Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Folly's place]

Impressive garden! And cute chicks too.
Sally, to set eight foot steel posts, have each laying on the ground, with the bottom of the post where it is meant to enter the ground. Place the post driver on the post, then raise it and the post vertically, and drive it in. Wear ear protectors!
We did about a mile of fencing here, lots of practice years ago.
If you aren't going to install wood post assemblies at the corners, there are gadgets that hold the steel posts as braces at the corners. Look at the Premier1supplies catalog!!!
Without proper corner bracing, it won't hold up well.
Mary

 

[aart]

to set eight foot steel posts, have each laying on the ground, with the bottom of the post where it is meant to enter the ground. Place the post driver on the post, then raise it and the post vertically, and drive it in.

I do this with all Tposts.

 

[Dreamzchaser]

Well, after 4 hrs of going around, we are back at the duck pen. We'll, not me. Going bed now,lol Woke at 3am pucking all I ate yesterday. Darn shoping bag!

Edit: that line across is my dryer,lol Have no clue what will happen in the winter,lol

 

[Dreamzchaser]

@Folly's place Mrs Mary, that garden is horrendous! It has crab grass that will not die no matter how many times I stab it,lol I began with a hoe but that is a lot of work,so there are mounts everywhere. So I am trying cardboards and plastic to minimize the work. Wish I could get at least an used tractor but that would be hard. Those things costs like a small house,lol

The post I have I guess are 6ft but are not T-posts. I just hammered those with the side of the hammer or a piece of 4x4. It is sandy here!

 

[Sarahmacc1]

Hello fellow Michiganders!

I'm new to the BYC and @Sally PB was kind enough to link me here! I'm a soon-to-be chick mama - receiving 3 barred rocks and 3 buff orpingtons the 2nd week of Sept.

Here's my question for my Michigan peeps: Since my chicks are hatching in September, it's going to be getting pretty cold here by the time most people say it's safe to transition to the coop (6 weeks). Do I need to keep them in the brooder until they're older? Do I put a radiant heat panel above the roost bars in the coop? Do I slowly acclimate them somehow to the lower temps before putting them in the coop?

*We have a large Over EZ coop that will be inside a 10x20 covered run.

*The brooder will be an 8x8 camping tent in my spare bedroom.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Welcome to the thread! Very helpful group here! Learning a lot

 

[Sarahmacc1]

I almost tackled the chicken shed today. It needs a good cleaning and organizing. After that, I can repair a couple of issues, do some painting, build the shelves for the garden supplies, and move some more garden supplies to the chicken shed.

Oh, that reminds me. Thank y'all for the help with composting. I have soil! It took longer than it had to because I watered it but not enough and turned it often but not as often as it needed for the fastest composting. It is very satisfying.

Instead, I went blueberry picking. Drying the cherries was an outstanding success but we will run out of them before next year at the current pace. I have the first batch of blueberries in the dehydrator. I'm hoping they will be as good in oatmeal as the cherries are.

We have been trying to compost our grass and garden leftovers. If you have any tips I would love some. No compost soil yet. But one happy rat snake enjoying the heat source

 

[1muttsfan]

I do this with all Tposts.

Not me. Beg, borrow or steal a tractor if you are setting a lot of them - we use the loader bucket to push the T-posts in. Works great and so fast. And so, so much easier. You can also drive in fiberglass poles that way for electric fencing.

 

[Folly's place]

Somehow, that seems like cheating...
Mary

 

[riss]

Does anyone have any tips for my dogs to stop escaping their fence. They are huskies and I know that breed is a master at it but there has to be something I can do. They are outdoor dogs and we take them out on walks everyday and let them inside for a few hours in the evening so they can watch tv with us.

They keep chewing through their fence which is a utility fence so maybe would chain link be better so they can't chew through it? Also they LOVE to dig so how to I help with that. I thought maybe landscape blocks around the perimeter where the fence is, would that work? Like they won't push them out of the way.

 

[Folly's place]

Chain link, and add Invisible Fencing on the inside of your physical fence, so they can't reach that easy to breach wall. Or, at least, add electric fencing inside, so getting to the fence is not fun.
Either electric livestock type fencing, or dog collar type Invisible fencing, will be less difficult than the buried 2' underground, and six foot wall type fencing. And some dogs can jump six feet, and/ or climb chain link.
The goal is to prevent the little darlings from getting to the fence...
mary