they are. if i ever found out that my dog had gotten out and done damage, i would feel terrible. my back yard is fenced in, but for a while when we first got the dog, we'd put her out in the back yard, and she'd be waiting at the front door for us to let her back in. it took us a while to figure out where she was getting out, but once we did we patched the hole. she hasn't gotten out for a few months, but it could always happen again. the important thing is caring, trying to keep the animal at home, and being responsible for anything that happens if they do get out. leaving an animal to wander loose is pretty much inexcusable.

 

[Stacykins]

That soap looks amazing!!!! and the ducks are sooooo cute!

Thanks! I personally find soapmaing a very funny hobby! And I have sensitive skin, so it means I can control exactly what goes into the soap!

Stacy---
Your soap is awesome.
And, you have no idea how much your pic of Ron & Luna make me want those cute little Nigerian angora goats!

Hah, I have heard a lot of people express the need/want for those two little kids! Thankfully for the family who is taking them (amazing folks who take great care of their animals, and friends of the family), they had dibs on any kids before they were even born! I am sure going to miss Ron and Luna when they leave here, but at least I can visit, yay!

 

[Opa]

If the dog's owner pays the replacement cost of the birds not one dime is lost and you are back to where you were before the attack. Also charging for the costs for the destroyed birds is, using simple math, PROFIT.

 

[gladahmae]

Quick opinions on Amber Links? I'm going to be getting some POL pullets someone local, and she has buff orps, wyandottes, and amber links. I definitely want the first 2 (hence why we're getting them) but I don't know anything about the amber links other than they're a production breed in the ISAbrown family. I'd like a reliable layer since we've been getting 3-4 eggs from 14 hens for a couple of weeks now. BUT, I don't want chickens that tend to be bullies

 

[Amastacia]

i have ISAs and have not had any issues. i have three of them with three buff orpingtons and 2 barred rocks and they all get along just fine.