Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[swampducks]

Good afternoon.

Chilly and breezy here in northeast lower MI. oo it just turned 60! I've got a crock pot full of chicken chili being readied for the up north chicken stock this Saturday. Looks like it's gonna be a chilly wet one! Well, it will be the the first day of autumn!

DH fired up the outdoor wood stove yesterday afternoon. We got tired of being chilly indoors and the old propane furnace kept trying to come on so he figured it was time. Keeps the house pretty toasty except if the power goes out. That's when I wish he'd gone with my original idea of a fireplace wood stove insert. RaZ you need to take a photo for us to admire!

Processed a couple of ducks this week, looking at doing 2 roosters any day now. Taking a few hens and ducklings to the party Saturday in hopes of finding a good home.

How is everyone enjoying the autumn weather?

 

[caz426]

Hello all!! I hope everyone is doing well. I'm having a much needed lazy day today. Thought I'd post a few pictures....

First, the girls are finally getting along!


Ducks seem to be doing ok in their new fenced in area. Peep the drake keeps scanning the fence very closely for a way out

.




And my new set up.... The umbrellas are just a "quick fix" to keep the feed dry. I have to come up with something better for winter.

 

[NovaAman]

Hey, nothing wrong with an umbrella!

No BYFM, you will not have to do it the rest of his life... Just keep him on it until he is better. It sure is not as bad as Rusty's poor baby.

 

[Stacykins]

I hadn't been getting many eggs. I chalked it up to molt. However, I haven't even been getting any duck eggs, and they are 2012 ducks and lay almost everyday.

I was filling up their waterers, before I gave them feed this morning, when a duck plopped out an egg in the grass near me. I left it there, since I'd grab it on my way out (I've crushed a few eggs in my sweatshirt pocket when I forget they are there). Well, within a minute or two, as I was standing right there finishing up, one of my black copper marans walked over to the egg, pecked a hole in it, and started eating. I shooed her away of course and tossed the ruined egg in a garbage can so she could not finish.

And as soon as I filled up the feeder she was as happy as clam. But I am wondering if I should cull her? I'd hate to do it, she is my best layer. She is in full molt at the moment, but she lays a big egg on a very consistent basis.

 

[NovaAman]

I wonder if there is something she is missing in her diet, or maybe needing more of and the eggs are meeting that need now? Oh, that'd suck...

 

[Wild Rooster]

She looks fantastic... You did a great job with her. The before pics look very bad . So glad she had someone willing to fix her up!



So... 2 days ago I caught my drake chasing one of the chicken hens he was raised with, he had feathers in his mouth so I knew he'd been trying to mount.... Have had to keep them separated for the last 2 days, which I hated to do cause the chickens were in a 4x8 run. It did however give the 2 original girls a chance to make friends with the new girl. Today I put up a fenced area in a corner of our fenced backyard for the ducks and moved them in. They have 2 pools, their duck house and a nice shady area. I've seen the chickens fly over to visit, but mostly stayed out of drake range. Hopefully this works out. It will be kind of nice to not have the ducks pooping all over the yard anyway... duck poop is way grosser then chicken poo!

i had a drake who would consistintly mount one hen from my flock. no matter how long i seperated them, as soon as they were together, he would chase only her into a corner and pin her. the drake is dead now though....hawk attacked him and a cat finished him all in one night when he was free ranging. now i make sure the drake has pick his duck hen before letting him interact with the chicken flock, sense after my drake started his "hen harrassing" he would not mate the new duck i got him.

(if i dont directly thank you for my welcome, know that i read it and i am saying now, thank you.)

 

[RaZ]

I forget who asked to see my wood stove...



Notice that I have new blinds? No more crooked, broken slats, VJ.

I'll be repainting soon once I decide on a colour.

 

[taprock]

Hmmm. definitely have to save up for some of those! I still want some for spring. (Or some of yours, Tap, if you want to sell any chicks) Are yours standard or banty? I would be ok with a part EE chick, as long as the body type was there. You can tell because the chicks have the biggest butts EVER, and that hawk beak/nose..........

She was on the small side, and the orloffs are supposed to be big, so i think she was part banty.?

She could just be an EE with a really big beak.

Orloffs do come bantam sized. Mine are standard. At this point mine are 6 months old and I still don't know if I have boys or girls.

I'm told by 8 months I should be able to tell for sure. I have both from a breeder (4) and from a hatchery (3) and there is a huge difference between the two.

How is everyone enjoying the autumn weather?

Not enjoying it. I tend to dislike fall especially when it involves lots of rain and wind.

My chicken yard is looking so nice with all of the wood chips. I think I'm going to go back and make them deeper now. I have only used about 1/3 of the trailer so far. I just saw that article on the home page about fixing muddy runs with wood chips to prevent bumble foot. Maybe the mud has had something to do with having 3 girls get it this year. I also have two birds limping right now with no signs of injury. Hopefully these wood chips will help. The chickens are having a great time digging through them. I found about 6 of them in the trailer digging this afternoon.

Yesterday morning I was sitting reading when my dog started having a fit. I looked out the window to see the neighbors german shephard in the front yard where the chickens hang out. I grabbed a gun and ran out yelling in my stocking feet. It took off. I started looking for bodies but my smart birds were all hidden in the woods and under trailers. So everyone was ok.... except I ended up with chicken poop between my toes.

I guess I'll take that over a dead bird.

 

[RaZ]

And here is my $100 oopsie...


I dropped this section of chimney from roof height.

So another trip to the store so I could get the chimney to code height.




The wood blocks are only temporary while I fabricate a nice trim piece to hide the ugly brackets and braces.

 

[greenmimama]

And here is my $100 oopsie...


I dropped this section of chimney from roof height.

So another trip to the store so I could get the chimney to code height.




The wood blocks are only temporary while I fabricate a nice trim piece to hide the ugly brackets and braces.

You seem quite handy! nice work. I just picked out ALL of the colors for our new place and I am tired of picking out paint colors But I do like them once they are up on the wall. Fresh paint is so nice, makes the whole room look new.