Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[gladahmae]

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

3 mastiffs? WOW. mine aren't quite that big. 2 labs (ours) that are both tall for the breed, one around 75# and the other around 100# and then our pitbull foster and the new lab foster who is probably pushing 90# but should really be more like 70#.

They've just got so much ENERGY! I am doing a hardcore crate/rotate schedule so they don't get running laps and taking the kids out.

 

[mattsinger]

Well, I guess I can now see the effects of our cold hard winter. I just got a good look at my Splash Marans roo... he lost half of his outer toe on this right foot.

 

[JackieandChicks]

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

Hi,

I also am interested - I live in Zeeland, not that bad a distance. If that's okay for me to put in a request

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Frostbite in Chickens, http://www.extension.org/pages/70255/frostbite-in-chickens#.Uvq1MKa9LCS

Link courtesy lalaland

 

[Trefoil]

Awww. Love those little fuzzies. Does anyone ever get 100% hatch?

It's nothing...it's just a wolf.




My sister's friend took the picture.

She (?) is beautiful. As long as everyone keeps their livestock well secured hopefully she won't get any bad habits .

Hi,

I also am interested - I live in Zeeland, not that bad a distance. If that's okay for me to put in a request

You're a lot closer than I am.
The 2nd time I hatched eggs from ebay I got 100% hatch, if I had realized how rare that was, I would have kept track of who I bought them from. They were, as I remember, runner ducks. I think I bought 12 ( hoping at least 4 or 5 would hatch) and ended up with 16 ducklings. In cold weather, in the house. I have only had a couple of 100% hatches other than those and they were guineas of mine.

 

[jrsckn]

@ 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..

Thanks for the reply! Their ages range from 10 months to 2 years old. I have a heated waterer so they "should" have plenty. I don't provide supplementary lighting but I didn't last winter and got almost a dozen/day. Everybody molted before winter so I don't think that's the problem. I figured this was abnormal but just wanted to make sure. My bet is still on the cold.

I have done something differently this year though. The waterer is outside the coop because I have ducks now and they won't go in the coop to drink and I only have one exterior plug available; they do however have a 10X10 canopy for shelter. Looks like I have to start saving for an electrician lol, my only power to the garage and waterer comes from an extension cord from my porch light fixture and I use it sparingly.

Thanks!

 

[Opa]

While the minus four degrees is a little discouraging, the predicted high of 20 for this afternoon with sunshine should improve everyone's mood. This winter can't last forever folks. I'm actually hoping that the temperatures rise slowly so that the snow also melts slow. I recently read that the accumulated snow contains about six inches of water. Should that melt quickly we will have massive flooding along our rivers and streams.

 

[Candy442]

Quote: It was -11 where we live unfortunately but according to the forecast by Weds we should be above freezing for a few days.

 

[1muttsfan]

When I see that wolf picture my first thought is, I am so lucky to live someplace that you get to see wolves. And bobcats, fox, eagles, et al. I can not for the life of me understand why people move to a beautiful wild area like this, then complain bitterly about the wildlife. Like there are not enough lifeless sterile places to live, where your lawn is perfect thanks to chemicals and your neighbors must follow the ridiculous rules passed to ensure that no one marches to their own drummer.

 

[Scifisarah]

I haven't been on in months, school has kept me way too busy lol. I was just wondering if anyone else's flock has completely stopped laying? I know its cold but I haven't gotten an egg in 2 weeks and before that it was 3-6/week. I've only had chickens for two years so I was wondering if this is normal? I have 14 hens; half will be 2 in March and the other half will be 1 in April so they're not too old and laid well last winter.

I'm poking my head in for the first time in a few months as well. My show chickens I drove to Knoxville TN for laid for two weeks, and went broody already, darn things. I guess they are used to SC weather were people are already thinking of hatching eggs right now. Very excited about the weather warming up next week. Hopefully our farm store will start getting in pine shaving bedding again because it is too darn expensive to buy from Meijer!