Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[saysfaa]

Beauty on the way home. Plains and lakes - very different kinds of beauty makes both even better.

 

[RaZ]

Usually the dates on food now are "best used by" dates, not expiration dates; many foods are still very wholesome for a long time after that date, but the taste or texture might be a little different.

I know. The texture is what gets to me. If it feels weird it goes to the chickens or dog. Still good but just not for me. Beggars can't be choosy, right?

 

[snowflake]

I'm surprised they have out dated foods, we are not allowed to donate food that is outdated. they check things pretty close.. I pulled some apples and an orange out of the trash this am. Grandson won't eat them if they have been in his backpack a couple days. Have to remind him the chickens, dog, or wild life will be happy to have it

 

[snowflake]

thank you Sally, she was a sweet hen.
love the sun rise and sunset pics the color is always so beautiful, no matter what time of yr.

 

[RaZ]

I'm surprised they have out dated foods, we are not allowed to donate food that is outdated. they check things pretty close.. I pulled some apples and an orange out of the trash this am. Grandson won't eat them if they have been in his backpack a couple days. Have to remind him the chickens, dog, or wild life will be happy to have it

It may have not been outdated at the time of donation. But by the time it gets to the end user it can certainly go beyond that printed date on the package. Can't fault the groups that distribute the food. They distribute what they get.

However, working in a grocery store, I see what goods get donated and what gets thrown out. There isn't always much of a difference. A lot of good food goes into the trash. Take a bruised banana from the trash and you will be fired. But a 2 year old box of cereal goes to the food bank.

 

[chickflick]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hope it's better than 2021.

 

[Folly's place]

Yes, Happy New Year! I'm definitely over 2021...
Mary

 

[maudeflanagan]

Hi All. My husband and I are thinking about getting some Seramas this spring.

I have read conflicting things about cold hardiness and I would like some info from folks more local to me. I am sure there are plenty of Michigan people who own seramas, so could anyone here perhaps talk about their setups for these funny little birds? I would house them separate from my standard sized flock. If they can be in a non-heated coop, that would be ideal.

For reference, I am in SE MI.

 

[troyer]

Hi All. My husband and I are thinking about getting some Seramas this spring.

I have read conflicting things about cold hardiness and I would like some info from folks more local to me. I am sure there are plenty of Michigan people who own seramas, so could anyone here perhaps talk about their setups for these funny little birds? I would house them separate from my standard sized flock. If they can be in a non-heated coop, that would be ideal.

For reference, I am in SE MI.

I don't have any myself, but of my friends that do, they say they are fragile as chicks and it is usually with substantial difficulty that they get them to adult age. Major mortality is to be expected. I have toyed with the idea of taking several pair and putting them in a free range situation and letting them breed naturally for several years. That would weed out the unthrifty and only allow the survivors to breed. They would have plenty of cover to get into that most hawks don't really have access too. I've done that with the breed that I have and it's been highly successful. I hatched 800+ chicks in the last two years and have had 3 chickens taken by hawks that we know of. One of us is usually at home so we find out what happens around us. You would think with so many hatched it would be difficult to keep track of them all, but it really isn't. I check every coop every evening and keep a head count of what's in it. I usually notice almost immediately when one is missing. My spouse has often marvelled at my ability to remember what we have or don't have. Again I think if it's possible with the breed that I have it would be possible with other breeds. NOTE: When I started doing this, long time breeders told me to hatch hundreds and expect a high mortality rate (I was recommended to euthanize any that even appeared to be sick) so I braced myself for it. It was worse than I expected, I had 80% mortality the first year, a combination of sickness (unthrifty) and hawks getting them (we lived in a hawk migration route at the time). I gave them lots of cover and whenever we saw a hawk or heard the chickens give the warning we went and chased it away or stood guard until it left. So, the first year we had approximately 80% mortality, the second year about 65%, the third year about 35%, the fourth year about 13% and since then have experienced low mortality, which is 3% or less, usually less. It often depended on whether the ground was frozen or not, which translates into dry or damp conditions. It really was a great experience although heart wrenching at times because of the favorites often being the ones that died. I had a lot of support from other breeders that also raised the same breed that I did and that helped tremendously. There was a fowl forum called the "Ultimate Fowl Forum" up and running at the time where I got most of my support from. The forum has since closed down due to technical issues and is no longer in existence.

 

[Folly's place]

Here we have occasional individual losses to hawks, but our major issues, once we had a secure coop for night time, have been to a dog (ours!) and another time to a sick fox.
@troyer , love your birds, what a rough road you had to having a successful flock!
Once we had a cute bantam OEG cockerel, who insisted on roosting outside in the trees, so I moved him on elsewhere. He was nice otherwise, but not mature when he left.
As far as picking a keeper, my best advice is to raise a few straight run chicks and select one or two cockerels to keep as they mature.
Mary