Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[fuzzybutt love]

Hmm. Sounds like that PUL would be a superior chicken saddle material too.
I put those on my hens in the fall/ winter because they spend more time in the coop, and i like my girls to keep their pretty new feathers! I take them off late spring when the weather warms, and then the minimal amount they lose in the summer is quickly replaced by fall molt. They figure out pretty quick how to flip the saddle up to groom.

 

[Opa]

Congrats on the deer!!

shoot... ever since the early doe season, I've not seen hardly any deer. Hopefully I'll have better luck this year, last year was bad though I held out and took a fawn last day of late doe... I really tried to hold out for an older deer, but saw zero other than the same fawn (and I only took her cause the freezer was void of venison)! I've taken a few deer in street clothes... but never a dress!.... socks once in the snow.... but then again, it's rare that you'll ever see me in a dress anyway.

Now that I think about it don't think I've ever killed a deer while wearing a dress either!

 

[NovaAman]

You should have taken a picture! Congrats.

See I'm not THAT weird!

It's either that, or you are contagious... HEHE

Now that I think about it don't think I've ever killed a deer while wearing a dress either!

I am thinking... Opa... Dress... Halloween!

 

[NovaAman]

MrsHaggie, I do not think it was the weather that did it. I had ducks last winter, they had an open faced coop, only the door was solid along with 3 walls. The front wall with the door was 1/2 door and half hardware cloth. If it was the cold, they should have died several times over. SO, she was probably already weaker... Not as hardy... Sorry for your loss though, I just don't think there was anything you would have been able to do regardless unless you were planning to heat, in which case, you still would have had a bird who wasn't as hardy... Oh, I am betting this is sounding cold hearted, but I don't mean it to. Just don't blame yourself is all...

 

[fuzzybutt love]

I am going through the "not as hardy" thing with my booted bantam hen i picked up at TSC in the spring.

She was a weaker chick but i got her going with lots of attention, vitamins, and sugar water. Now, she is the one who is the worst off with the sneezing

 

[Scifisarah]

I am going through the "not as hardy" thing with my booted bantam hen i picked up at TSC in the spring.

She was a weaker chick but i got her going with lots of attention, vitamins, and sugar water. Now, she is the one who is the worst off with the sneezing

Do those of you with silkie chickens give them any special treatment in the winter for our Michigan clime? I finally let my bantam cochins go through the winter without a heat lamp for the first time last year and they seemed to fare just fine even when I would leave their chicken door open at night, but I am worried about the silkies with their different feather structure.

 

[mrshaggie810]

MrsHaggie, I do not think it was the weather that did it. I had ducks last winter, they had an open faced coop, only the door was solid along with 3 walls. The front wall with the door was 1/2 door and half hardware cloth. If it was the cold, they should have died several times over. SO, she was probably already weaker... Not as hardy... Sorry for your loss though, I just don't think there was anything you would have been able to do regardless unless you were planning to heat, in which case, you still would have had a bird who wasn't as hardy... Oh, I am betting this is sounding cold hearted, but I don't mean it to. Just don't blame yourself is all...

No, not harsh at all...that makes me feel way better...she was smaller than my drake by quite a bit, even though they were the same type of cross, but I assumed it was just because she was female. Even though it sucks...I would rather have hardy birds...so I guess it's for the best. It does make me feel better though because I was really kicking myself...and also couldn't understand why my drake was perfectly fine...except for that he is bigger...anyways...thanks.

 

[Amy PT]

I don't know anything about ducks, but I think there's someone looking for a home for ducks a few pages back, isn't there?

 

[kimmie6067]

Yahoooooo we have eggs finally!!!!!! And a new coop!

Kimmie

 

[Amy PT]

I'm turning over parts of the garden, and am curious. Can/will/should chickens eat pumpkin plant leaves? How about zucchini?