Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[aart]

Nice trailer, aart. Kinda jealous tbh.

Thanks.
That's what he said...well, he didn't say it(of course not), but I could see it in his eyes. haha!

 

[taprock]

Sorry I do not like fall! Nothing ever dries and my allergies are molds and mildews so I end up miserable until everything is frozen.

This morning a coop of chickens is having fits before I opened them. I peek in to find a cat snuggled up to a broody hen. I closed up after dark last night and didn't even check inside. The hen didn't seem to mind him at all. He's welcome to stay as long as he's not messing with birds and eats his share of mice.

 

[bigmrg74]

Sorry I do not like fall! Nothing ever dries and my allergies are molds and mildews so I end up miserable until everything is frozen.

This morning a coop of chickens is having fits before I opened them. I peek in to find a cat snuggled up to a broody hen. I closed up after dark last night and didn't even check inside. The hen didn't seem to mind him at all. He's welcome to stay as long as he's not messing with birds and eats his share of mice.

no picture of this???

 

[uchytil]

Good morning! We are a quiet group this week. Everyone enjoying fall? The trees are beautiful, love it! My coop still isn't stained, but there is still time... Mary

Have not been on here since Jilly died beginning of September. Wow, it's fall already...seems like we were just over at Chickenstock! I have most of the official stuff for the event now, sign-in book, raffle tickets, odds and ends. Can't wait for spring and another party with you all and hopefully many more. Meat chickens go to freezer camp tomorrow. Goats need their hooves trimmed. Rescued someones flock of layers and a roo. Need to integrate at some point. Breed goat, breed pigs...oh boy I wish it were spring already.

 

[taprock]

He went from snuggling the hen on the floor to the eaves. The food was me trying to lure him out. He was around until about 11 and then disappeared. The neighbor said it looked like one of her barn cats.

 

[aart]

He went from snuggling the hen on the floor to the eaves. The food was me trying to lure him out. He was around until about 11 and then disappeared. The neighbor said it looked like one of her barn cats.

Ha!
I thought it was your cat.
I would think he would be welcome to visit for mouse snacks.
Great pic!

 

[lovechicks1293]

Hello Hello Hello! it's been awhile! hope everyone has been doing good and all is well.

 

[lovechicks1293]

has anyone gotten any chicks this fall? i know some people who like to get their chicks during fall.

 

[RaZ]

Sorry I do not like fall! Nothing ever dries and my allergies are molds and mildews so I end up miserable until everything is frozen.

About six weeks ago I did a deep clean of my coop. Pulled out all of the straw that had been there for two years. That was part of my DLM (deep litter method) experiment. I had been monitoring the temperature and moisture content of the litter as well as the humidity and air temperature of the coop.

I replaced the straw with wood shaving from TSC, again aiming for DLM. two of the bags had gotten wet so I thought that I could dry them out. One bale onto a screen-bottom trailer and the other spread over a wooden workbench in the garage. Neither dried out. In fact, the shavings on the bench were so wet that mould started to grow on the bench itself. The bench top will need to be replaced because it is so wet and mouldy. The whole experiment is making me rethink wood shavings in the coop.

I'm still analyzing the data but I think that a) wood shavings retain too much moisture and harbour mould growth and b) straw deep litter is much drier and better for the chickens. But it does not produce heat as some people claim. Conditions for composting are not met. I'm sure that the inter-web will want to argue that point.

 

[Folly's place]

Raz, I normally buy baled shavings at my local feed mills, and they have been fine. A few weeks ago I bought TSC shavings, and they aren't so good, IMO. Try another brand/ source. Mary