Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[shelby chick]

Hi everyone I need your help IM forced to get rid of my girls I live in Shelby twp.if anyone would like to help me change there ordnance here please contact Shelby chick

 

[lbrykowski2011]

Precious kitty and opa, I so wish Howell wasn't so far. I'd love some apples, all the orchards around here have gone from small town to ridiculous on prices. Blake's is our most common orchard, but since they started serving buses of people from the city that come up, their prices went sky rocketing. I was working concessions at a football game last night and it snowed a little, just a few flakes. The wind here has been terrible last few days and hope for a break today so I can get plastic over my side vents on the coop, poor chicks are probably freezing right now. My first winter with chickens and ducks) , what's the best tried and true method for water dishes not freezing? I have a galvanized waterer right now and just a metal dog dish on the duck's side, they usually stay in the pond, but will be coming in soon. I was looking at the heated dog dishes and somewhere I read you could make your own. Any suggestions?

 

[gladahmae]

I think with the galvanized waterers you can make a cookie tin heater for pretty cheap.

 

[Opa]

One of the purposes of this thread is to share experience with others. Finding easy to use and inexpensive methods to provide water to your birds is always an issue for first winter flock owners.

The farm supply stores all carry shallow heavy duty rubber bowls that are flexible which will allow you to easily remove the ice. Many folks find that giving the birds water twice a day in these types of bowls to be the best solution.

If you have electricity at your coop you may want to consider the heated waterers that are available. They typically are place upside down to fill and must be inverted to use. They tend to be cumbersome and come apart easily until you master the technique of flipping them.

A better system is to use the galvanized 5 gallon waterers placed on a heated base. The base will keep the water from freezing and cost about $40. Or you can make your own heated base with a large metal cookie tin. A simple ceramic bulb holder with a 60 watt bulb will work quite well. While it's necessary to drill a hole in the side of the tin for installation it is a rather simple procedure. I would recommend drilling a second small hole in the side so you can see if the light bulb has burnt out.

On a brighter note it is only 182 days until we can probably quit worrying about frozen waterers. When you consider that I have 24,744 days behind me that isn't very long at all.

 

[justtricia]

Deep litter does not equal composting. You will not get any heat from deep litter inside a dry coop. If the deep litter is actively decomposing then you have a serious problem with moisture inside the coop.

You need a lot more ventilation based on what I can see in the photo. I would add roof vents and a couple of inlet vents in the lower wall. The air circulation will be helpful in avoid an ammonia build up inside the coop.

If you have straw bales, you can stack them around the outer walls to reduce wind.

I did not use heated waterers. I just rotated fresh ones from the house each day or more often if it was really cold. You check the birds and gather eggs each day so it is not too difficult to tote out a fresh one. By rotating them, you can keep them clean.

Hope this helps. Good luck

Hmm, I got my information about the DLM from this post: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...e-easiest-way-to-deal-with-chicken-litter-dlm which is why I started doing the deep litter method. Here it says that it does compost and that it does help to warm the coop.

I have been reading all of the posts in reply to my questions and truly appreciate the responses. Very helpful although still confusing In addition to my seeking help here, my husband also called the guy who built our coop and sold us our chickens. He said that we do not need additional ventilation because we only have 8 birds and the coop is large (we are going to anyway), and that since they are acclimatizing naturally they will do just fine. What to do, what not to do, what is needed, what is not needed! Ugh. I just want my chickens to make it through the winter, healthy.

So out of all of this, my intention is to move my coop next to my wood shed so that there is a wind block on one side and electricity is available, if needed. I will look into the panels to put on the top of the coop to keep the snow from coming in, and will also put some plastic up on the remaining open sides, or stack straw to block wind and snow from the other two sides. A small vent, that can be opened and closed, will be placed under the overhang at the top of the coop. I will continue the deep litter method, as planned (the girls seem to like digging in the shavings and are also now laying their eggs there). I still have to determine where to move the feed and how I will maintain unfrozen water without it filling with poop.

Thanks again!

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

On a brighter note it is only 182 days until we can probably quit worrying about frozen waterers.  When you consider that I have 24,744 days behind me that isn't very long at all.

Opa- I love the wisdom you so kindly share and your humorous perspective always gives me a giggle. Did you see my apples a few pages back?

About water, yep tis time again. I had great success last year with Wynette's pallet try for the 5 gal heated bucket, Altho I did modify slightly after the drowning- something to keep in mind. My solution, as given to me by Miss Lydia, over on The Duck Side, was a board to cover apx 60% of the open space, topped by a brick. Worked great except that dumping the unused waste water meant for an ice dam off to the side of the pallet. Securing the elec cord does severely limit the places you can move your bucket when dumping and cleaning.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

@justtricia

I do straw wind blocks and deep litter too. A little food grade DE every few weeks seems to hep it along too. I did use some Sweet PDZ, that was nice but a little too pricey for me to do very often.

 

[RaZ]

Started the day with the tree service guys dropping off a pick-up load of wood. Crab apple and black walnut.
The crab apple will be for the smoker and I think that I'll try to re-saw some of the walnut into boards for small craft projects. I hate to see good black walnut wasted as firewood.

My poor old truck is still in the shop after the water pump grenaded on the freeway Tuesday. I hope it can be repaired.

 

[RTFchickens]

I know many of us in Michigan are facing much resistance from our townships for owning chickens. I wanted to put a little note in here that there it a lot of good information and support for those facing this issue on the Michigan Right To Farm thread.

 

[Opa]

Opa- I love the wisdom you so kindly share and your humorous perspective always gives me a giggle.

My guess on the apples would be MacIntosh. Color and shape seem about right plus it once was a very popular apple for Michigan orchards.