Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[1muttsfan]

Not with Botulism - it is fortunately rare. If your mulch pile is aerated properly (turned over regularly) then the botulism bacteria would be less likely to grow. We hear reports up here of water birds dying from botulism that grows in algal blooms and then the toxins are ingested by the birds - sometimes there will be dead ducks strewn on beaches.

Aflatoxins I have seen, not in birds but in dogs that got into garbage. Oral activated charcoal products will bind the toxin in the digestive tract and allow it to be passed, but I have not used them in chickens. This website does talk about using activated charcoal the the dose used in chickens -
http://gardentenders.com/members/XploreOrganics/blog/40

 

[1muttsfan]

Just as a side note I always laugh when people talk abut feeding "all natural" diets - Botulism is all-natural, as are aflatoxins, arsenic and crude oil. Natural is not all that it is cracked up to be!

 

[BackyardFarmMom]

Okay, went back to the thread and they discussed whether it was Botulism or Mycotoxicosis... So then I had to look that up...
Alfatoxin poisoning is called Mycotoxicosis in chickens....Are there more names for different alfatoxins?
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/100/mycotoxicosis

Charcoal... interesting! Thanks!
I am trying to be absorb as much as I can to be able to tell the differences between possible illnesses...I like to have ideas on where to start if something were to happen... so many illnesses have the same symptoms and birds succumb to them so fast!!

 

[BackyardFarmMom]

Just as a side note I always laugh when people talk abut feeding "all natural" diets - Botulism is all-natural, as are aflatoxins, arsenic and crude oil. Natural is not all that it is cracked up to be!

Right!


When I was grooming, the shop I worked in started selling All Natural dog food... they had a video for us to watch that said other brands could add leather shoes to their food and call it protien...
I thought that was creepy.

 

[BackyardFarmMom]

 

[NovaAman]

Botulism is not a mold byproduct, it is the toxin produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum. Botulism grows best in oxygen-deprived surroundings, which is why it grows well in canned foods that are not processed properly. The toxin is odorless and tasteless. It causes flaccid paralysis, and kills by paralyzing the breathing muscles.

Certain molds can produce aflatoxins, which affect the nervous system leading to tremors, seizures, and other nervous system signs.

Good thing I stated my source, so I wouldn't look like a total idiot. LOL

 

[1muttsfan]

Yes but shoe leather is all natural too! As are ground up rawhide and acid-processed chicken feathers - not only all natural, but almost 100% protein, all 3. Of course it it poor-quality, poorly-digestable protein, but can be labeled as 100% protein and sold as all-natural.

Still very windy up here. Yesterday I was watchng the Arnold line catamaran ferry - a 3-story behemouth - crossing the straits. Some of the waves were breaking over the top of the boat. Not a ride I would like to take.

 

[chickflick]

It's a lot calmer here, thank you Lord!! Sometimes a bit misty, and still cold. When's spring?

 

[RaZ]

There were quite a few people at the Ag meeting today to specifically address the proposed GAAMP changes.

The commissioners are getting familiar with some of us and our mission. I am not quite sure what some of them think of us backyard farmers, but overall I think that they recognize that we are a group with needs that should be addressed. It was mentioned that perhaps some GAAMPs relating to small operations be explored.

Counterpoint to that were comments made by Jim Johnson and Wayne Whitman who said that new GAAMPs would be too difficult to create for small operations. Commissioner Don Coe suggested that a task force could be formed to look into this.

It would be in our common interest to write to the MDARD and ask them to table the proposed changes to the site GAMMPs for this year until a better, more comprehensive proposal can be drafted that protects us small operations from local restrictions.

I'll post more once I gather and organize my notes.

Contact info for MDARD is:
http://michigan.gov/mdard/0,4610,7-125-2762---C,00.html

 

[snowflake]

Any one in MI know where to get good feed cheap & as close to Detroit as possible?

Welcome tndalexander, good to see more new chicken keepers

I love my local feed store's homemade layer mash, and it is dusty too. What I do, and it has eliminated 99% of waste, is I mix it with a little water. The layer mash literally becomes a wet mash. And the chickens DEVOUR it. I only make what they'll eat within a few hours, so they get some twice a day. Yes, it is higher maintenance, but the chickens eat everything.

I do find even with the crumbles the chooks LOVE it wet?

It's a lot calmer here, thank you Lord!! Sometimes a bit misty, and still cold. When's spring?

Less wind here also



KUDOS to Randy Jen, Brian and Michel (not a bycer but may be soon ) they all did excellent jobs putting forth comments to the GAAMPS commission.

I have to say I came away just as confused as when I went in, More informed but still confused.... out in the hall I understood Beatrice? (one of the commissioners) to say michelle (with 80 acres who can not meet the 1/4 mile requirement from coop to property line that she didn't need to worry because she was in an agricultural area, (?) how ever we were also told that residential areas are not covered by the RTFA, ??

She (Beatrice) I think that was her name, did want to be a part of a committee to help organize guide lines for small and back yard farms. I'm am not sure if she called it a GAAMPS for small and hobby farms. but it was my understanding that was what she meant. this would be a good thing, perhaps getting a set of regulations that individual communities could go to for guide lines