Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[saysfaa]

My original plan was to keep my original chickens into old age rather than replacing them. It doesn't matter if they don't lay many eggs. We get many more than we eat anyway.

I'm rethinking that. Mocha didn't survive her issues with laying eggs with no shells. That leaves three hens. It doesn't feel like a flock to me - that is the main thing I wanted. Still do.

I don't want to add adults (biosecurity, I love raising chicks, and so on).

Adding chicks to this flock seems problematic. I didn't plan the coop for that - although I could make it work with a lot of effort. The bigger problem is I still don't want more than 4 hens, maybe 5 if they all like each other. I have no way to tell if they will like each other. I don't want to raise a single chick. Even two seems not enough. Last time, I thought I would lose at least some and that I would find homes for the extra pullets - craigslist or whatever. Neither happened and the finding homes via craigslist or whatever wouldn't this time either so I'd really rather not get extra chicks.

Nutmeg, Coco, and Pepper don't seem happy. I might be projecting. It might be they are molting. They seem very uncertain about everything. Nutmeg and Coco seem to like each other but Pepper doesn't seem to like either of them nor they like her... but it is hard to tell. It has been a couple of weeks since the loss of Mocha.

I can give them more time but if I do start over it makes sense to stop before I leave for a few weeks for around Thanksgiving time. Dh will take care of them but does not like it. Then we will both be gone for a week or ten days at Christmas -arranging a chicken sitter that time of year is difficult.

If I do start over, I found another hatchery that will allow me to pick chicks up. This one is much, much closer than Cackle.

Thoughts?

 

[1muttsfan]

They will eventually sort out things again. It doesn't help that this is a time of the year where there is a lot of changes , such as day length, temperature, molting, all of which can have a big impact on them.

My suggestion would be to try to find a few started pullets that are still young but old enough to go in with adult birds. Never fewer than two.

 

[Chickin Fairy]

Nutmeg and Coco seem to like each other but Pepper doesn't seem to like either of them nor they like her... but it is hard to tell. It has been a couple of weeks since the loss of Mocha.

Can you elaborate? How do they "not like each other?" What do you notice?

 

[saysfaa]

Can you elaborate? How do they "not like each other?" What do you notice?

Nothing serious, just Nutmeg and Coco are usually together. They have always roosted next to each other, they scratch around the same bush when they are outside. They follow each other pretty closely if either moves to a new spot.

Pepper will dust bathe with them but otherwise stays away from them. She sleeps on the edge of the 1x4 that boxes in the poop board under the roost. That puts her under Nutmeg (and pooped on) if I don't block the spot. If I block that end, Pepper sleeps by the block; Nutmeg and Coco move 6' to the other end of the roost.

Pepper won't eat with Nutmeg and Coco. She just hangs back out of their reach until they are done. When they are out in the yard and Pepper moves off, neither of the others will follow her. When Mocha was there, all four ate together sometimes.

Pepper isn't being terrorized or anything, just normal bottom of the pecking order. It didn't bother me when there was a bigger flock so the individuals ... hm, how to put it ... kind of flowed around each other.

I always thought Mocha was the bottom of the pecking order. But Coco and Spice (who I gave to a friend last year) were the only ones I noticed did much pushing and pecking about it.

 

[Chickin Fairy]

Pepper isn't being terrorized or anything, just normal bottom of the pecking order. It didn't bother me when there was a bigger flock so the individuals ... hm, how to put it ... kind of flowed around each other.

Ah, I totally get it. I have a few birds that are loners, too (strangely enough, mine is also named Pepper). I unfortunately don't have any advice for you, except to maybe build a second smaller roost that is slightly lower than the one you have now, where Pepper can roost without the pooping issue. It also might just be that it bothers you, it might not bother them. Or, they might be grieving and have put the reshuffling on hold.

 

[wrathsfarm]

A couple questions for those hatching in the spring..
If your incubating when do you set up your hatch? Overnight lows are steady at 40, 50, 60 degrees? I've got a brooder I can set up in the house but I would rather use the brooder I built in the barn/garage. I have heat lamps and brooder plate available.

This next one is prolly going to be the same answer as above, but for those with multi-roos or multi-flocks, when do you separate out for mating/breeding?
Separate the hens for give or take a month with no Roo?
Or do you just swap Roos immediately and then wait a month before collecting eggs?

For reference..
I have 2 separate flocks, 1 is all Black Copper Marans (BCM) with their BCM Roo and other flock is mix with my spare BCM Roo and Easter Egger and Barred Rock for crosses.

I do have 1 other "mini flock" but their retired and no relevance here. Unless I try to hatch some eggs again. Last time was a fail. (Mary... )

 

[Sally PB]

'"What is malanga called in English?

Malanga is also called yautia or cocoyam in English and is a starchy vegetable that is popular in African, South American, and Caribbean cuisines. The malanga plant (Xanthosoma atrovirens) has thick, fleshy leaves and mainly grows in tropical areas. Malanga root is fleshy with brown, hairy skin."

Now I wish I could grow it up here. The nutrition profile is better than potatoes.

 

[RaZ]

Dreamz, please go have your heart checked.

As a 2-time Zipper Club member I concur.

I had a chemical stress test last month and they just called with the results. I passed. Not sure why it took a month to read the results.

Not much going on around here. I've been lazy lately. I need to cut and split some more wood. I've had several fires during this cold spell so I'm getting low.
Chickens & ducks are all well. Dogs & cats are just as lazy as me.

Hope all are well.

 

[Folly's place]

@Dreamzchaser , please do get yourself checked out!
Sunday night I found a deer tick embedded in my neck, yuck! So, Monday I took it to the MSU Veterinary Path Lab, where it was tested for five of those nasty tick borne diseases, and it had Lyme (only, at least!). So, checked the CDC website, and learned that one dose of Doxycycline within 72 hours may eliminate the Lyme I was exposed to. Did it, and here's hoping it works. Lyme is not a fun disease to have, and I'll be getting tested in a few weeks too.
The state public health lab no longer will test individual ticks for diseases, but it's done at MSU.
This is going to be a much more frequent event every year...
Mary

 

[picklestheduck]

@Dreamzchaser , please do get yourself checked out!
Sunday night I found a deer tick embedded in my neck, yuck! So, Monday I took it to the MSU Veterinary Path Lab, where it was tested for five of those nasty tick borne diseases, and it had Lyme (only, at least!). So, checked the CDC website, and learned that one dose of Doxycycline within 72 hours may eliminate the Lyme I was exposed to. Did it, and here's hoping it works. Lyme is not a fun disease to have, and I'll be getting tested in a few weeks too.
The state public health lab no longer will test individual ticks for diseases, but it's done at MSU.
This is going to be a much more frequent event every year...
Mary

Oh yikes! Hoping the doxy worked! Ticks are nasty *shudder*