Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Hillbilly Hen]

I just got back home from a quick trip to Texas. I was hoping for warm weather but it was cold and damp until Monday. Now I'm looking forward to starting my little flock of chickens. I will have them by the end of the month.

 

[Chickin Fairy]

Well, with the nice weather yesterday, we redid our coop setup and built some external nesting boxes. These open down on the side, so they didn't have to be super low. Now to build a step up on the inside to help the chickens get to it (a little better) and blocking off the bottom lip so the eggs don't roll out. One girl figured it out, the others just laid them on the floor of the coop

 

[chickflick]

Sure has been a ghost town here. What's everyone up to?
Had a family gathering Sunday for all our March birthdays. Husband, 2 sons, and grandson all have birthdays. We call it Block's March Madness. It sure was madness! Son came in from Chicago, so that was special. Was his 50th! Hard to believe my kids are getting middle age.
This weather is crazy! 70 one day, snow the next! Mother Nature needs to get on her meds!
Hope you all are doing well. Strange that this page has been quiet for so long. Sure do miss RaZ and his stories. He kept this page alive.

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

Rose, we seem to have a family gathering every month because there's always a birthday or some holiday to celebrate. Tomorrow we're celebrating my FIL and oldest grandson's birthdays. I can't believe my GS is 11 already.
We took advantage of the nice weather we had and got the bedroom/shed/coop/shed cleaned out and washed and bleached so it can be a coop once more. My middle son was a big help with that project. I'll be ready for the first few chicks to come home Monday.

 

[Sally PB]

We're in the middle of wood cutting/hauling season. That is defined as:

Before the bugs come out;
Before it gets too warm;
Before the ground gets too soggy to drive the Jeep over.

Hubby fells and cuts, I help haul. Splitting the big stuff is a fall endeavor, usually.

 

[Folly's place]

I've been busier than usual, and too tired to spend time talking here. Things should settle down now, fortunately, finally got enough sleep last night.
We had a heat wave, now back to March in Michigan. Our chickens aren't pleased either! These recent warm days I weakened and let them out, so yesterday when I opened their door, the looks horrified! Snowing, none on the ground, but not 70F either. "Deal with it, birdies".
Last year our large Canada goose flock went from 18 to 20, down to four birds total. This spring, only two birds! At least they didn't all die here...
So one pair of wild geese, maybe one pair of mallards, one pair of Sandhill Cranes, and one sighting of blue herons. We do hear more geese and cranes, but still not a good story.
I haven't ordered chicks this year, and may or may not hatch any here, definitely worried about AI.
Mary

 

[Sally PB]

Honestly, I am a bit surprised that my 3 black Australorps are still going strong. I got them 5 years ago today. I was thinking I'd need to get some chicks this spring to repopulate.

I was gutted when Sunny passed. She wasn't even 2...

I have 9 hens now, and all but Widget, my serial broody, have started laying again. Her comb is pinking up, but isn't nearly as red as all the rest. She hasn't gone broody, though, so that's a good thing. I hope she doesn't remember me telling her that "next spring," ie, now, "you might get some chicks popped under you, and you can raise them for me."

 

[Chickin Fairy]

My brother comes in for the weekend tonight along with my nephew. I'm really looking forward to seeing my nephew (5 years old) collect eggs. I had the same experience yesterday, when the wind was so strong. The birds were pretty grumpy about it after such nice weather. I'm helping my neighbor get set up with her first coop and run and answering all the newbie chicken questions. I originally wanted her huge chicken coop shed, but after actually seeing it, I like my coop a lot better. The previous owners at their place split the area into two sections with a walkway in the middle. It looked like they used one side as a brooder and the other side for full-grown birds, but the size of the space was so small. I told her she would be able to comfortably have 4 hens in there. I told her if it were me, I would tear everything out and use the full space and she could have enough space for about 10 birds. She wasn't keen on that idea but it's what I would do.

I've come to the conclusion that if I want more birds, I am going to have to extend my existing coop by 20 square feet. I'm alright with that and I have the space... Now to convince hubby this is what I would need. We have the materials to do it.

 

[Folly's place]

'Chicken math'!!! Over time we've added/ remodeled our original shed coop three times, and I still wish it was larger.
Mary

 

[talkinboutchickens]

This weather is crazy! 70 one day, snow the next! Mother Nature needs to get on her meds!

Ikr It was like 74 here the day before yesterday, and snowing yesterday! Michigan weather is so weird and unpredictable