Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[BigHope888]

Hello, Everyone! Well, I am finally in the Chicken Owners club...there are 6 beautiful baby chicks (pullets) in a cardboard brooder in my basement. And W.O.W. They are supercute. They grow so fast. They do everything in groups. They all freeze when I slurp my morning coffee. This is going to be an amazing adventure. With a lot of eggs.

My cat is singing the anguished wailing song known as "Huumanwhywon'tyouletmeplaywithwhatevericanheardownstairrrrrrssssssss?"

 

[myfarm4579]

Good morning to all!!

 

[tdhenson86]

Another morning with subzero temperatures reaching dangerous levels. I know that I have absolutely no love of winter any more.

x2! It feels like mid-January. NOT the end of February. I'm ready for spring!

 

[RaZ]

Hello, Everyone! Well, I am finally in the Chicken Owners club...there are 6 beautiful baby chicks (pullets) in a cardboard brooder in my basement. And W.O.W. They are supercute. They grow so fast. They do everything in groups. They all freeze when I slurp my morning coffee. This is going to be an amazing adventure. With a lot of eggs.

My cat is singing the anguished wailing song known as "Huumanwhywon'tyouletmeplaywithwhatevericanheardownstairrrrrrssssssss?"

So what did you get?

 

[eatwhatyougrow]

Originally Posted by ASilkieLife14

I have a little story for everyone. So we had extra Roos (we still do) and wanted to rehome them. We didn't want them to get eaten cause they were our pets. So we went ahead and looked on Craigslist for people looking for roosters. We found a guy looking for a buff Orpington. We had a rooster but we didn't know if he was a golden buff or a buff Orpington. We called him and told him that we had a rooster that was a buff color but it might be a golden golden buff. He really didn't seem to care what it was as long it was the size, shape, and color similar to it. He to us he was a hatchery of some sort. I don't get why he could look any harder to find something that was for sure a Orpington if he was going to call his chicks buff Orpingtons. Anyway he still wanted it, but, he wanted to trade something for it. An other rooster! We didn't want anymore roosters we told him. We kind of wanted something for him but if a roo was all he had he could have our roo for nothing! He kept asking if we wanted to trade. No no no we would reply. So anyway he still wanted the rooster so he ask if we could set up a time. We did then he started asking what kind of chickens we had. We told him we had silkies and amarucana's. A couple days late he come... WITH A ROOSTER. We told him we didn't want it. He said "But it's a amarucana. It would be purfect for your hens. I can't say mine are pure amarucana's because we bought them from TSC a while back but all I know is his wasn't. He practicly took our rooster, through the other rooster (EE) in our cage a empty cage, ran to his car and drove away! So then we had this rooster which we didn't need and it wasn't even pure bred Amarucana. So that's how we "downsized our roosters" not. I still have this EE roo. He is healthy as far as I can tell and isn't mean at all. He is nice but I don't need him. Sometimes you think you have seen it all, until something like this happens

okay so the other side of the story is this.....I have this little hatchery and I was looking to add Buff Orpington to my line up and I had this great rooster his name was friendly Blu and he would eat right out of my three year olds hand and he would come on our deck and he would look in the window at the kids watching tv he would peck the window to get their attention...he was a great roo...
Well then this vicious neighbors dog got loose one day and made it passed my outer fence, the kids left the gate open and into the back and dug under the fence I had temporarily put up for Blu and his girls and killed Blu and al the girls...didn't eat them just killed them...well I said to that guy hey man I was going to use these birds to breed and they cost me a lot of money I had a lot into them and this was the best roo I ever owned...and he was like oh sorry I got a friend with some chickens how bout I just give you those... and I was like I don't want your stupi chickens I just want my Blu back....and so he comes over and brings these 8 hens a little bany roo and this EE roo which I don't want and the neighbors hate that I have chickens and the kids are crying because Blu is dead and it was the 3 year old who found him dead and so I start posting on craigslist so I can find a blu not just for me but for the kids....
So then these great people contact me and are like hey we have this roo but he might not be buff he might be golden but I am like is his size color shape right and he is so I am like okay well hey can I give you something for him because I just think I mean they put money into this roo and raised him I mean can I trade you something for him and they are like no you can just have him...so the day comes when I am supposed to go get the new Blu and I am about to get in the car and leave when my wife comes running up to the car and said here you need to get rid of this EE roo because we cant have all these Roos around and I don't want to eat him so you take care of it...so now I am driving to go get the New Blu and the world will be right but I have to get rid of the EE and he seems like a good roo and its so cold out and so I get ther and I don't know what came over me but I just tok the new blu and threw that ee in there and took off.....I am sorry but I just didn't know what to do......but hey the new Blu is great.....

okay so not really but wouldn't be funny if it was true.......I mean if the guy has a hatchery and is from Michigan I would imagine he is on here somewhere.....hahahaha okay it is so cold out...

@birdman when ever I do plumbing I put in shut off values...the person who gets this house after us is going to be like this guy had an obsession with shut off valves....

 

[birdman55]

lol...i have installed turn offs everywhere...cause when the time happens...just start turning knobs...lol....one of them will turn it off....lol...it so worked to ...the first one i turned the water stopped...

as for peafowl...some can produce at two but you will not be having any until the male gets a hump in his neck...as from what i have found out...its testosterone build up...so when my four year old male gets this i will be moving the trio into their breeding pen...and we are close...so when my birds get it then your should be getting close as well...also i believe the male has to be older more like 3/4 years....but dont quote me on that one...as it seems when you post your thoughts on things on here...you get to ruffling feathers on some people ....which that is not my intention...you will have a better egg count next year for sure....and if you dont then i would replace the male...n im sure you know what i mean from our discussion in a different forum has caused a total confusion...even with what i was told...it was true...but so much more complicated then just f1 f2 f3....as you will read on the other forum...

 

[uchytil]

Anyone want a sweet buck? He does not smell bucky at all! Need to sell him to get a smelly one for my ladies!
http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/grd/4908617514.html

That's too funny. I saw this add and recognized the phone number, looked at my contact list and saw it was you. Anyway good luck moving him.

 

[uchytil]

Back from Boston, Ma. Dad's heart surgery went well. He'll have to hire kids to shovel and he'll be bored watching them, lol. Being a big city, and getting more snow than I could imagine, Boston is struggling with the stuff. I lived in Sault Ste. Marie, where they have the most snow in the country right now but I can tell you it's worse in Boston in terms of where to put the stuff! Cars that got buried by plows are just sitting next to curbs and will be until spring. I've never seen more cars with broken off driver side mirrors. Anyone that parks on a street is just asking to lose their mirror! Sidewalks, like by my daughter's house, have 6 foot banks on either side. City's around Boston make residents shovel sidewalks in front of their house or you get fined! Well it's good to be back and tending animals. Much more relaxing than my grandson, lol! He wore me out.

 

[misfitmorgan]

lol...i have installed turn offs everywhere...cause when the time happens...just start turning knobs...lol....one of them will turn it off....lol...it so worked to ...the first one i turned the water stopped...

as for peafowl...some can produce at two but you will not be having any until the male gets a hump in his neck...as from what i have found out...its testosterone build up...so when my four year old male gets this i will be moving the trio into their breeding pen...and we are close...so when my birds get it then your should be getting close as well...also i believe the male has to be older more like 3/4 years....but dont quote me on that one...as it seems when you post your thoughts on things on here...you get to ruffling feathers on some people ....which that is not my intention...you will have a better egg count next year for sure....and if you dont then i would replace the male...n im sure you know what i mean from our discussion in a different forum has caused a total confusion...even with what i was told...it was true...but so much more complicated then just f1 f2 f3....as you will read on the other forum...

It's not my peafowl but i will let him know...i dont know how old his male is but i know he is over 2yrs old cause the guy has had them for 2yrs and the male is fully feathered out, with the long tail feathers and all...very pretty birds. Even if the male wasnt old enough the hen would still be laying eggs same as a chicken wouldnt she? i dunno maybe he will give he another season...if not do you have any interest in a white peahen? lmao Probly more interested in the pied indian peacock, i might try to buy the pair off him maybe...i dunno so much poultry going on already and more to come, peacocks might have to wait until next year as we already have many chicken breeds, ducks, ringnecks comming(from you birdman, did your blue mutations make any eggs yet?) 2-3 types of turkeys, guinea's and i dont even know what else this year. The chicken list alone is expanded to about 15 breeds for this year....lots of pens. And that farm who had alll those pens, that were given to Greg by the owner, well the poor guy has dementia and alziemers and is not doing good so he went to a home and his daughter who has power of attourney was like "make an offer" when greg asked if he could come pick them up...yeah right why would he buy something he was already given and did a lot of work for. So basically we will just have to make our own pens, we might get the best of her though, if we buy the place she has 30 days to move everything off of it and there is a metric ton of stuff and she won't bother to do it. Anyhow thats my rant for the day and no feather ruffled from you, pretty much everything on BYC is just discuss for me and i dont get ruffled, different points of view, opinions etc...it is what it is, i still enjoy all the discussions.

 

[misfitmorgan]

So sorry about birdman!

Welcome to all newbies!

I am so ready for spring too, but I am not looking forward to the mudseason though. Mud has a way of getting everywhere!

Anyone want a sweet buck? He does not smell bucky at all! Need to sell him to get a smelly one for my ladies!
http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/grd/4908617514.html

You might give your buck another month or two...they seem slower to developed the rape all the girls mentality. We have a pure nubian buck who is just now coming up on 12 months and only started showing interested in the girls about a week ago, until then he could have cared less and he also does not yet smell like a buck...our saanen buck was a bit quicker, showing the ladies his best bits around about 11 month and now at 13 months he has the buck smell and is actively trying to bred back the girls who kidded already in his pen. If he is the only buck you have and you have "seasonal" breeding does they likely will not come into heat until august unless "exposed" to a "new" buck..so we trick ours. If you have the space move the buck to a different pen for 1-2 weeks where he can not see the girls and then put him back with your girls and they should come in within a week or two. Or you can sell him and try another buck but it is still going to take 1-2 weeks before they come in after the new buck arrives.