Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[BackyardFarmMom]

How is everyone elses morning going?
Hmmm... so far I have had to...

dig a small toy out of a babys mouth,
clean a 3yos feces up off my dinning room floor,
change and shower the child that pooed,
clean up spilled water from the humidifier (caused by two 3yo)
change and shower the same 3yo because he put the soiled pants BACK ON out of the dirty laundry (because the knee of his new pants got wet in the water they spilled from the humidifier)

Also, it is BFs b-day... He calls all upset because he heard that backyard farm eggs test positive for lead.
Now he is a big conspiracy person... I said that they could be reporting that because they are trying to thin out backyard farming and are changing the laws...
He said he did not want our son eating any eggs unless they are from a store...

Why did we get chickens if not to be a healthier family?????
I WANTED QUAIL!!!! JUST A COUPLE QUAIL!!!!!!

Have any of you had your eggs tested for lead?

I am done with today. Is it Friday yet?

Anyone had suggestions about a chick with a chronically poop-covered butt? One of my wyandotte hatchlings has it. The other 2 are fine. I've given this poor chick a bath for 3 days in a row now, and it immediately looks pasty again 2 hours later.

Maybe some Castor oil? Just a drop or 2. Castor oil can be used for runny poo and the lack of poo.-
DISCLAIMER I have never used Castor oil with my chicks and I am not sure if it would work

I found that giving chicks warm water to drink actually solidified their poo.

Yeah, it sure seems like when it rains, it pours....

I know how scary it is to have a dog projectile vomit! Last year Gunny couldn't keep any food down and I was afraid that he had eaten something non eatable out of the garbage that he had ransacked a few days before...
I hope it passes with no other problems and he is cleared for surgery!

I saw this picture and it sent me on a memory trip of almost 50 years, back to the last time I had mess tent coffee during a Army winter field problem. Coffee grounds were brought to a boil in a large pot and after the cook felt the color was correct egg shells were added to settle the grounds. You'd dip you metal canteen cup in hoping to not get too many grounds. First sip would scald the skin from your lips and tongue, and the last swallow would be ice cold. Plus you would usually have to chew your coffee.

Lets add all that to the list of why I don't drink coffee... (But if you send a guy over that looks like that...I might reconsider...

)

I love Garfield so this made me smile...not crazy about those words either though. lol!


Not crazy about the weather we've been having...Darkwing seems to be holding his own though...looks like we'll have a lot more company here for him in the next couple weeks!

I love Garfield as well! I was born on his birthday so he has always held a special place.
Ohhh are you getting some new ladies???

PS I use to watch Darkwing Duck LOL

 

[gladahmae]

Also, it is BFs b-day... He calls all upset because he heard that backyard farm eggs test positive for lead.
Now he is a big conspiracy person... I said that they could be reporting that because they are trying to thin out backyard farming and are changing the laws...
He said he did not want our son eating any eggs unless they are from a store...

Why did we get chickens if not to be a healthier family?????
I WANTED QUAIL!!!! JUST A COUPLE QUAIL!!!!!!

Have any of you had your eggs tested for lead?

ummm....they did that study in NY City. History of that city? Industrial. So lead is there anyway. And they only tested 58 eggs. AND none of the eggs tested at levels higher than what is allowed in CANDY. So yeah. Inflammatory news. If you're actually worried about it, I would start by getting the soil where your chickens generally hang out tested for lead.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/d...ead-for-new-yorks-garden-fresh-eggs.html?_r=0





I'm making venison stew for the boys tonight. I'm making a lot so I can have some when I get home from work and not have to cook myself lunch for a few days. I'm considering some quick bread too. Seems like a good day to bake bread.

 

[BackyardFarmMom]

ummm....they did that study in NY City. History of that city? Industrial. So lead is there anyway. And they only tested 58 eggs. AND none of the eggs tested at levels higher than what is allowed in CANDY. So yeah. Inflammatory news. If you're actually worried about it, I would start by getting the soil where your chickens generally hang out tested for lead.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/d...ead-for-new-yorks-garden-fresh-eggs.html?_r=0



I'm making venison stew for the boys tonight. I'm making a lot so I can have some when I get home from work and not have to cook myself lunch for a few days. I'm considering some quick bread too. Seems like a good day to bake bread.

That is the article that I found too. He says he thinks that it was from MI... He is known to not "hear" things correctly...if at all...
We probably will get the soil tested
Some days he frustrates me to no end...
"Don't let the kid eat that... I thought you weren't supposed to use the reward system..."

 

[chicken grandma]

Sillychicken - what is that?

Pasty Butt - I have used lukewarm water instead of cold with birds and found that it helps them. Also, I always keep a tube of BENEBAC on hand and if any bird had loose stools, they would get a drop of it. It is a bird probiotic and just like eating yogurt or taking a probiotic for a human, it helps birds, chicks, chickens keep a healthy flora in their gut! Good luck with that!

 

[Scifisarah]

I'm pretty sure Randy has his chicks listed as pullets now. 3-4wks old and $3 each? I think it's him anyhow. I've talked myself in and out of driving all the way down there a few times this week.

Anyone had suggestions about a chick with a chronically poop-covered butt? One of my wyandotte hatchlings has it. The other 2 are fine. I've given this poor chick a bath for 3 days in a row now, and it immediately looks pasty again 2 hours later.

I have had trouble with this and the thing that made mine better was grinding up their chick starter in a coffee grinder before giving it to them. When they get older I don't have to do it, but it seems like some of them can't digest those big chunks as well and it is rough on their insides.

 

[greenmimama]

So, how much do chicks drink? They drained a gal container in 3 hours?


I need to get my 5 gal buckets so I can make my larger feeders and waterers. Is there a good tutorial for it on BYC? I know I saw one on a blog somewhere.

Would you like a 5 gal feeder, or a 5 ft long gutter feeder, I am thinking I could fit more feed into the 5gal buckets right?

Help me so I am not always talking to myself here

 

[RaZ]

How is everyone elses morning going?
Hmmm... so far I have had to...

Now he is a big conspiracy person... I said that they could be reporting that because they are trying to thin out backyard farming and are changing the laws...

I have had trouble with this and the thing that made mine better was grinding up their chick starter in a coffee grinder before giving it to them. When they get older I don't have to do it, but it seems like some of them can't digest those big chunks as well and it is rough on their insides.

It seems like a lot of us have been having "one of those days" for a couple of weeks. From pasty butt chicks to poopy butt kids. From leaden fall skies to lead in chicken eggs. I'm going to refuse to let the negative stuff get to me. I declare Happy Hump Day. Where good thoughts and good things happen.

So...
The lead in eggs story was debunked years ago as there was no scientific basis for the claim. (i.e. tabloid news reporting). While science has shown that chickens are more tolerant of environmental lead, there has been no correlation of bio-accumulation of lead in their eggs.

That is a good tip, Scifisarah,
I wonder if the hand feeding formula for hand rearing parrots would work as well? Next time I'm at the pet store I'm going to check ingredients. It mine be something to keep in the chicken first aid kit.

Now I am going to go back outside and put the new cable on the mower deck and beat all these leaves in to submission. Free leaves are free nutrients for the lawn and compost heap. It's like free money!

Enjoy the day folks, it's going to be a good one.

 

[NovaAman]

So, how much do chicks drink? They drained a gal container in 3 hours?


I need to get my 5 gal buckets so I can make my larger feeders and waterers. Is there a good tutorial for it on BYC? I know I saw one on a blog somewhere.

Would you like a 5 gal feeder, or a 5 ft long gutter feeder, I am thinking I could fit more feed into the 5gal buckets right?

Help me so I am not always talking to myself here

How many birds are you having drink out of a one gallon? I have 2 one gallon waterers that I am using at the moment on the ground, and then the piglet feeder in the summer coop that is mountedon the coop leg. They've never gone dry in 3 hours, even when I had 50+ birds. Maybe it is not sitting level, so it is draining out?

Olive gave me a great idea, and I am sure other have used it as well whether they got it from her or elsewhere. I took two 5g buckets, used a 2inch hole saw bit, drilled holes around the bottom, just above the bottom actually, then drilled a hole large enough for a nearly flat head bolt to go through. Got some metal feed pans drilled a corresponding hole in it, then bolted them together. Filled the buckets with feed, put a lid on it. No more feed where it isn't supposed to be. I still have to use one feeder that sits on the ground for the smaller chicks, so they can access feed. But I am losing less feed to the dirt now. A lot less.

 

[Scifisarah]

It seems like a lot of us have been having "one of those days" for a couple of weeks. From pasty butt chicks to poopy butt kids. From leaden fall skies to lead in chicken eggs. I'm going to refuse to let the negative stuff get to me. I declare Happy Hump Day. Where good thoughts and good things happen.

Yep, Consumers Energy just showed up in their bright yellow vests and painted a bunch of trees in my yard to cut down because they are too close to the lines. We've lived here about 6-7 years and he said they usually do this about every 8-10 years so we've been spared until now. Good-bye shade, hello dead sun-scorched lawn.

I set my eggs Saturday morning, do you think it would be okay to do their first candle now, or should I wait? I was planning on doing it Friday, but I need a pick-me-up.

 

[Brethren49619]

Went out to fill up the feeder this morning and caught on of the BRs hanging out in one of the nest boxes. Still no eggs, but hopefully they're gearing up for some production!

It will happen. It finally did with mine! Yesterday was their best day yet... 5 eggs!!

But most are at least medium in size, one fart egg (so cute and small). My EE has been laying large eggs though. Her first egg was a double yolker, somewhere between a large and extra large size. I wonder how long before the eggs start growing in size... hhhmmmmm. Any answers on that? Anyone??