Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Opa]

For those of you who are staying inside today because it's a bit chilly, go to my thread Opa's place and bake the Double Decadence Chocolate cake I posted. We just made it using dark chocolate. Just waiting for everything to cool before frosting the cake.

 

[Brethren49619]

Sounds good, but I just put in a double batch of pumpkin brownies. Never tried them before, but it seemed kinda fall-ish.

 

[ladyrsanti]

Sorry to burst in here with irrelevant news but our third EE started laying today and I was so excited, I had to share. Our first EE to lay lays brown eggs. Bummed. But the others are green and blue. Below is a picture of our second EE to lay, Sandy's jumbo double-yolker with the brown spots. The egg next to it is one of her usual sage-green eggs. Then Honey's blue egg on the right, the newbie layer. She hides hers in a remote corner of the barn. Yesterday she came up missing for awhile and we finally found her building a nest, but no egg. Well, today's the day - her first. So beautiful!




Also, last night we had an "issue". I went out to lock up the coop around 7:30pm and did my usual headcount. All were on their roosts except one. I found her wandering the back pasture under the hickory tree. I called for her and she came running but was thwarted by three runs of fencing. She tried to fit through the holes in the woven wire but was clearly too big and too dumb to go around the way she came. So I went out there and simply picked her up (she's a buff orp so very friendly) and took her to familiar territory. She went into the barn and took a couple of big swigs of the sheep's water and then I heard it - Frittata (our cockerel) jumped off his roost in the coop and came tearing out, made a bee-line to Custard and whomped on her like I've never seen him to do any of his pullets. He pecked her, mounted her and pecked her some more. She screamed fled into the coop and onto the roof of the nest boxes where he can't get to her. He was clearly upset that she hadn't turned up at bedtime and was giving her a what-for. Poor girl. I mean, I laughed but still... Are there hen rights out there my girls should know about?

 

[RaZ]

Can't say that I'm a fan of cakes or brownies, but I do love the aromas of baking.

I have a roast in the crock-pot that is smelling up the kitchen.
And now that the wood stove has been seasoned, the aroma of oak or maple or locust wafts out when I open the door to add more wood. Toss in a finger size piece of fruit wood and it smells really nice.

Now if I had the gumption to bathe these dirty dogs!

 

[ChicwannaB]

whats not to LOVE about this weather, been out in the driveway dismantling some more pallets and stuff, getting next springs stash built up.
How's come y'all are hiding in the kitchens?? I'm out there working sleeveless!

the stash is a growin....

 

[Trefoil]

I've stuffed my egg eater in a wire bottomed dog cage to break her from being broody. So she doesn't really have access to laid eggs for the moment. I'll try her with mustard soon enough.

It seems like this would be a very good time to try that out. I would use a hypodermic needle to inject the nastiest (to chickens) tasting stuff you can find and make sure the smell of it isn't on the outside of the egg.

 

[ChicwannaB]

A few more photos from the Up North Poultry Fest! Yes it was cold and breezy and a bit rainy but every time the sun came out we'd go outside the pavilion and stand in it! By the times we were leaving after 2 pm the sun was staying out more often than not. Food was good, there was chili and lasagna, broccoli-cheese soup, little sandwiches, chips, brownies, lemonade. I think hot cocoa would have been really nice lol!. Fun to see and meet those who came, looking forward to doing it next year!

you got some great pics!!!!

 

[Juise]

Hello all, I am more than a thousand posts behind, but I will hopefully have a little bit more time as winter sets in here. Right now I am trying to make some additions / changes to my coop and trying to figure out the best way to close it up for winter. I was hoping for a bit more input on the threads I posted, so if any of you don't mind stopping by either of them with a bit of advice for me, that would be awesome.

Winter Ventilation, and Drafts

Roost Height and Bumblefoot

I hope everyone is well, I miss having any chat time at all.

 

[caz426]

CS looks like it was fun... food looks yummy! Maybe I can make it next year. Nothing I like more then getting together with people who like what I like... chickens and FOOD!!!

I am so in the mood to bake... thinking about peanut butter cookies. Made chicken and dumplings for dinner... yummy!

Clucky started laying again today so hopefully I will soon be rolling in eggs again. Made a batch of scrambled duck eggs this morning... just not the same as chicken eggs. DH was sick this afternoon and he's blaming the eggs. Not that they had gone bad, but that his body doesn't like duck eggs... not sure what I'm going to do with them all if he won't eat them. I will use them for baking, but I don't bake as much as I'd like because we are all too plump as it is

 

[Wild Rooster]

I had a couple kids over last night- friends of my son- and they saw the chickens. The 21 year old said, "Do you eat their eggs?" and I said "Of course"- then they all said, "Ew thats sick. Thats gross".

I asked them "How is that gross? What kind of eggs do you eat?" These are kids that attend Michigan State University. I would expect them to be intelligent.
"We only eat grocery store eggs". "I would never eat an egg that came out of a chickens' butt".
I was very irritated- and said, "Where do you think the grocery store eggs come from?"
The girl said, "the refrigerated section", which made them all laugh.

I dont understand why college tutition is so high- obviously children are not receiving adequate educations. These kids were serious. Young adults who have no clue.

The best part was the girls reaction to my showgirl Uggo. Two other girls were standing there, and my sg uggo was taking a dirt bath...could only see her fluff-full of dirt in this hole. The human girl said, "WHAT IS THAT THING!!!!!??????" hahahahaha. I said, "a chicken"...she said, "NO the FURRY THING!"

wow you guys post fast! i feel like I've been gone forever!


anyway,, That's hilarious. Ive had "city people" think my roune males were wild mallards because of their coloring. they could not believe farm ducks came in colors other than white.