Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[taprock]

I breed cochin bantams here in Lapeer Michigan.
Have over dozen bloodlines
Both smooth and frizzled

Calico Cochins are sweet and beautiful! We have a trio.

The humidity has been quite high this winter.  I have a hygrometer in the coop and it has been reading over 50% for days. Current ambient humidity is 74% with an air temp of 33'.  Conditions are near perfect for "winter dubbing".  

When it comes to frost bite this year is much more likely than last so far. When things were -27 there was no moisture.

One poultry practice that has fallen out of favor is the dubbing of birds, particularly, roosters.  This was a technique, prominent with Old English Game Birds, where the comb and wattles were partially removed.  In fact special scissors are sold solely for the purpose of trimming bird combs.
 
Frost bitten wattles and combs are so prevalent in Michigan that rather than calling it frostbite, which makes you feel that you haven't taken proper care of your birds, I've decided to call it "winter dubbing".

Last year two boys got frostbite. A Polish who can't keep his wattles dry and an oeg who is now winter dubbed. This year my oeg pair have gotten smart and roost with a standard Cochcin and snuggle up.

Yesterday I had to clean out two coops. They both have ventilation on the east side and the last storm filled them with snow. Talk about too much moisture! The sad thing is I knew it was a east wind and closed all the ventilation and packed cracks. The wind found a couple cracks about the thickness of cardboard and that was all it took.

 

[uchytil]

CX do fine in the fall, in fact, chicks won't require much more than a regular light bulb for supplemental heat, if any. But, that's keeping them in a barn, or other structure out of the sun. That said, I usually do some spring birds when FF&H, or TSC start selling around Easter. You need to keep the brooder very warm until they feather when you have cool springtime temps. I go 8-10 weeks and have nice size birds. In the fall I do more, around August and have no worse, or better luck with them. If you free range them expect tougher, leaner birds. But, don't skimp on square footage either - 50 birds require a ton of space and will make you a ton of waste! I have feeders that hold 100 pounds of feed and feed 24/7. I try and let young birds run around and catch bugs but when they get fat they stay in the barn until process day. I figure every cost I can : Chick, feed, pine chips, gas to and from the feed store, gas to and from the process point, and process cost (I use Amish). This does not account my labor time though since I don't sell them. I have sold them before and got whatever I asked because they are much better than store bought.

We roasted one last night and today I am boiling the carcass (right now) for soup. The house smells great!

 

[uchytil]

Sitting and waiting for the VA to call back and schedule my annual physical is no fun. But, that's what I'm doing - yay! In the meantime I was able to catch up with the posts and wonder where certain folks went away to (as usual that's how my mind works). I did see that RaZ saw one of the members that used to be on here - she had gotten one of my Flemish Giant does a few Chickenstocks ago. Something new for this spring - thinking about some more ducks and I hear Golden 300's are good layers so I may split an order with a gal down the road. And more baby goats based on my bucks tenacity during the rut. But, I lost my FG doe a month ago so unless I find a new doe no FG bunnies (pretty sure I'll find one, or two). Oh, and build a new pig pen in case we breed the KuneKune's. Always stuff to do.

 

[chickflick]

June 11th, 2016
Chickenstock at Delta Mills Park
7001 Old River Trail
in Lansing. 10am - 3pm
Pot Luck
Buy/Sale all sorts of critters
Someone beat me to the June 18th date!

 

[RaZ]

June 11th, 2016
Chickenstock at Delta Mills Park
7001 Old River Trail
in Lansing. 10am - 3pm
Pot Luck
Buy/Sale all sorts of critters
Someone beat me to the June 18th date!

Thanks for reserving the park for us.

 

[uchytil]

June 11th, 2016
Chickenstock at Delta Mills Park
7001 Old River Trail
in Lansing. 10am - 3pm
Pot Luck
Buy/Sale all sorts of critters
Someone beat me to the June 18th date!

Holy moly...wow...great job as usual! Now we need to get RaZ to organize and we'll be all set! Looking forward to seeing my peeps!

 

[1muttsfan]

Good job! Hope I can make it this year.

Opa, how is your farmer friend doing?

 

[Opa]

Today was a surprisingly good day. My old friend had hip surgery late in the day on the first, and today I was able to take him to the rehab center.

A few years ago I promised him that I would insure that he never went to a nursing home. Then when he broke his hip he was afraid that might happen to him. I kept insisting that I was taking him to a rehab center that would help him become more mobile so he could safely once again live alone.

In spite of my assurance he still wasn't certain what his fate would be. Fortunately their is a new beautiful rehab center in Howell and once he saw it, and talked with the staff, he is completely at ease and looking forward to his rehabilitation.

One plus is that the hospital he was in is 40 miles from my home and the rehab center is only 4.

 

[bigmrg74]

June 11th, 2016
Chickenstock at Delta Mills Park
7001 Old River Trail
in Lansing. 10am - 3pm
Pot Luck
Buy/Sale all sorts of critters
Someone beat me to the June 18th date!

Oh, that should work out better for me as I believe Amy has a wedding that she needs to drag me off too on the 18th over in the Thumb somewhere. And no, its not ours just yet.

 

[1muttsfan]

Glad to hear that the surgery went well. Surgery, even when necessary, is always a big concern.