Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[bigmrg74]

Troyer!!! Great group here! I assume you will have chickens when you move here. We do get together for an awesome picnic every year in the Lansing area. It's always the 3rd Sat in June! You can meet so many crazy chicken people! lol

Anyone want a nipple waterer? Bucket type. Flint area now, soon to be Lansing area. Let me know. My chickens never got the hang of it.

Nipple waterer are great, you just gotta be a little patient with the girls about getting them trained to use one. Its probably too hot outside right now to do it, but keep it and try again later when its cooler out. Personally I picked a day that was kinda rainy to swap out the regular waterer with the nipple waterer, and just made sure there was some watery snacks in the coop with them to help them stay a little hydrated for the next day or so. After a couple of hours, it might be a good idea to catch a couple of them and put their heads under the nipples and play with the nipples to show them that it drips water. Once one of them catches on, the rest of the flock should have it figured out in a day or so.

Picked up a shift today at work, and its slow. Only have appointments at the start, and at the end at 4. And if somebody doesn't call or show up in the next 20 minutes, those would be my only 2 today.

 

[Wynette]

Nipple waterer are great, you just gotta be a little patient with the girls about getting them trained to use one. Its probably too hot outside right now to do it, but keep it and try again later when its cooler out. Personally I picked a day that was kinda rainy to swap out the regular waterer with the nipple waterer, and just made sure there was some watery snacks in the coop with them to help them stay a little hydrated for the next day or so. After a couple of hours, it might be a good idea to catch a couple of them and put their heads under the nipples and play with the nipples to show them that it drips water. Once one of them catches on, the rest of the flock should have it figured out in a day or so.

Do you have any experience using them with supplements in the water? I use AviaCharge 2000 in all of my chickens' waterers, and it's kelp based with small bits of kelp throughout it. I would love to try a nipple waterer, but I'm a bit worried that the small kelp pieces may clog it.

 

[bigmrg74]

Do you have any experience using them with supplements in the water? I use AviaCharge 2000 in all of my chickens' waterers, and it's kelp based with small bits of kelp throughout it. I would love to try a nipple waterer, but I'm a bit worried that the small kelp pieces may clog it.

Well, I've only started to use a nipple waterer in the spring here, so you might be right on that. I can't think of the names of some of the stuff I've used on mine, but its a safe for laying hens wormer, probiotic, and a general cleanser drops that you put in to start. I have also just gone with a big shot of Apple Cider Vinegar in the waterer as well, and that's all seemed to have worked fine.

 

[aart]

Particulates of any significant size(grain of sand) could keep the valve from closing - creating a leak,
on wither the horizontal or vertical nipples.

 

[Wynette]

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like it could potentially be a big, wet mess if the kelp got stuck.

 

[aart]

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like it could potentially be a big, wet mess if the kelp got stuck.

I'd distribute the kelp another way ....I love my heated horizontal waterer in the winter.

 

[Wynette]

I'd distribute the kelp another way ....I love my heated horizontal waterer in the winter.

Good point, I could mix it in with their treats or feed.

do you have pics of your heated horizontal waterer? A friend told me about a stock tank system she uses in the winter with nipple waterers and says she never has issues with it freezing. I just can't visualize it, but she keeps telling me she'll send pics and then forgetting.

 

[aart]

Quote: Here's the whole story:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/aarts-heated-waterer-with-horizontal-nipples
there's thread linked in article with discussion and for questions if you have them.

 

[Wynette]

Perfect; thanks! Off to read............

 

[OldMissionChick]

Hello there!

I found this thread to look for anyone local as a sort of "Chicken Mentor" (Hen-tor?) but there are 3,411 pages of posts... lol... so I just recently moved to Michigan in May with my husband.  We opened a BBQ food truck and have a lot of acreage and I'm thinking about chickens in the next 1-2 years.  We have a strange living situation where we have a 12 month lease with the option to buy at the end, and if we don't buy it we aren't sure if we will be allowed to renew for another year or not, so I am not making ANY chicken plans until we make those bigger decisions.  Moving with 2 dogs and a cat is hard enough, I can't imagine moving a bunch of outdoor birds, too!

So we live in the middle of Antrim County, in Central Lake Township close to Torch Lake.  There is a house up the road with a BUNCH of free roaming chickens, but I haven't met the neighbors yet and don't want to just knock on their door like a Jehova's Witness asking "Do you have a minute to talk about our lord and saviour poultry christ?"  I want to start with eggs, beause I eat two a day and I make a LOT of pies to sell on the truck.  Eventually I would love to look into meat chickens, meat rabbits, and meat quails, but I'm not nearly at that point yet.  We aren't doing poultry on the truck yet, and the rabbit and quail would be for the animals and the future brick and mortar restaurant a few years down the road.  I'm looking at breeds and just wondering where you all get chicks locally.

Anyway sorry I'm blathering, thank you for reading! ^_^

Not to far from me! I live in Otsego county near the Antrim / Kalkaska / Crawford borders. This is our first year with chickens& ducks and has been a great experience so far. With 8 chickens & 3 duck hens we have eggs coming out of our ears lol. Do your research on different breeds & figure out your coop. Theres lots of great people here that have taught me a lot in the past few months.