Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Living the Simple Life]

EVER. I loved my mother in law, she was my best friend (cancer) but though i didn't mind staying with her to temporarily help out it just isn't the same as having your own space. Otherwise you always feel like your decisions are being questioned! (And kinda like a kid again)

EVER EVER EVER....even next door.....heck, I live across town and my decisions are questions....

 

[ladyrsanti]

EVER. EVER. EVER. EVER. I just have to share a funny story about MIL's. Years ago, after my third and LAST child was born, my husband decided to "snip-snip" iykwim. His mother was terrified and in front of me (as if I weren't even there) asked him what would happen if *I* died and he wanted to have more children.

EVER!
lol

 

[kimmie6067]

So, the small brooder is not doing its job anymore since it didn't have a lid, two of them jumped out when I pulled out the waterer to refill today. All 5 of my dogs were waiting for one to hit the floor!

A friend saw something like this so I said what the heck. I pulled out a rubbermaid tub and got to work. You can't see it well but I used hardware cloth to cover the openings, I hope that it works out Not the prettiest thing but it will work for now

Hey whatever works. My son built me a 4ft x4ft brooder it was huge, it was 18 inches tall but still the little buggers can fly put a cover on it. I still have it. Right now I have a broodie hen that is sitting on 12 eggs boy I have to kick her off so she eats and drinks and whaterver. Not sure how this is going to work out this time of the year.

Kimmie

 

[Living the Simple Life]

Just saw this.....and the good fight continues.

Family Fights to Keep Farm Animals in Williamstown Township

http://www.wilx.com/home/headlines/...imals-in-Williamstown-Township-190963001.html

 

[RaZ]

I'm back from another Ag Commissioner meeting. And yesterday was spent with a field tech from MAEAP regarding verification of the Livestock System. So here is a brief recap.

MAEAP verification is a system that educates, assesses and then verified that your farm is GAAMP compliant and environmentally friendly. See www.maeap.org for more details. There is a simple check-list format to self-evaluate before you start the verification process. There are some areas of legal-ese but it is mostly common sense and a good refresher of the things you already knew but might have forgot.

Amy, the field tech mentions that due to budget constraints, they do not usually verify small operations as the process can take a few visits and most small operations are usually compliant. Their target is education and certification of the big operations that are more likely to have a large environmental impact. So it is possible (likely) that us small operations will have to wait or may even be ignored.

Which brings us to the meeting today...
New food safety rules and laws are in the works that are targeted towards large operations but may also affect medium and small commercial farms. The story is still the same, there just aren't enough inspectors and/or techs to get to every farm operation. So from the stance last year that small farm operations aren't worth the time and effort, it has changed to how do they gain the cooperation of small farms now? These laws are on the books now but enforcing them has been problematic.

For example, a law was passed in 1988 and amended in 2005 to address food processing concerns. They are trying now to create a set of Generally Accepted Processing Practices (GAPP) based on the CAMMPs. There are some goofy ideas of what a food process is. Such as selling your eggs or fruit to a larger processor isn't a food process but washing them and selling them at the end of your driveway or at a farmer's market may be a process. There are some grey areas.

So even though it seems that we backyard and wannabe farmers are OK for now, we need to stay on top of what is happening in these committees and legislative bodies. The GAAMPs committees will convene in April to discuss potential changes so please keep up with your calls and letters to the commissioners and committee chair people. If you have other concerns, please PM me.

The last thing is that I invited the commissioners to Chickenstock so they could meet us and put faces with our cause.

 

[Nigellas]

FYI - "my" Tractor Supply (in Scio Twp) has bantams and ducks already! (Yes, I did get some, even though I'm getting more next week at Meyer Hatchery, lol.)

 

[SillyChicken]

UGGO Chick!!! (be a hen, be a hen, be a hen!)

This could be interesting, Uggo/Sumatra cross!

 

[Maah]

FYI - "my" Tractor Supply (in Scio Twp) has bantams and ducks already! (Yes, I did get some, even though I'm getting more next week at Meyer Hatchery, lol.)

No!! I called both our local farm store and TSC today, and was told by both stores that it's going to be 2 weeks yet. I have a lonely 1 week old silkie and he needs a friend! Drats. Well, I have more silkie chicks due to hatch on the 23rd... I just feel bad for my 1 chickie. He spends most of his time snuggling with a teddy bear. He'll just have to wait.

 

[Opa]

Having a hen do all the work of incubating and turning, hatching and brooding chicks is much easier. Studies have shown that a hen will turn her clutch of eggs as much as 26 times each day. If you are using an egg turner most turn the eggs once each hour. If you are hand turning you would want to turn them at least 4 times each day. Keeping in mind that you shouldn't open the incubator, one easy turning method is to place the eggs in a paper egg carton and then place in the incubator. Then all you need to do is raise one side of the incubator with something like a empty egg carton then to turn the eggs you just move it to the other side.

I constantly am reading about having to kick a hen off the nest to get them to eat. I strongly suggest you not do this. It could break her broodiness. As long as food and water are available a hen will not starve herself to death. People have a tendency to worry unnecessarily when the reality is that chickens have been been hatching for years without our intervention.

If you are keeping your hen with your other chickens I would suggest that as the chicks hatch they be moved to a different location. It is common for birds to kill another hen's chicks.

 

[RaZ]

FYI - "my" Tractor Supply (in Scio Twp) has bantams and ducks already! (Yes, I did get some, even though I'm getting more next week at Meyer Hatchery, lol.)

Had I known that, I would have swung by. I was in A2 yesterday and today.
On the other hand, wingless said I could have some of her hatching salmon faverolles and silly made a similar offer.

Maybe I need to drive to A2 again this week.