Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[brian5161986]

Here is a picture of the girl that later the colored one.

 

[zndzant]

@brian5161986
What a pretty girl she is!

 

[yochickiemomma]

Got in one of my feeders and got stuck! ruined about 5-7# of feed and chewed holes in it. And I still turned em loose. pretty sure it's a flying squirrel.

 

[mindylee]

Really lovely birds, Mindylee

Thank you

Hubby wont agree to shipping chickens he wants me to be able to see em first hand before buying. I got burned last time I drove 2 hrs to get bantams. came home w three got scolded cuz they were younger than they were supposed to be and I brought em home anyway. I ended up giving two away that were only a few weeks old to keep peace in my house. LOL Now he gets to go w me anytime I get new chickens cuz Im too nice.
I'm patiently waiting for our next trip down state and hopefully Mary will still have a few extra milli hens. If not maybe some chicks.

I have been dealing with the same breeders for yrs and have been extremely happy with all my birds and eggs. Finding reputable breeders is hard, but when ya do... keep a great relationship with them. It pays off.
I work with some awesome breeders and have been a repeated buyer for several years now.

 

[Folly's place]

Beautiful birds, Mindy. Mary

 

[yochickiemomma]

Love the colors Mindy! Im trying to find another good breeder the lady I bought my first two cochin mix from down sized her flock and I should have bought the hens she had offered to sell me I'm kicking myself now and bummed cuz I like buying from her and trust her.

 

[bigmrg74]

x2

My young hawk has been hanging around for 2-3 days at a time then she is gone for 2-3 days before returning.
You may think I'm crazy but I am happy to see the hawk here. I even like the opossum that stops by every once in a while. I'm just happy to see a little bit of mother nature in the suburbs.

My chickens have plenty of safe places to hide when the hawk shows up and the dogs help patrol the grounds. So far so good.

Yeah, I've added a few more chairs to have out in the pen for them to use as cover, and kicking around some ideas for some more cover ideas. Thinking about getting some branches to build a little cover spot along the straw bale walls I have to block the wind.

 

[bigmrg74]

And an update on my hawk attack victim. She still seems to be eating, drinking and pooping. Overall she seems to be acting pretty normal. And I did move her into the old water tub that I use as a brooder instead of just keeping her in the pet carrier. Lets her move around a little more. She's still in the garage. Kinda debating the idea of getting one of those brooder pads for her to help keep her warm given that she's in there by herself. And if I could set her water dish on it as well to keep it from freezing, would be kinda nice. But might just be easier to keep a couple of dishes around and swapping them out as they freeze, as I'm pretty sure its going to be a long recovery for her.

One thing I have noticed that she has been smelling pretty bad. The hawk did rip some of the skin pretty close to the vent and she did get some poop on her wound earlier. have tried washing that out and been keeping meds on her to cover the wound. thinking about giving her another bath/soak to clean it out again.

 

[1muttsfan]

Try taking some warm water with epsom salts in it and doing a warm compress on that area twice a day. Epsom salts are very soothing and will reduce inflammation discharge and odor

 

[brian5161986]

Need some help this is my first winter with chickens and after our first snow fall I have snow in the run and the girls aren't to sure of it. Attached is a picture of my coop. Do most people just use clear tarps or what is best to put up to block the snow from getting in?