Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Dreamzchaser]

She probably laid an egg and is singing her egg song, and he is singing with her.

Glad to hear your pain is getting better! Be safe though

No eggs from neither one of the sebrights. They were crowing, like who can do it louder,lol of course Pitbull was louder,lol

Pitbull can sign the egg song pretty good,lol When I go into their side, he goes into one of the nesting boxes. Silly roo, I can see where he is at,lol

 

[Dreamzchaser]

Pitbull loves to hide,lol I think his thinking is; "if she thinks I am a hen, she will not pick me up to kiss me" Like I said, I can still see him,lol


So they had their lunch. Nice salad.


Oh, I do eat salads! [Through my chickens]

 

[chickieandpeeps]

Hi all! I am new to chicken keeping in Wayne County and have four 5 week old pullets (1 cream legbar, 1 olive egger, and 2 lavender Marans) and one new-to-me 8 month old Silkie hen. I have a couple newbie questions!

I have had the Silkie for a couple of weeks now and have not gotten an egg yet. She is a timid bird, and it took her a while to get comfortable, but she is fully integrated though still likes to keep her distance from the chicks and me. When should I be concerned with the lack of eggs? Is it just a wait and see at this point? She is eating and drinking normally and does not appear to be in any distress. I am also concerned she has not paid any attention to the nest box and probably doesn’t know it exists. What’s the best way to introduce her to it?

My littles are starting to really like being around me which is so heartwarming, but as of yesterday they all decided they like to fly up to my shoulder whenever they are within reach, which was cute at first but now gets annoying they all want to be up there and peck at my glasses. Is this behavior something I should be concerned with, or will it go away over time?

I absolutely adore my chickens and find so much solace and comfort in the chicken yard. So excited that there is an active Michigan community here!

 

[1muttsfan]

Hi Chickie, welcome to the Michigan thread

Silkies are not the best of layers even under perfect circumstances. The stress of moving to a new home may have been enough to send her out of lay. She certainly will eventually start again, but it's possible it could be a while.

I find that as most chicks get older they stop flying up on your shoulders as much, but you may have one or two diehards that will continue to do it even as adults.

I enjoy my chickens tremendously too

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
Your Silkie will do as 1mutts said, they are cute, love to set on eggs, but often poor layers.
I'm not a fan of having the birds jump up on me, especially without an invitation, so I discourage that behavior. Definitely nowhere near my face or eyes, even with glasses on!
We love having our birds too!
It's too soon to probably even think this, but it's been since May 11th that an avian influenza flock has been confirmed. Hoping for another couple of weeks, maybe we'll be in better shape by then. Can't wait to let our birds outside!
Mary

 

[Sally PB]

@chickieandpeeps, welcome to BYC and the Michigan thread. We are having a potluck/picnic on Saturday, June 25th, in Lansing. Hope you will join us!

 

[Dreamzchaser]

@chickieandpeeps Welcome to the Michigan thread. You will be at home hear with so many knowledgeable people. I think I forgot how to write the know word, but I hope you get the point,lol

 

[Dreamzchaser]

Ok, how weird is this: Pitbull and his chihuahuas {sebrights} ate mostly all teh tomatoes and left the lettuce. But the other girls was the opposite. They had their lettuce and left most of the tomatoes. The Wyndottes to my surprise, ate the whole thing but left some oatmeal with apples. So the other gang had the remaining,lol

On gardening; (yes, I know I have not started anything yet) I have nice big potatoes that have the (eyelets) like the florwer coming from them. Can I just put those on a pot with soil and get potatoes?
Just my 2 yrs old again,lol

My high is gone, I survive my own overdose but my pain is back today. Not so strong yet but it might be by tomorrow.

 

[Sally PB]

On gardening; (yes, I know I have not started anything yet) I have nice big potatoes that have the (eyelets) like the florwer coming from them. Can I just put those on a pot with soil and get potatoes?

I don't know how well potatoes would grow in a pot. They would need a pretty big pot. Some people use grow bags; I've never tried that.

To plant them: dig a hole about 6-8" deep and put the potato in it with the eyes on the top, facing the sky. Those sprouts are what will grow into the plant. Cover the potato with soil, but leave about 2-3" of the hole unfilled. When the plant is about 2" higher than the soil outside the hole, fill in the hole, covering up the leaves and stem of the plant.

This will make the stem send out more roots and make more potatoes, on more than one level in the dirt.

 

[Dreamzchaser]

Another question, 3 yrs ago I had a lot of potatoes, so I followed a recipe for canning them. However, they were very hard and even when I tried, they will not soften at all. Ended up throwing all. Should have save me time if I had done it at the beginning.

So, my question is, is there another way?