Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[fuzzybutt love]

Looking for dove breeders in mich. I like the ash color, blues and browns are what i am interested in. Pm me if you know anyone at all- even strombergs ash is "out oc season" on the ash.

 

[Maah]

Yesterday was eventful. The storm came in like a lion... loud crashes & lightning striking right on top of us pretty much. At 1:45, the power went out. I found out from my neighbor (on one side) that among all the tree damage, the power line snapped & was laying on the ground from their barn through our driveway. Soo... we were stranded/trapped in our house until Consumers could get out here & deal with things. Thankfully they respond faster to "line down" than just a regular power outage. They had things restored by 5:30. A huge thanks to those poll dancers.

The amount of damage here isn't "horrible" (nobody was hurt) but is rather extensive. Lots of trees down. Our neighbor (on the other side) had their large beautiful new 5th wheel knocked on it's side, smashed the slide outs & roof. Broke some beams inside their barn in the process & dented the wall in. Our front porch on our house almost came down as the winds knocked out a support beam there (DH was able to fix it). Our water system at the coop was trashed as it snapped the PVC's in multiple places, and ripped the water barrel off the base. Things blown all over. A couple houses down had a tree down at the back of their house with some roof damage (you can see that in the picture as the 3rd structure over, white house with tree sitting on the backside).

Even though the official reports don't mention any tornadoes, our neighbor says he saw one.

I have lots of pictures of down trees & broken branches, etc... but everybody knows what that looks like. We have a nice big pile from our property & neighbors, and more will likely be coming in today from other neighbors. DH will be cutting/splitting lots of it for winter heat. Here's the picture of the neighbor's 5th wheel.




What I didn't get a picture of, & wish I would have, is the chicken coops/runs after the storm. Man were they flooded lakes! I went out there to check on all the kids & to quick do the chores while the rain was let up a little bit (and we still had some daylight). Why were all the girls out standing in the rain, knee high in flooded water? They all looked ridiculous... drowned rats. LOL. Poor kids. I gave them some treats & dinner, & told them to get back in the coops because the rain wasn't done yet. Only the guineas wanted to tell me off, as if it were my fault for their dire predicament. The rest of the animals were just like "Wow, did you see that?! OMG. & did you bring food?". LOL

We did go out there later to see that most of the water had receded from the runs, their feathers were somewhat drier, and they were happily playing in the mud by then.

 

[chickflick]

Wow! Sure looks like a tornado went thru!!! Glad no one was hurt. Had some rain down this way. Heavy for a short while. But nothing like what you experienced!

 

[tntchix]

Holy moses, what a sight that must have been. As usual, the big storm went right around us just rain this time. I'm glad everyone is ok.

 

[uchytil]

Holy moly! That 5th wheel tells the story on how strong that storm was. A type of micro-burst or tornado? Man oh man! Hope all is well down there!

 

[Peep-Chicken]

My Cochin bantam Luna hatched a chick in June. She seems to have gone broody again :/.

Good to here everyone is okay after that storm, must have been pretty powerful.

 

[SillyChicken]

Sometimes those flatline winds will do a lot of damage, but it was gusty and swirly yesterday along the front. So mini tornados, I can believe it! Luckily all we had were a few branches blow about, but no real damage. Glad everything was ok Maah..... though your neighbor's camper and barn has to be heartbreaking for them!

 

[Amy PT]

................................................................................................................................................

The rest of the chickens, guinea, goats, and adorable new bunnies are all doing well. @Amy PT - Oliver is awesome!

DD will be taking him to the fair with her next month for her showmanship. He'll be the "main event", LOL. She has been working with him so much & he lets her handle him like it's nothing. We as a family just wanted to say "Thank you" to you & your family. We're quite impressed with him & his character... he's such a good boy.

Fair is just around the corner. DD will be entering a few birds in the open class, doing the showmanship event, and market pen for chickens.

"Oliver", the porcelain d'uccle we got from @Amy PT has a chicken girlfriend now. We took our porcelain d'uccle pullet "Socks" and put her in with him. They've been together since Saturday now and are doing great together.

I read these updates to my family while we were on the road exploring northern counties last week. We're so happy that Oliver has such a loving new family. Thank you so much for the updates. I hope he remembers his manners as he grows older. And yay for him being reunited with Socks! If we're surviving the first week of school well, we might come down to the fair to visit you guys and our old lil' guy.
That storm looked serious and scary!


@Silly, congrats on the new adorable puppy.

 

[taprock]

Silly, adorable puppy!

Maah, scarey! I hate storms.

The fair has been going well. My son's pig received third in it's class for carcass. His turkeys were Grand champion. First the judge starts off saying always enter a same sex pair, which we didn't. He said they fill out the same for uniformity. Then he looks all the birds over and comes back and says they are an exception and gave them first. They were also the only pair that was free range which I was told we shouldn't do either. Tonight is the auction and hopefully it will go well. This is the first year with poultry as a market livestock animal. My son's Cochin also ended up with a reserve grand and so did my pair of Welsummers. I just wish it was a bit warmer. Yesterday didn't make it to 70 degrees.

 

[Maah]

Glad everything was ok Maah..... though your neighbor's camper and barn has to be heartbreaking for them!

Sometimes things happen for a reason, that much has always proven true to me time & again. My neighbor isn't "happy", not in the least, but feels this was the answer she has been looking for. This is the neighbor that we love wholeheartedly. I have mentioned them before, her husband Lou passed away this spring from stomach cancer. They had bought this camper (I think) just before he was diagnosed with cancer & had traveled in it for a few trips. Then he passed away. She didn't know what to do with the camper. Should she keep it... it has memories of him, should she sell it, downsize or what? The camper really was too much for her to handle alone. She tried anyways. She took it camping a couple times this summer. She said she had asked God what she should do with the camper... and she feels that this was her answer. Sometimes things happen for a reason.