Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Folly's place]

Welcome! Your coop is rather small for that many birds; either enlarge it or cut down on bird numbers. More space is always better in winter when they want to be inside. I have about five sq. ft. per bird, and almost half of them are bantams. Things still get a little tense during bad winter weather; I'd like more space per bird, and have had to remove more aggressive birds at times. Mary

 

[RaZ]

My coop is 4 x 7 (not sure how tall I would have to measure) and it's raised about 2 ft off the ground. The nesting boxes are on the outside so they don't take up floor space. I should say I also have a rooster. I have 3 barred rocks, 3 australorps, 2 Easter eggers and my rooster is a large fowl cochin. I do not have a run. We let them free range all day. I'm worried bexuae my barred rocks are really bossy and I'm afraid the others will get beat up if we have a brutal winter like last year.
For bedding I use pine shavings on top of the linoleum floor. I've been trying to get a base built up sort of like a deep litter but I'm kind of a freak about cleanliness and all the poop is driving me nuts. So I don't know if that will last. I am open to suggestions!!!

That is 28 square feet for your 8 birds. A bit short by many standards but still do-able as long as they get outside every day.
If you have bossy birds, then you might want to consider more space for the picked-on birds to retreat to.

Now with the height of your coop, do you have adequate ventilation? A good air flow is vital, especially coming into winter when the birds are in more than out. You don't want drafty but you do want clean fresh air in and stale air out. And you don't want a lot of moisture in the coop.

Deep litter is usually good as long as the poop doesn't build up in piles for too long. Consider poop boards under the roosts and routine cleaning.

 

[RTFchickens]

Hi guys, I'm feeling a tight squeeze in my coop. I have newer chicks near point of lay, and they are being bullied by my one year old Isa Browns.
Anyone in the Grand Rapids area looking to buy 18 month old Isa Browns? We have 11 ready to go to a good home. They look terrible due to molting. They are good layers, but have bad addtitudes. PM me if you are interested.
Thanks!
RTF

 

[mundamnsel]

That is 28 square feet for your 8 birds. A bit short by many standards but still do-able as long as they get outside every day.
If you have bossy birds, then you might want to consider more space for the picked-on birds to retreat to.

Now with the height of your coop, do you have adequate ventilation? A good air flow is vital, especially coming into winter when the birds are in more than out. You don't want drafty but you do want clean fresh air in and stale air out. And you don't want a lot of moisture in the coop. 

Deep litter is usually good as long as the poop doesn't build up in piles for too long. Consider poop boards under the roosts and routine cleaning.

The more I'm reading about ventilation the more I'm convinced I don't have enough. I was paranoid that too much would make it drafty and I'm not sure how I can add more without hitting them while they're on their perches. I think our coop needs some work but I'm leaning more and more towards
Going to lowes and purchasing a shed to convert to a coop. Maybe I can turn my one now into something for a few smaller birds?? I considered getting some silkies!

 

[mundamnsel]

Welcome!  Your coop is rather small for that many birds;  either enlarge it or cut down on bird numbers.  More space is always better in winter when they want to be inside.  I have about five sq. ft. per bird, and almost half of them are bantams.  Things still get a little tense during bad winter weather;  I'd like more space per bird, and have had to remove more aggressive birds at times.  Mary

Thank you! I really don't want to downsize. So I guess I'll be talking to my husband to upsize do most people allow for 4-5 sq ft per bird?? When we were building the coop we tried to allow for enough space. But the bigger they got the less space we had!! If we didn't have the barred rocks I think we could make it work. But although they're sassy they're still a part of the flock and they've grown on me

 

[SillyChicken]

Almost ready to set the hunting blind out in the back....I decided now I need to paint the white trim and will add a little camo pattern once I can get it outside.... Everyone pointed out that my "rush to the hardware store before they closed and grabbed any dark brown paint color" ....matched the puppy! lol, purely unintentional. There doesn't seem to be any such thing as cheap paint anymore...no miss-mixed paint.. so had to buy new, 35$ for do it hardware paint. I guess they justify it because they have the primer/paint combo... it did cover pretty good though I have to give them that.

I decided that I'm going to process most all my chickens, save my ornamental birds and uggo and a couple young uggo hens for him...... I want to start fresh. My flock is getting older and in a house of 10 hens and only getting 2 eggs a day out... they aren't producing enough to justify their feed bill. I have a bunch of young hens that have yet to lay. I'll give them a good worming, and see if laying improves. If not, they're off to freezer camp. Turkeys are all gone now. I do miss hearing them gobbling and strutting around the yard though.

 

[Maah]

Finally... it took me 3 days to catch up on the posts that I missed. I was out for a bit, had surgery on my stomach/esophagus Sept 23rd to repair a hernia & reflux/gerd issues. It's helped some & I'm back to work now & back to eating soft foods, though liquids still seem to agree with me better. Anyways, enough about that. I haven't talked chickens in far too long & need to get to it! LOL.

So my 1 egg eater chicken that I had separated is no longer a problem. I couldn't break her of her egg eating no matter what I tried, & frankly she was a ***** right from the start. Dominance queen. When our pullets & banties (where she was serving her sentence) grew old enough & started laying eggs themselves... she was eating their eggs. I ended up throwing her into the pen with the cornish cross meaties. I didn't know what to do with her... Winter was coming up, the meaties were going to the processor, & I'll be darned if I have to baby her all through the winter in a separate cage when she wasn't even putting out the eggs. So, she went to the processor with all the meaties & is now chillin in my freezer. Darn, it really sucks. I REALLY wanted this bird to work & paid decent money for her, she just was a "bad egg" right from the start. I had her for 3 months & maybe got 6-7 eggs total from her, & she ate WAY more than she laid. All well, it's done with now & I'll replace her next spring.

So with that, we are down her & all our meaties now too! PHEW! I was going to have to get out a loan to cover all the feed costs. I'm glad that's done for now. Though I still teased DH the other day when we were walking into the farm store... "I'm sure we have enough time to get in another meatie batch done before winter hits". He gave me a "you're lucky I don't smack women" kind of look. LOL. I knew it'd get him going... I'm not in the mood to do another batch either!

Our tractor has been busted the past month. Driving DH nuts. The garden needs turned over, the driveway needs grated, the wood needs hauled up so he can cut & split it, etc etc etc. Oh the woes of a man without a tractor. We dropped off the starter last week to be rebuilt & I picked it up yesterday. Hopefully he can slap it back on there & get to it now.

Though I haven't been out to see the chickens in over 3 weeks, my family tells me that they think the Polish is getting her head feathers plucked out. Ugh. I reckon I'm healed from my surgery enough now that I'd better get out there & see what's going on.

Lastly, I received this information through my daughter's 4H contact. Though it's not strictly for 4H people. It looks interesting. Michigan Poultry Science Teen & Adult Leaders Workshop from MSU. Participants will learn new project ideas, explore poultry management information, and enhance their knowledge in the poultry project. Register by Oct. 22
http://events.anr.msu.edu/event.cfm?folder=4HPoultry2014

 

[tntchix]

I have those same wonders myself.
Then I look at some of the contributors to agendas behind the scenes.

Consider that the Michigan Farm Bureau Insurance group was a driving force behind the GAAMP changes last spring. Those same changes that outlawed small farms and gave Big Ag a carte blanche exemption to abide by the rules.

Colour me jaded but I would love to have a look at the books of some of these entities that drive the agriculture machine.

Oh, the connections are everywhere. Insurance, ag, regulators, big biz and gov't are all colluding together through a big revolving door.

 

[suliah]

OK I didn't know where to post this, but I thought my fellow Michiganders might be able to help me.

I was free-ranging my chickens when I first got them outside, and it wasn't really an issue (about 3 other people right by me have free-range chickens, they're everywhere), until they started spending a lot of time in my neighbor's yard. They old man who lives there liked them, I talked to him, he said they were fine.

Apparently his wife disagreed.

Long story short, I got a notice from my township that she complained and I was in violation of the ordinance and had to cage them. No problem. It took me some time, but I have done that. Right now they're spending a week in their new luxury coop (replacing a smaller one) while I finish the simple fence that I hope will keep them in.

So I've been looking online, all over, trying to find the zoning ordinance. Hard to stay within the rules if I don't know them right?

Well, apparently they're not online. Anywhere. Contacted the township. They can answer direct questions, but can't give me a copy. They don't have a single paper copy that they can give me, they refused.

Is there some complaint I can file? I can't even figure out WHAT rules I'm supposed to be following in my own township!

BTW, I'm in Fruitport.

 

[snowflake]

I decided that I'm going to process most all my chickens, save my ornamental birds and uggo and a couple young uggo hens for him...... I want to start fresh. My flock is getting older and in a house of 10 hens and only getting 2 eggs a day out... they aren't producing enough to justify their feed bill. I have a bunch of young hens that have yet to lay. I'll give them a good worming, and see if laying improves. If not, they're off to freezer camp. Turkeys are all gone now. I do miss hearing them gobbling and strutting around the yard though.

very sweet pup, color is nice

are you going to stew the old hens?

OK I didn't know where to post this, but I thought my fellow Michiganders might be able to help me.

That is a pain, sorry I can't help put if you don't get an answer ask again, the one that may know may not see the post