Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Farmerboy16]

I am new and have a question for you Michigan people. How do you keep your chickens/quail warm in the winter. I am told that you just have to keep the edge off (cold wise). So I should use insulation in the walls. I know I need to make sure the insulation is fully covered and there is no way the chickens can get to it.

Depending where you are in MI, you may not need insulation in your coop. I am in West MI, and none of my coop is insulated at all. Just greenhouse plastic wrapped around the chicken wire coop, and the other coop is wooden type, and is just fine too.

Taken last winter.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

On the floors; if you design the coop and floors with a very slight tilt and seal everything good you can use a hose to power spray it clean in the summer!!!

(you may still need a good bristle brush or broom to do the scrubbing on the hard parts, but still easier! My next coop will definitely be designed with this in mind)

I wonder if you could get one of those hose attachments that dispenses fertilizer and use it to dispense oxine or something similar?

 

[1muttsfan]

My coops are insulated, the inside surface covered with very thin plywood. I do, however, leave the pop doors open down to 25 degrees unless it is very windy, and always leave a window on the south side of the coop at least cracked open. I had a lot of moisture problems my first winter, trying to seal things up too tight, but none since. Also no frostbite.

If you are going to do deep litter (as I do) plan on having your doors up off the ground at least 10", helps keep the bedding in. The people door has a couple removable planks across the bottom.

 

[MIchickens]

I have a question for all of you. I built simple brooder that is 4 foot by 8 foot. I have a divider in the middle so i can examine the chicks everyday and put the ones I have inspected on the other side. my question is. Should I keep the chicks in the 4 foot by 4 foot area for a while until they get bigger so the don't wander too far and get cold....or do you think it would be ok to give them the whole 4 foot by 8 foot? Btw...I am getting 36 chicks. also the divider is removable...it just slides in and out.

 

[chickflick]

You can get cheap vinyl floor covering at Menards or HD in rolls. I think 7x7 and some other sizes. Check it out. I put some behind the roosts cuz they were shooting their poop on it. Think it's some kind of game they play.

I think if you turn over the shavings it won't smell. I just can't see mopping the floor every day. Isn't it slippery for the birds? I like the shavings even for a softer landing when they jump off the roosts.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Yes, it's slippery. No i don't like mopping every day, but it does cut down the smell because i don't have enough $$$ to do a true deep bedding for a 8x16 coop all year round!!! On the bright side if there is an issue i can tell right away since i see the droppings clearly.

Last year i did the true deep bedding but even so come spring it got really nasty in there; i did turn it but ??? Others swear by it, so i'm sure it's operator error on my part.

I would like to try sand? Does a deep sand layer work over a waterproof floor? I like the idea of being able to sift it clean, i have seen corncob bedding that works like cat litter but holy crap the price!!!

 

[ladyrsanti]

Daron, good luck with your breeding efforts. I was just telling my kids how fun it would be to get a small incubator and try hatching a few of our eggs rather than buy new stock. BUT, all of my birds are from the hatchery and I was really hoping to get some from a breeder this year. Shouldn't have opened my big mouth; now my kids are excited to hatch our eggs. Doh!

Just uploaded these to Facebook and thought I'd drop them over here too. Here's chip with her new saddle. I made it out of an old piece of valance that my grandma had in her scrap fabrics than I inherited. *shrug* It matches her feathers and not a single chicken has picked on her for it so it works. Chip recovered from whatever yucky she had that day too. I guess she must have just eaten something that didn't agree with her. She's fine now, just pretty ratty looking still from being our rooster's favorite. I love the look on her face in the photo though; she was just getting ready to jump down and looked at me as if to say, "follow up with those treats now, like you promised."



And Tartan, getting in my face while I was trying to photograph Chip. How could I resist a face like that?


It's also my birthday today. We don't do anything here. It's my husband's birthday as well so we just get up in the morning, wish each other happy birthday and confess that neither of us got anything for the other and move on. So I don't feel too bad fishing for birthday wishes around the web, tee-hee

I get a couple on facebook but it's nothing compared to my husband with his hundreds of "friends". Most of the few friends I have on FB unsubscribed when I came out as an atheist, the rest are family. Eh, that's life.

 

[Farmerboy16]

Happy Birthday to you Lady and your DH!!! I have a few small incubators that you can barrow if interested....

 

[1muttsfan]

Happy birthday, Lady!

 

[MIchickens]

I have a question for all of you. I built simple brooder that is 4 foot by 8 foot. I have a divider in the middle so i can examine the chicks everyday and put the ones I have inspected on the other side. my question is. Should I keep the chicks in the 4 foot by 4 foot area for a while until they get bigger so the don't wander too far and get cold....or do you think it would be ok to give them the whole 4 foot by 8 foot? Btw...I am getting 36 chicks. also the divider is removable...it just slides in and out.

I took some pics for a better example.