Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[preciouskitty]

Hi all I am less than a month old to BYC and chicken farming. Are any of you local to me in SW Michigan? I have 3 hens. 2 Isa Browns and 1 White Leghorn. I am looking for a couple of Rhode Island Red chicks 2 girls and 1 gentleman. I have settled on this breed as the one I think will be best for us after researching many of them. Do any of you raise them? Know personal pros and cons to this breed? What is your favorite breed and why?

@Lonetengu has a REALLY pretty RIR cockerel that needs to be adopted!!

@tntchix
I've only introduced girls to,the flock & have kept them separated for a bit "see but not touch". However, since you are introducing boys I don't think you really have to worry so much about the pecking order. Guess we'll have to see what the pros say about introducing the boys to their new girls!!

 

[suliah]

Hi all I am less than a month old to BYC and chicken farming. Are any of you local to me in SW Michigan? I have 3 hens. 2 Isa Browns and 1 White Leghorn. I am looking for a couple of Rhode Island Red chicks 2 girls and 1 gentleman. I have settled on this breed as the one I think will be best for us after researching many of them. Do any of you raise them? Know personal pros and cons to this breed? What is your favorite breed and why?

I've had chickens since I was a kid, and right now I'll say that my current batch of Isa Browns are the best chickens ever! They're power-layers, and they're really nice to me and the kids. They are a bit rough to any other chickens or ducks I've introduced, but that's probably because they were the first I got here. They talk to me and let me pick them up and come when I call them, which shocked my mom even though we raised chickens!

 

[pfewless]

My Isa's are already hand feeding and will come when called. They are held daily. They talk to me and one Brownie will lovingly snuggle and coo to me. She follows me and will pull at me until I pick her up. My White Leghorn Legs lol is very shy. She does not care for that level of interaction yet. She is not mean just shy. My other Isa we call her Ida is just as friendly as her sister but not as demanding when it comes to wanting attention.

 

[SillyChicken]

My only experience with RIR were packing roos that came with a shipment. They cook up really nice!

 

[tntchix]

Hi all I am less than a month old to BYC and chicken farming. Are any of you local to me in SW Michigan? I have 3 hens. 2 Isa Browns and 1 White Leghorn. I am looking for a couple of Rhode Island Red chicks 2 girls and 1 gentleman. I have settled on this breed as the one I think will be best for us after researching many of them. Do any of you raise them? Know personal pros and cons to this breed? What is your favorite breed and why?

Hi and welcome to BYC!

I love my 2 Isa's. They follow my every move much more so than the rest.They are wonderfully protective of my tiny bantams that were raised with them. I also have 5 Silver Leghorns among others. We have a great variety and we are new to chickens too. My dd did a lot of research to choose her perfect flock. She couldn't be happier.

Good luck. You are going to love them.

 

[tntchix]

@preciouskitty we shall see.

 

[RaZ]

I tried an alternative to poop boards under the roost. I used a large bale of straw and turned it a 1/4 turn once a month. So after building up that nitrogen rich poo on one side, it was turned until all 4 sides had a good coat built up. Today I moved that bale out to the garden to build one side of a new compost pile.
I'm going to let it "cook" over the winter and then integrate it into a new Hugel-kulture garden. What I noticed was that there was no ammonia odour nor was the straw bale damp. I also checked it with a soil thermometer and observed that it was the same as the ambient temperature no matter where I placed the probe.

I'm not really sure where I am going with this experiment but so far it seems to lead to an easier way of keeping the coop clean and odour-free while building a compost-able start for a new garden.

Does anyone else play around with stuff like this?

 

[tntchix]

No but I like, RaZ.

 

[tntchix]

Ugh parent teacher conferences. I'm running late......see you all later.

 

[Opa]

I've raised chickens on and off for 65 years and as this threads resident curmudgeon I often give advice that some view as harsh or callus. For instance, I don't believe in trying to find a vet that will charge you over $100 to try and save a $5 bird. Nor do I believe that chickens can be affectionate. Any interest they show in you is based on food. Plain and simple.

When introducing new birds to a flock, I always add them in the dark. Come morning they don't have the sense to realize there are new birds. I see no reason to spend days with them in close proximity in the belief that there will be fewer problems. There will be absolutely no difference. However, you may have some difficulties that you need to monitor. There will be some re-establishing of the pecking order. Often birds of a different color will receive quite a few problems with the more dominant members of the flock. Also birds of a much smaller size should never be added as they often are killed.

I know many people talk about how gentle and loving their birds are, but as a friend once told me, if you fall in a chicken coop they will eat you.