Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[shrparatch]

There was a Golden Eagle not 1 mile from my house today, an easy 7 foot wingspan

. What a beautiful bird. I did little bit of research and it is not uncommon for them to prey on and consume live dear

. If is wasn't helping itself to a raccoon and I wasn't taking a VERY short trip I would have turned around and put the girls in.

Wow, I didn't know that they would prey on deer! I love eagles, they are so majestic.

 

[snowflake]

my dog doesn't do well with chicken either, the lamb and rice seems to work OK,,, our accountant has a cat that can not eat processed food and they make all her food, she was cooking some meat last yr when we were there but I don't remember what kind, very lean healthy looking house cat, unlike mine that has a saggy belly, was fixed when young and runs outside most of the spring summer and fall, she is a wuss and only goes out for short times in this weather

I think it would be costly to make food for a 100lb dog, so I hope he continues to do OK on this.

4 of 6 frozen eggs this evening - but I may have not checked at noon, now I can't remember. But at least no frozen mice!

There are 2 prescription diets that may work for dogs with really severe food allergies - Prescription Diet z/d and Purina HA. They are made by breaking down the proteins to such a small size they are no longer large enough to trigger an allergic reaction. Both are VERY expensive, though.

a frozen mouse is a good mouse,,,, he isn't eating chicken food
They really should have to write down every thing in pet and people food, allergies are no fun to deal with and how do you figure out what you are allergic to if you don't know what is in it

I'm ready for spring. I walked into work today and was exchanging pleasentries about the weather with the front desk girl. I told her it had warmed up to 3 degrees out there. She asked if that was negative 3 or positive 3.

that is the question for the day

nice to live so close to work.

took fresh water out to the coop this AM wasn't to bad, only -2

 

[redfordchick]

Any MI peeps get Organic feed from Azure Standard? I'm trying to find someone to order with... Or even someone who can tell me where to get a big bag of organic starter feed...

 

[redfordchick]

The rescue I work with had a large amount of Earthborn donated. All of the dogs but mine did great on it (but he's allergic to EVERYTHING). I used to feed mine Canyon Creek (higher end Purina) ~ it was the only thing that didn't make him itch like crazy. Then it was discontinued, of course. Now he's on Purina Beyond Adventure (also made by Purina and still expensive). He was doing fine on it since we discovered it last spring or summer but now he's starting to react a bit to it. Not quite as bad as he does to everything else but we've tried just about every food out there . . . Various types of grain free, organic, Science Diet, etc. He seems to have a problem with chicken in almost anything. We've tried Venison, Lamb, Salmon, etc. I have a large flock of Muscovies and always have too many males. Our next step is going to be to try making our own food if he can tolerate duck . . .

Raw food. I've fed duck, chicken, beef, pork, fish, lamb, goat... I have a dog with allergies. It takes a long time on a food for them to clear. My dogs did amazing on raw. With 3 dogs, 2 being large, it was too hard to stock so much meat and source it. I was feeding over 5 lbs of meat a day. They are now on grain free from Costco. I give them raw once in awhile, I add probiotocs, raw eggs, water, polluck or salmon oil. They are doing great. No hotspots. Beats an insanely expensive Rx diet and steroids any day. If I could afford it I would do raw again in a heartbeat. Check out my pet carnivore.com

 

[aart]

You know it's been cold when 10 degrees feels warm,
10 degrees with the sun on your face feels downright luxurious,
and 20 degrees in a sunny coop makes you take your gloves off and unzip your jacket.

 

[birdman55]

well pipes froze on the well pit...so no water for atleast a half a day...maybe more...fun stuff....had to get stuff done when all your doing is trying to get water...glad thing i have 100 gallons of stored water for these times...

have a good day everyone

 

[uchytil]

It's been so long since I've checked in here. I don't think I will be able to sit and read the older posts to catch up so I will just start fresh, I guess.

This weather is proving to be too cold for my old bones . . . On the up side? My heated hose works like a champ. My son and I used to haul water out by the gallons to the horse trough the (not-so) good old fashioned way. Now I can just plug the hose in for about 20 minutes and then fill the trough. So much easier on my back!

My flock is finally starting to lay again. I got 9 eggs today (though one was frozen and cracked). Not bad considering approximately half of my hens are 2 - 3 1/2 years old. I will probably have to cull some this year and replace them with younger stock. I've been thinking about scaling back on the numbers but then I see all these fun breeds that I would like to add . . .

I hope everyone is well and staying warm! And that your flocks are surviving this arctic weather/polar vortex or whatever they are calling it these days!

Wow, I remember us talking about that last winter (I think) and last winter was much harder that this year! That's great that you have a way that works for you. I still haul water to the goats and unless I did a well out there that's the way it has to be. Luckily in the warm weather I can run a side hose from my blueberry sprinklers and use that to fill them up.

 

[gaitngirl]

The heated hose is only 40 ft. It doesn't reach all the way out to the trough but I have a non-freezing hose hooked up to it. So long as I make sure both hoses are completely drained after use, it works well enough. It was still a good investment in my case.
I am thinking about adding a goat or 2 to my menagerie this year. I had an issue with something getting my ducks in December. Going over the 6 ft fence and eating all or part of them. I was losing one duck every other night for a short while. And one polish hen that roosted on top of the duck pen at night. I've enlarged the pen and will be adding several more 10 ft panels in the spring. If I can find a medium-sized goat to house with them, I am hoping it may be a deterrent for predators. A quart or two of fresh goats milk would be a nice bonus, too. I want to set up a fodder system in my basement this fall for my herd/flocks/etc. Such big ideas . . . We will see, I guess.

 

[bigmrg74]

that is the question for the day

nice to live so close to work.

took fresh water out to the coop this AM wasn't to bad, only -2

Yeah, there was ice this morning in the girls heated waterer this morning.

Just around the outer rim on the thing. I made the girls a big bowl of oatmeal with sunflower seeds, flak seeds, chia seeds, mealworms, some pumpkin seeds and a little dab of honey in it as well. They loved that. 2 eggs so far. About time for me to go get a shower and wander into work today.

 

[ChickenLady2014]

well pipes froze on the well pit...so no water for atleast a half a day...maybe more...fun stuff....had to get stuff done when all your doing is trying to get water...glad thing i have 100 gallons of stored water for these times...

have a good day everyone