Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[SillyChicken]

they probably don't see it as expanding little minds but just more work for them..... since it's all about them... after all. Oh, and wtheck... hurt the feelings of those that can't join... so lets not do anything?

Do you have a community center or Y that would appreciate your efforts?

 

[Stacykins]

Because the little single duckling is getting bigger, she needs to have more room than what I can offer her in the brooder. SO, there is a little alcove on the deck. The side is hardware cloth mesh so she can't go through the railing, and I'm using a baby/doggy gate to keep her there. It'll be spiffed up a little more, that is just the basic setup I threw together. She spends so much time with me, so she doesn't need a ton of enrichment out there.

Because nights are so darn cold, she'll go back to the brooder to sleep.

 

[chickflick]

Awwww... she needs a friend

 

[gladahmae]

Does anybody use the nipple/bucket water system? This will be my first winter with it. What kind of heaters do you used to keep the water from freezing? I've been looking into birdbath heaters on amazon, but would love recommendations...

We use the bucket/nipples and a 250watt stock tank deicer in the winter. The birds *prefer* a basin to that system, but like others have already said, it kept it clear of ice except for the days we were in the low teens and single digits and the nipples froze up outside the bucket. I picked up one of the heated bell waterers off of craigslist this year for the silkies for $15....can't beat that when I paid $30 for the de-icer on sale.

Another option is a heated dog dish, or a cookie-tin heater used with a metal bell waterer.....lots of cheap DIY things you can do.

A girl I work with has chickens and uses the bucket/nipple system and since their coop is right next to their [heated] garage, they just bring the bucket into the garage every night and put it back out every morning and don't use a de-icer at all.
.
I don't want to talk about this! I just used the "w" word. Blech.

 

[gladahmae]

Oh! And I made pickles today! First time for me. Used my aunt's/grandma's recipe so I'm hoping they turn out OK. I only made 4 pints that I sealed with a waterbath, and then a quart that I have in the fridge. Need to get more cukes since the ones I have weren't so great looking and I did a lot of compost pile-donation sorting.

I'm also contemplating pickling some green cherry tomatoes. Would I do those the same a dills?

My basil seems unscathed by the cold temps, but I picked it all anyway and need to get it washed tonight. Anyone have any good tomato-basil bruschetta recipes? I still have a lot of tomatoes on the plants that I could pick if I felt like it.....

 

[RTFchickens]

Michigan group, I'm planning on going to the agricultural meeting in Benton Harbor tomorrow. I'm a nurse and work 7am to 7pm today. Unfortunately I just found our I'm getting mandated until 11pm.
Anybody in the Grand Rapids area interested in riding with me? It would be nice to have someone to talk to on the way there! (And keep me awake) coffee is on me

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Stacy, I'm sorry if you already said this, but is this duck going to be your one-and-only? I agree, she needs a buddy. Is she imprinted on you-- is that the goal, I mean?

ETA: She is adorable!

 

[Stacykins]

Stacy, I'm sorry if you already said this, but is this duck going to be your one-and-only? I agree, she needs a buddy. Is she imprinted on you-- is that the goal, I mean?

ETA: She is adorable!

I have four other ducks, adults. The batch of hatching eggs I was sent was terrible. 75% were infertile clears (I ALWAYS open up eggs that are clear 7 days into incubation, these had no bullseye). Only two eggs made it to lockdown. One which struggled to hatch later died. I cannot integrate this duckling with the adults yet. Trust me, I tried, they beat the snot out of her.

So she is a human buddy at the moment. When she can hold her own against the adults, she can live with them. Until they, she is my constant companion except when I am at work and college classes.

 

[Opa]

I am hopeful that I will be starting this day off with a ban. Yesterday, just before I returned home from my day with friends, a coyote was was again in the yard wistfully looking for an obportunityh for a chicken dinner. So as soon as Hope is awaken, I will take a 22-250 from the gun safe and sit it near the door where it will be readily available if the coyote returns today.

Since I am fairily certain that my flock is secure, I may elect to dispatch himI a few months from now when its fur is prime and I might be able to get a reasonable amount for the pelt. I can't help but admire the coyotes's ability to not just survive, but to thrive is our rapidly diminishing world.

 

[ladyrsanti]

We are working on the robotics situation. We are at perfect liberty to run the team through any venue that will have us, be it the 'Y', Community Ed or our own living room. But we were really hoping that the school would be interested in... you know... aaaaaaand I can't even go there. I thank all who have messaged me with support though, that I can say.

Anyway, in vastly less important and pertinent but SAFE news, I somehow managed to go "viral" on FB - viral insofar as Michigan goes. This is a picture I made for a vacation photo book made with a photograph of my hands and a Michigan County map superimposed over top, all in front of a photo I took of Wamplers Lake. A local person who runs a MI FB group re-posted it from a comment I made a few days ago and it's gotten over 1000 'likes' and '300' shares. I wish people would be a little more understanding though. It was meant as a personal project only (the book is sitting on my shelf) and I wasn't prepared to see the harsh public criticism in the comments but pleased that it's making the rounds nonetheless.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...3835948839.471539.281565998838&type=1&theater