Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[lbrykowski2011]

So sorry for your loss Opa

 

[snowflake]

Finally decided on the names for the kids! I think the pict will get bigger if you click on it....maybe?

love your names, very sweet kids!!


Hi, nova

I see some new names, Welcome to all of the newbies

MI

 

[Trefoil]

So between chickens, ducks, geese and turkey- does anyone out there raise all the above? How about mixing them in the same coops and pens, good idea or bad? I have chickens in 1 pen and ducks in their own, now i have 2 lil turkey's. Do i put them in one of the other 2 pens or will they need their own? They all free range during day, but not at night. Will the turkeys free range and come in at night also? Thanks-will put pics of the lil fella's up later hopefully. Did get 1 BBB and 1 BBW

from FFH in Almont Wed.

I do + peas & guineas. I mix a few chickens & ducks in a large pen for the winter. It depends on the ducks though. Right now I have chickens (6), 6 ducks, and 2 pea hens in one coop/run, and 5 chickens, 4 ducks in another, my peacock is in the bachelor pad with 5 roosters, another has a pair of peas and 4 guineas, another 6 guineas and a rooster, another 7 guineas and 8 chickens. My geese and the only turkey I have free range even at night. My geese are from hell (thanks again Krisrose.) and the turkey is attached to one of the geese, otherwise he would be locked in at night for safety because he wouldn'/couldn't defend himself. They are split up that way because I shift around until they get along. Its weird but the rooster cuts down on the guineas aggression. I have found that geese will adopt hatchery or orphan goslings or ducks and will care for them, but they must be locked up at night for safety. All you can do is try it, give them plenty of space and if problems occur, remove either the victim or the aggressor. Ducklings require more niacin than chicks, and are also messier so I've never brooded them together.

I dont know the average life span, but I've heard because of their overly large size it puts strain on their cardiovascular system and body just like a cornish cross. I would not get an BB turkeys if I planned to keep them longer than the time it takes to grow out for butcher. I would get something like a bourbon red or midget white or something.

If you kept them not fat and allowed exercise it helps, but they are bred to gain fast, not live long.

 

[lbrykowski2011]

The silver laced wyandotte and light brahma-5 wks

My 2 cute lil turkey's, boy are they gonna be hard to eat later.


My son's EE @ 5wks-up close she looks like a lil hawk

1st time I ever had Seagulls at my bird feeders

 

[tori8780]

Today was a cold wet and dreary day but I guess it was appropriate considering what I had to do today. Daisy, my 18 yr old JRT has been suffering from canine cognitive disorder, or doggy dementia if you prefer. She has seemed lost but not in any pain, so I have been hoping that she would pass quietly in the night. Sadly this was not to be. Today she was having an exceptionally bad day. She was obviously in pain and having difficulty maintaining her balance.

On the day I purchased her from the breeder I had taken a small polar fleece blanket with which we rubbed the mother dog and several of her pups. It was my thinking that it would retain the smell of Daisy's former surroundings and hopefully make her more comfortable in her new home.

Now 18 years later I once again wrapped her in that blanket's warm comfort and quickly allowed her to leave this mortal coil. She has been a true and faithful friend these many years and it was with a heavy heart that I released her.

I'm so sorry for your loss. Losing a beloved animal is such a difficult experience.

 

[rohnsherd]

This extended cold weather we are having is driving me crazy. I got my coop built and all it needs is paint. I move my 16 cornish cross from their 4x8 covered pen in the barn into the coop until my layers are ready to move from inside our house out into the new coop. This is our first year doing chickens and boy did we go head first. So I have decided to do a tractor for our next run of meat birds that we will get probably the 3rd week of April. That leaves a pen and housing for our 4 turkeys(2 white BB and 2 bronze BB). The pen is going to be about 40 feet long by 30 feet wide in an L shape. What size fencing would you recommend? How high? Covered or uncovered? I am also trying to figure out housing for them as using the new coop is out of the question. The new coop is for my 22 layers exclusively. Predators are def an issue, although I have not seen them first hand. Spring summer time bon fires and the coyote packs light up all around. Any suggestions would be welcomed! Anyone on here from the Allendale\Zeeland area?

 

[Folly's place]

Opa, so sorry for your loss. Eighteen years old is wonderful! Mary

 

[JackieandChicks]

I'm in Zeeland! Welcome!

I'm sick of the weather, too. My almost 7 week old chicks that should be in the coop getting bonded with the adults are on my entryway porch in a fenced off section, and fly up and roost on the 3 ft high chicken wire that I have them surrounded by to keep them from pooping all over. This weekend I am building a day pen for them in the run area so they can go out during the day. This is insane! And I have the other 3 week old that need to be moving out in a week. Plus the eggs in the incubator that will hopefully hatch in two weeks. But at least I figured out that if you feed them wetted down feed, the dust is reduced drastically!

 

[chickwhispers]

So sorry for your loss Opa. Must have been a grand pal to have for so long.

 

[rohnsherd]

Yeah my wife is very much ready for them to be out of the house but with the weather the way it has been I just can't see it happening soon. My chicks are mostly all about 6 weeks old and loved it when I let them out to free roam the front lawn the other day when it was warm(before the weather turned)! I went and picked up the posts and wire fencing for their fenced in run today but then it got windy and rainy so it will have to wait for a better day. Im pretty geeked to get them out and roaming around in their new surroundings!