Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Maah]

What's small? I have a 17" rear tine and a 5 foot 3 pt, pretty sure the 5 footer won't fit, lol! The 17" is pretty narrow and fits in my runs. Wayland is a hike from Twin Lake. I have a friend in Gun Lake I could visit but he's not home this week (4th and all). I bet you could rent one cheap for a few hours. Or get the spade out and start turning! I wish I was closer and I'd come tear it for you guys.

Our neighbor dropped a small one off yesterday... the handheld type that uses different attachments (tiller, trimmer, edger, etc) and it will work after it rains & the ground is softer & we (meaning DH) puts in a lot of elbow grease. We might just end up pulling a wall/fencing from the run and putting our larger tiller in there. Then maybe DH will remodel the run (larger door or wall with hinges?) so we will be able to get in there better in the future. Maybe I'm just wishful thinking. LOL

"get the spade out and start turning"... HA! That is some rock hard dirt! I don't mind physical labor but I don't want to cripple myself either. I spent 4 hours busting bum on the farm after work yesterday, cleaning coops, runs, stalls, etc. That was a "2 tylenol & a glass of wine" kind of job. Turning the whole run by hand (back) would be a "2 glasses of wine, 2 chiro trips, & possibly meds leftover from my last surgery" kind of job.

Maah, while I'm relieved to read this offer, I don't want you to feel any obligation at all. I'm hoping I might have a lead, but if your offer stands, I might take you up on it when the time comes. Thanks!

Of course the offer stands if you need it hun. I was talking with DD yesterday (since she was out helping me with all the extended farm chores) and told her that there was the possibility her Porcelain's ("Socks") hatch mate might be coming to our farm. She was ok with it either way.

 

[gladahmae]

So i too have a run question. Our original coop and run doesn't get much shade (basically just the shade the coop casts in the morning and UNDER the coop since it's about 2ft off the ground) so we left the tarp on the roof from winter. During the winter, we plastic in the sides and tarp the roof so they still have a useable outdoor area, otherwise it would be 3-4ft deep in snow. However, this summer, the ground in the run is stinky and hard and gross. I went in with my garden cultivator (like a hoe but with claws) and chopped up everything. It *appeared* that the crust on top was basically compacted dirt and poop. It still smells pretty ripe, but improved a bit since I did that a month ago. My question is, would it help if I took the tarp off the roof so it could 'water in' all the nastiness when it rains? I can't take a tiller in there since there's a 2x4 every 5 ft. I'd rather not sprinkle stuff on the ground either if I can help it since I have chicks in there.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Hey All. If you haven't seen this, you might like to check it out. It just disappeared from Netfix but is def worth the watch here.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/my-life-as-a-turkey/full-episode

 

[aart]

For the RTF experts.....is this article accurate?

 

[fuzzybutt love]

So i too have a run question.  Our original coop and run doesn't get much shade (basically just the shade the coop casts in the morning and UNDER the coop since it's about 2ft off the ground) so we left the tarp on the roof from winter.  During the winter, we plastic in the sides and tarp the roof so they still have a useable outdoor area, otherwise it would be 3-4ft deep in snow.  However, this summer, the ground in the run is stinky and hard and gross.  I went in with my garden cultivator (like a hoe but with claws) and chopped up everything.  It *appeared* that the crust on top was basically compacted dirt and poop.  It still smells pretty ripe, but improved a bit since I did that a month ago.  My question is, would it help if I took the tarp off the roof so it could 'water in' all the nastiness when it rains?  I can't take a tiller in there since there's a 2x4 every 5 ft.  I'd rather not sprinkle stuff on the ground either if I can help it since I have chicks in there.

Sometimes you have to dig out and replace a layer. Wetting is good too, but depends on how much organic matter is in there- you don't want rot! a garden hose would accomplish the same thing once or twice a week. They need shade and unless you are moving the whole thing i'd cart buckets of water first!!!

 

[chickflick]

Hope your dogs are ok, Tori.
Chickenstock will always be the 3rd weekend in June. Ya'll have a year to plan time off. The folks "up north" need to get together and plan one for yourselves. Our first Chickenstock, I think we had bout 10 people join us. It's a fun time!
Having lots of fun in TN. They sure know how to cook great food!!

 

[uchytil]

So i too have a run question. Our original coop and run doesn't get much shade (basically just the shade the coop casts in the morning and UNDER the coop since it's about 2ft off the ground) so we left the tarp on the roof from winter. During the winter, we plastic in the sides and tarp the roof so they still have a useable outdoor area, otherwise it would be 3-4ft deep in snow. However, this summer, the ground in the run is stinky and hard and gross. I went in with my garden cultivator (like a hoe but with claws) and chopped up everything. It *appeared* that the crust on top was basically compacted dirt and poop. It still smells pretty ripe, but improved a bit since I did that a month ago. My question is, would it help if I took the tarp off the roof so it could 'water in' all the nastiness when it rains? I can't take a tiller in there since there's a 2x4 every 5 ft. I'd rather not sprinkle stuff on the ground either if I can help it since I have chicks in there.

I've had runs that get the same way. I don't tarp mine in the winter but I should since I do have to keep them shoveled out. Anyway, Mine get "stinky and compacted" just like yours. I till, turn, bust it up and between the rain, chickens scratching, and thousands of earthworms that live in that dirt, it always returns to sweet soil in no time. It's true that confining chickens to a run will have adverse effects, however, most of the poop time is on roost in the coop. The outside gets some but minimal? My birds don't like shade...they stretch out in the sun like people at the beach. If they need shade they go inside the coop. My runs are on the east side so once the sun goes west they lose it. The only thing I have ever added to a run is a little sand every once in awhile. When the birds dust they take some back in the coop and deplete the earth and after awhile you see the affect. Michigan dirt around here is half sand anyway so it works in nicely.

 

[uchytil]

Our neighbor dropped a small one off yesterday... the handheld type that uses different attachments (tiller, trimmer, edger, etc) and it will work after it rains & the ground is softer & we (meaning DH) puts in a lot of elbow grease. We might just end up pulling a wall/fencing from the run and putting our larger tiller in there. Then maybe DH will remodel the run (larger door or wall with hinges?) so we will be able to get in there better in the future. Maybe I'm just wishful thinking. LOL

"get the spade out and start turning"... HA! That is some rock hard dirt! I don't mind physical labor but I don't want to cripple myself either. I spent 4 hours busting bum on the farm after work yesterday, cleaning coops, runs, stalls, etc. That was a "2 tylenol & a glass of wine" kind of job. Turning the whole run by hand (back) would be a "2 glasses of wine, 2 chiro trips, & possibly meds leftover from my last surgery" kind of job.


Of course the offer stands if you need it hun. I was talking with DD yesterday (since she was out helping me with all the extended farm chores) and told her that there was the possibility her Porcelain's ("Socks") hatch mate might be coming to our farm. She was ok with it either way.

Speaking of wine - I need to pick a few gallons of Mullberries this morning. My big tree is loaded and between the birds stealing them, and my ducks laying under the tree and getting drunk on fermented berries, I may miss my window! Mullberry Wine! Note to self: Buy more carboys and airlocks...

 

[gladahmae]

Sometimes you have to dig out and replace a layer. Wetting is good too, but depends on how much organic matter is in there- you don't want rot! a garden hose would accomplish the same thing once or twice a week. They need shade and unless you are moving the whole thing i'd cart buckets of water first!!!

Our soil is pretty sandy, so I think it just needs to get rinsed down. Might need to top it off with some new sand or something though.....it's the 3rd year having birds in there.

 

[RaZ]

For the RTF experts.....is this article accurate?

It doesn't tell the entire story. Few ever do but that is another matter.

The original "intent" in the late 70's was to protect the family farm from the encroachment of the city folk moving to the country then deciding that they didn't like the neighboring farm and forcing ordinances to drive the farmer off the land. So in 1981 the state legislature passed the RTFA (PA93) to protect the family farm.

The law was amended a few times afterwards. Here you can find all versions of the written law, http://sustainablefarmpolicy.org/the-law/

The current law was last amended in 1999 and was written entirely by the Mega-PAC ALEC. It was intended to protect the mega-farm factories and NOT the family farmer but of course they can't come out and say that. So it is worded as a farm that is "commercial".

Now it gets murky. A few small farms were selling their farm products (commercial) and happened to be within city limits. The cities tried to shut down the farm with an ordinance violation. These intrepid farmers read the law and saw that they could use it in their defense. The local courts disagreed and the case went to the appellate court. There it was ruled that the state law placed no limit on what constitutes "commercial" and as long as a farm was selling product then they were commercial in nature and protected under the state law. More information here: http://sustainablefarmpolicy.org/the-courts/

Now this is my interpretation on subsequent events...I think that big-ag is upset because us little guys are using the law that they bought and paid for. We are not part of the big farm machine but used "their" law for our own purpose. Every time that a small farm won a RTF case, the bureaucrats gathered to make changes to "policy" to exclude us and/or shut us down.

Some of us heard about this and started attending the Ag Commission meetings a few years ago. We were able to have the changes tabled but only until this year when they pulled out the big guns to fight us. So this year, the commissioners under pressure from MDARD, MML, MTA, MFB and other political interest groups passed changes to the GAAMPs that effectively deny us the right to use RTF as a legal defense. The law itself did not change. The commissioners just put it out of reach of small farmers by throwing up the zoning roadblock.

Now we are left with each municipality and judge deciding if your farm is acceptable according to ZIP code. We are seeing the chaos that is resulting.