Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[1muttsfan]

That looks like the geranium most used for ornamental planting.

 

[uchytil]

We used to get Jap Beetles here and I used those traps that attract them. Then I read how that just draws them from all over so I stopped using traps. Haven't seen any (many) for years now. But those white moths that lay eggs on green/wax beans were a problem last year and they all but wiped out the crop. Keeping my eyes open for them.

Goats looking for new homes...female twin mini-toggs and twin male and female nigerians.

 

[1muttsfan]

My good little broody bantam hen 2 d ago hatched some Speckled Sussex eggs shipped from Florida - my are they cute!

 

[Folly's place]

Those chicks aren't SS!!!

 

[Sarahmacc1]

It is officially Japanese Beetle hunting season now. I will be going out every afternoon and catching as many as I can, and feeding them to the chickens. They've just started coming out, so my harvest is only about 40. I'll get more than 100/day in about a week.

I have a personal vendetta against JBs. They killed my hazelnut trees about 10 years ago. And the larvae chomp on roots underground, so they are horrid in all phases of their life.

Do you squish them and feed them to the chickens? I’ve been spraying mine wish dish soap and water mixed together to stop them from flying then I flick them into a cup of soapy water, but I felt I can’t feed them to the chickens because of the dish soap ? So curious what way you do it so my chickens can get a nice snack too! We killed a lot but they seem to be dying down now and not as many as last week.

 

[Sarahmacc1]

We used to get Jap Beetles here and I used those traps that attract them. Then I read how that just draws them from all over so I stopped using traps. Haven't seen any (many) for years now. But those white moths that lay eggs on green/wax beans were a problem last year and they all but wiped out the crop. Keeping my eyes open for them.

Goats looking for new homes...female twin mini-toggs and twin male and female nigerians.

If I only had a fence set up I would love a couple goats! Hopefully next year! Fingers crossed they find a great home!

 

[Sarahmacc1]

Question for you guys, my girls (we officially got no rooster) are coming up to 11 weeks old. I believe there is no eggs until 16 weeks of age or so? What is the earliest your chicks have laid? Our entire flock is Australorps in case the breed makes a difference?

 

[saysfaa]

Do you squish them and feed them to the chickens? I’ve been spraying mine wish dish soap and water mixed together to stop them from flying then I flick them into a cup of soapy water, but I felt I can’t feed them to the chickens because of the dish soap ? So curious what way you do it so my chickens can get a nice snack too! We killed a lot but they seem to be dying down now and not as many as last week.

I'm not very squeamish but I don't like squishing them once they are fully adult. My current preferred method is to use a jar about half full of plain water. The beetles will sometimes climb or fly out so I keep a hand over the top. If any get themselves oriented, I shake the jar before putting the it under the next beetle.

Last year, I mostly caught them in a hand. They crawl. Sometimes they dig or bite, I'm not sure which but it is all unpleasant although it never actually injured me.

This year, I am weeding rather than mulching as much and I'm finding them as immature beetles under the surface of the soil. I've been squishing them but only because I just found them. I'll take a jar or a jar with some plain water and a lid next time I weed.

The chickens like them alive, drowned, or squished.

Question for you guys, my girls (we officially got no rooster) are coming up to 11 weeks old. I believe there is no eggs until 16 weeks of age or so? What is the earliest your chicks have laid? Our entire flock is Australorps in case the breed makes a difference?

My Pepper, Coco, and Mocha are australorps. I have only this tiny sample size of first hand experience but my research said expect the first egg at close to 20 weeks. It wouldn't hurt to be ready at 16 weeks but it would be very, very unusual for an australorp. Most of the examples of that early were white leghorns or leghorn crosses or sexlink layer breeds.

Coco laid her first egg at 19 weeks and four days. I can't tell exactly when Pepper started because Coco didn't lay every day to start with and I can't tell the difference between their eggs. I doubt it was much more than a week, though, if it was that much.

Mocha was much later - about four or five weeks probably. Based mostly on how long her comb and wattles stayed small and pale pink and how long she didn't squat. Also, that I hadn't gotten more than two brown eggs in one day. About the time her comb did turn red, after she had been squatting, I suddenly got a speckled brown egg for the first time. Not long after that, I often got three brown eggs in the same day. I get a speckled egg often enough that I think she usually lays them but at least once I am sure she laid a plain brown egg.

I really like australorps, by the way, for their temperament and personalities, their size, and beauty (as adults; the chick and juvenile stages, not so much)

 

[saysfaa]

Mocha is on day 27 of setting. I have one more day before my calendar opens enough for me to get chicks. Well, since day 16 or so; I skipped one window to wait for her then other peoples plans changed my plans and I had to delay an extra week. I expected her to give up.

If the farm store gets chicks in on Monday morning, I will get some. They keep saying they get chicks on Mondays. I stop fairly often and haven't seen any in months, even on Monday afternoons. I believe them but they must not get very many.

Ideally, I would put the chicks under her at night. Should I still wait the extra hours or try as soon as I get home?

If I can't get them Monday, and/or she doesn't take them then I will get serious about breaking her broodiness and get the chicks started in the wool hen.

 

[saysfaa]

Or I can stop at every farm store on the five hour route home tomorrow to look for chicks. They won't be day-old though. Do you know how much it matters that they are older?

Hm, or both? I would much prefer one set of chicks at a time but probably could do two.