Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[tntchix]

WooHoo!! First egg from chicks I hatched in February! An accidental Olive Egger! Full story here

 

[iamfivewire]

sorry about the fox attack lisalou ;-(

 

[LisaLouHoo]

OhNo!! I'm so sorry......hard, hard lesson! Hope you get that batrastardfox!!

Do you have a run where you can keep them safe when you know a predator is at large?

Yes, I have a predator proof run, but my chickens are spoiled and love to range. I also have a pattern of two times now. Last Wed and this Wed. But I can't count on that continuing, except that the fox has a full belly now for a few days at least. But now I'm too scared to let them out tomorrow. If you saw where we live, it is so remote and there is brush and tall grass that borders our farm and yard. I don't know when a predator is lurking. I know the dangers, but I let my guard down since I hadn't had a problem this year until last week and now this fox is onto this place. Last year I had a couple hits, but this was first time this year. Not to mention that all three of these happened around 3 in the afternoon RIGHT by our back porch. At least that's where the cloud of feathers have been found.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

@LisaLouHoo
So sorry

@raz Thank you for the link

 

[BentoMinion]

I haven't been on here in a bit. Hello again!

First, I ended up with a rooster... I thought I would keep him, but have now decided not to after he went after me, bit me and would not let go. I can't have that happen to one of the kids. What do I do with him? Taking care of him myself is forbidden. *shrugs* Someone mentioned to me sending him to the Amish to have him dispatched and have him returned for meat. Would they really only do 1? But I can't figure out how to contact them.

Anyway, we have 8 hens and one chick (well, 9? weeks old) in addition to the rooster. So we are at out 10 chicken limit per township rules. The ladies are due to start laying any day now! Yeah! We have them semi free range? Or would they be free range? What ever took out our chicken last year has not been back or maybe the coop is just secure enough and I see no signs. Either way, during the day, the chickens are allowed to roam our .4 or .5 acre fenced in back yard (.7 acre total). At night I let them into the shed (half is their coop). The kids now have to wear shoes outside, but my bug problem is gone. We only had an issue with an escapee once.

And that addition we were waiting on? Well, there has been a lot of delays in various areas, but we are so close to being done now! They just need to blow the insulation into the ceiling and then the final inspection. YEAH!!!!! Did I tell you I am pregnant (lol yes again) with what will be our last child? Due the first week of December. No more after this. 6 kids is enough.

I will start trying to post more. Maybe take a picture of my flock and you can help me figure out what breeds I ended up with.

 

[BentoMinion]

Sorry to hear about the fox. :-(

 

[BentoMinion]

Opa and Maah, your garden talk has me jealous! No garden here. The foundation guys dug up part of the back for the addition and got our outside line to the hoses... No one noticed till the week I went to turn on the water (the week after they filled it back in and started the rest). :-/ So no water outside for over 2 months. Boo. So no garden. They will repair it once final inspection is done.

 

[chickflick]

Silly, just Awesome!
So sorry, Lusalou.

BentoMinion, CONGRATS!!!!!!

 

[thechickenflock]

I haven't been on here in a bit. Hello again!

First, I ended up with a rooster... I thought I would keep him, but have now decided not to after he went after me, bit me and would not let go. I can't have that happen to one of the kids. What do I do with him? Taking care of him myself is forbidden. *shrugs* Someone mentioned to me sending him to the Amish to have him dispatched and have him returned for meat. Would they really only do 1? But I can't figure out how to contact them.

I'm sorry to hear about your rooster gone bad

. Is there a poultry processor near you? The one local to me (Howell) will process one bird at a time, you take them in live and come back to meat, I think it is about $2.50-$4.50 per bird. But that would be a 2 hour drive from Muskegon

 

[fuzzybutt love]

How old is the roo? Did you raise him from chick?