Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[RaZ]

Yeah...I need to get some updates on that. Tons of things have been happening.
There were 2 secret court hearings that I was not allowed to attend. Several radio interviews. Lots of letter writing and campaigning.

I'll try to get some of that listed after the Ag Comm meeting tomorrow.

 

[Maah]

Secret court hearings?! What in the world... **shaking my head**

 

[Our Roost]

Trefoil, I may have some feather legged black copper morans available in late april or may. Give me a shut if your interested.

 

[naglady]

@ jrsckn - I have been getting eggs all winter, are all your hens same age.. could they be starting a molt or did they get spooked. or did you lighting stop working.. could be a number of things.. could be stress from the freezing temps. are they getting plenty of water..

 

[BigHope888]

Are you taking them to Munsells? I have 2 that I need to process.

I am going as well as a few other people from this area. I'll be meeting them in Ann Arbor to ride share.
Just a note of clarification. The RTF is not going away or being altered, it is a State Law and needs legislative action to change or repeal. The proposed Site Selection GAAMP is attempting to sidestep the law by denying people access to the legal protection afforded by the law. Essentially they want to make your local official the authority to decide if you can use the State Law. This violates the 14th Amendment.

I'll brainstorm with you but I must say that I see no need for a local ordinance because we already have the right to commercially produce an agriculture product.

Great quote.

Sorry I wasn't clear...I understand RTF itself isn't in jeopardy (at this moment), but this "sidestep" does of course concern me. Thanks for offering your brains-I know you already have your own matters that need attention!

 

[SillyChicken]

The garage hens, getting a much needed dust bath...... they are in their glory right now!

I also discovered my uggo roo has severe frost bite on his feet too. He's been cleaned up and brought inside the garage too. This is exactly why I try not to make "pets" out of my chickens. Crap like this always seems to happen to them. His feet are bad enough it may warrant putting him down as well.

 

[Peep-Chicken]

Just got a egg from the ex battery hen!!


Since she hasn't laid much, and the last time she was with a rooster was I'm December. Would the egg be fertile? I want to know if I could put it in the incubator.

 

[gladahmae]

I am completely losing my mind today. Suffice it to say that I'm a big softie that has trouble saying no to people. I am now up to FOUR dogs in the house (to go with 3 kids, and then all the chickens but they're outside

). THANK GOODNESS it's only until tomorrow! Our rescue called me yesterday to see if I knew anyone who was looking for a pb black lab because someone was going to have to take her to the shelter if the rescue couldn't take her. She already has a meet/greet/trial adoption period set up for tomorrow, but holy cow is 4 big dogs in the house a lot!

I'm very much hoping that the sunshine today helps re-motivate the girls to get back to laying. Around a month ago production went way up, and then went back down when the polar vortex came through. THEN I shuffled them around, and they're still protesting about that. My coops need cleaned out desperately, but the worst areas are pretty much frozen solid because of snow that blows in, melts, and then freezes. I definitely hope we got warm enough long enough before spring break to get all of the bedding changed out so my house sitter doesn't get too grossed out by all the poop. You can't even TELL I changed out half the bedding in both coops (and everything under the roosts) a month ago.

 

[taprock]

So we unwrapped his feet yesterday to check the progress. No doubt about it being frostbite now... Poor bird. A fair amount of his feet/toes are turning black. Not exactly sure what will happen with him, but most likely hubby will just put him down. Now that he's warmed up & he feet have thawed out, he's not walking on them anymore. You can tell he got some feeling back in his feet & he's not happy with it. I think he's about 4 years old.

I also discovered my uggo roo has severe frost bite on his feet too. He's been cleaned up and brought inside the garage too. This is exactly why I try not to make "pets" out of my chickens. Crap like this always seems to happen to them. His feet are bad enough it may warrant putting him down as well.

I guess I would advise don't be too hasty, unless of course they are in a great deal of pain. My guinea lost toes and managed to get around with no problem. They should not be in pain if it is actually dead, it's the partially frosted that causes pain. That said my current frost bitten girl will be losing several toes, two are starting to come off now. I am not sure if she will be able to get around or not. It's wait and see and then make the cull decision. She has taken to spending the night in a nest box instead of a roost. However she was on a roost during the afternoon so she is still making it. She is also outside every day checking all the other food options in the other coops.

 

[SillyChicken]

Glad that sounds like my house... 4 mastiffs..... well, 3 now. The house seems empty to me.

Tap, it will be a wait n see game at this point. I know his feet hurt because he's barely walking, doesn't want to put weight on them. They're swollen and got some dead/dying areas sure, it's the parts that aren't that must be painful. I have him in a small dog kennel in the garage with water and food right in front of him, so he can eat without needing to move much. He's such a sweet roo, he lets me pet him, pick him up and hold him etc. Everyone else is doing ok.

I was feeling good enough (maybe the wonderful sun shine helped) to go out and do chores, and cleaned the 3 coops. So glad I finally got that done. The poo was froze on top but the shavings underneath were free so that made clean up easier than I expected.