Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[preciouskitty]

Was just on back porch. Roo is crowing. This will be his last morning to crow as he is going to camp in 2 hours. Got him one day old in the NHR PULLET bin last March. First bird I've had to send to camp. I am bummed. But his attitude is simply too aggressive .. & when he was young he was SO docile. Making DH take him...

Bye bye Roo....

Back in the day when he was "nice"...(he's about twice that size now!)

 

[RaZ]

Leaving shortly with Calvin and Hobbes for a trip to freezer camp.
Calvin is getting aggressive and Hobbes...well it's just for the best.

 

[JackieandChicks]

Dang! Snowstorm tomorrow am and I have chicks to pick up from Townline! Grrrr

 

[mattsinger]

Leaving shortly with Calvin and Hobbes for a trip to freezer camp.
Calvin is getting aggressive and Hobbes...well it's just for the best.

I guess Hobbes really does follow Calvin everywhere....

 

[snowflake]

Hi Everyone,

We are looking to start our flock here in the suburbs. The breed we thought fit us best are the New Hampshire reds. We wondered if anyone has any chicks hatching soon or if anyone notices at TSC there are chicks for sale. We are looking for 4-5 chicks which have to be female due to the rules of Farmington Hills. Willing to drive to pick them up.

Thank you!
James

welcome Jimmy I only have one New Hampshire, she is beautiful and the best momma I ever had, mothered her young for 4 months, I do think some one on here has them check the for sale sight
do check out Mi chicken stock,,, big fun pic-nick in June at a park in Lansing,,,,,free fun for all

I wondered about the wood pellets. We use them in our cats' litter boxes and they work like a charm. An inch of pellets turns into about 4 inches of sawdust once it's gotten moistened. How long do the wood pellets last before you feel you need to change them out?

in a dry coop with poop boards under the roosts they last a long time, I mix with other bedding and only clean out in the spring and fall, my birds eat and drink outside under a covered area, most of the poo is outside or on the poop boards. I dump the poo off the poo boards that I have covered with old cut open feed bags about 1 or 2 times a week

 

[Opa]

Starting the week with a forecast of an additional 6" of snow just isn't a good way to start a week. I sure hope they're wrong.

 

[snowflake]

welcome to BYC

finally caught up,I think, CONGRATULATIONS! Glam, love it when some one falls into good luck

I have Ameraucanas, and Chanteclairs and Spanish Basque, Amer. and Chant''s are very winter hardy, small combs and wattles..... blue eggs and brown, my lavender Amer. are bantam size VERY friendly hope to have fertile eggs or chicks in about 4 or 5 weeks as I am getting ready to separate now.

It is 20 out already and looks to be a nice day. Grand daughter Abby stayed over last night as they have mid-winter break so she will help me set up the coops and separate birds.
glad the root canal went OK, and I trust every one had a nice Valentines Day, the weather was nice, got a lot done out side,,,,,snow starts to melt and we have to do some puppy clean up,,,,, he is 70 lb and 7mo. old

have a great day all

on the coop don't forget to dig down a couple of feet and bury fencing to keep out diggers and use welded wire with something like hardware cloth over the bottom 4ft,,,,I have 2x4 welded wire and opossums can get through that, roosts should have poop boards under (easier to clean) and what every one else said

good luck

 

[uchytil]

That does indeed sound pleasant...something to keep in mind.
What do you use to hold your 50 gallons over the fire?

Ummm, no. Use a 5 -6 gallon pot, say aluminum. All you need is a grate over the fire with 6 inches of air space from wood to grate. If the fire pit has an open front you can load wood directly under the grate. As the syrup cooks down you add more sap. In fact, in the evening you can move the pot in a garage (cover it), let it cool, and start over the next day. There's only a few exact sciences you need to read up on. Finish temperature and canning procedure. There's tons of info on the web. Product can be as good, or better, without alot of fancy gadgets you don't need. I've used milk jugs hanging of 30 cent plastic taps. This is how backyard sugar is made the easy way. Or, you can buy a 3000 dollar evaporator, miles of tubing, filters, and reverse osmosis machines - a great way to turn the wilderness into a science fiction setting, lol!

 

[uchytil]

I'm really surprised there's a shortage of wood shavings. FFH in North Muskegon always seems to have some. One thing I've been told is to not use fresh sawdust, or fresh wood chips due to the high moisture content. The wood chips that you buy are kiln-dried and absorb moisture. It was a fantastic year for hay and straw (2013) so, again, it seems you should be able to find that? Straw is fairly dry and the chickens like picking thru it. Of course I'm only speaking of the mid-western side of this sandbar.

Anyway, just my two cents...

 

[SillyChicken]

Hi BYC….it’s been quite some time since I’ve been on...I hope this finds everyone and their feather friends happy and health and as warm as can be expected!!!!
I've had a lot going on around here...another son is getting married (I will be an instant grandma of a 7 year old darling girl!!) , my DH has started a new business (an auto repair shop) and we are packing to downsize to a condo...
But..... I need to share some news with everyone. The last two years I started collecting eggs for egg art (pysanky) and also to share with my pysanky friends. I know I bugged the living daylights out of a lot of you good folks and I can’t thank you enough . I know that many of you traded or swapped eggs for a pysanka, or I purchased eggs…in some cases you were kind enough to give them to me outright.

Well…I’m still going to be bugging you all for eggs, but with the cavet that I MUST purchase them from you…I have been blessed lately (which I’m getting to…) and won’t be taking “donations” any longer….only purchase outright. Now…having said that…I’m hoping you all will take pity upon a girl who’s working really hard, and keep the prices within my budget. My budget is very strict because I have opened a business which sells all different kinds of crafting eggs, eggs for education, eggs for photo shoots, eggs for home decor….plain, blown eggshells, basically. I'm still looking for past prime eggs, eggs which are infertile, or just an over abundance you might end up with.
Here’s what happened. One of my pysanky buddies asked me if I had any additional eggs I could supply for a photo shoot for some artists friends of hers in New York. Of course I said yes, helping out a fellow artist is always a bonus. I shipped off the eggs and thought nothing more of it. In the meantime, I continued what was becoming an obsession…collecting eggs. Any eggs!!! Any kind!!…the more the better…and each time I brought home a carton, my DH would say…”Honey…come on now…you have enough eggs.”

And I would say, “One NEVER has enough eggs.” I made my pysanka, shared with buddies and life was good.
Good thing I was proactive. In early January last year I got a call from Martha Stewart Living (not Martha, of course, but one of her employees) ….who had seen the photographer’s work and wanted to know where they had gotten the eggs. She wanted eggs for the Easter edition of Martha Stewart Living.

Holy moley….so I sent them off eggs (they paid for shipping) and that’s how a new business was born. (yes, they were on the cover)
Now a year has passed and I thought it was an awesome moment, but really, I’d had my 15 minutes of fame and that was it….and then I get another call just a month ago. This time it is the Senior VP of MSL…and they want me to join their “American Made by Martha Stewart” on ebay and become an “American Made Tastemaker.” Selling eggs. Blown eggs. What is a “tastemaker”?. Frankly, I have no idea but I’m about to find out. LOL

Next week I do an interview with MLS for their on-line site. I’ve already told them I have many “chicken” friends and will really promote BYC as my favorite place to find eggs. They may want photos as well….anyone up for a visit to their BYC farm for a photo shoot????? Seriously….I’m not kidding. We will see how this all plays out, but I want all of you to know exactly how this came about and why I will only insist now on paying for eggs…truly, I’m not making much after the amount of work, washing, cleaning, blowing, drying, packing and mailing….but I will share what I have with those who have been so gracious to me.

Bless you all…and drop me a line. If you’ve got eggs, I’m buying.

I've been saving eggs for you!