Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[gladahmae]

I keep mine in the brooders for 4 weeks. At about the 3rd week they lose the heat lamp although the brooder remains in heated area. I just set up my finish area yesterday ( same every year), a corner in a storage building that is draft free. I bed them with straw. They have free choice feed and water. My homemade feeder holds 100 pounds and my homemade waterer holds 5 gallons. The containment panels are about 12 inches high. They are so content to eat/drink/sleep that it mostly keeps them from wandering. I feel it's still a better life than some meaties get albeit they don't "free-range". Every year I consider a tractor or some other notion. Nah, after 8-10 weeks they are in freezer camp anyway. My friends that go all probiotic, free-range, etc. end up with more work for them selves, more cost per finished pound, and smaller birds. I also absolutely, do not, ever, take the food away at night. When the sun goes down they sleep just like me. I get 10-14 pounders with a few hens down around 8.

I figured that was a reply to my question John!

We don't have a place to put them though....no garage or storage buildings, so we will HAVE to build something. I'd like to keep the cost down, but at the same time, I don't want something that looks like we just took a bunch of random things and put them together and called it good enough. (OK, so that's more my husband, but we have enough garbage to look at on our neighbor's property.

)

 

[taprock]

There was lots of reading to do since our internet was out this weekend. I forgot to reply as I was reading so I have no comments.

Silly that boy is beautiful.

I have 4 eggs going into lockdown today. Again no button quail hatched. I also have several roosters that are going to my brother to be dinner. The big hormonal boys are being too rough on all my girls. There is no sign of being able to send the chicks in the basement out. We are still snow covered. Rain over the weekend knocked it down a bit but white is getting really old.

 

[tdhenson86]

Here's the new black shoulder male..... he's SOooo pretty! I am not sure if I want to part with him. So I may hold him and a BS hen back.... ugh decisions! I will enjoy him while I have him I guess.


Hard to get a go photo of him..... his colors sing in the sun, but not so much in the shade!

Wow!!! He is really gorgeous!

 

[naglady]

Here's the new black shoulder male..... he's SOooo pretty! I am not sure if I want to part with him. So I may hold him and a BS hen back.... ugh decisions! I will enjoy him while I have him I guess. Hard to get a go photo of him..... his colors sing in the sun, but not so much in the shade! [rule]

omg he is so gorgeous.. wow look at the long tail.. i am not familiar with peas,, but impressed with yours.. how did you travel with him and not break his tail..

I keep mine in the brooders for 4 weeks. At about the 3rd week they lose the heat lamp although the brooder remains in heated area. I just set up my finish area yesterday ( same every year), a corner in a storage building that is draft free. I bed them with straw. They have free choice feed and water. My homemade feeder holds 100 pounds and my homemade waterer holds 5 gallons. The containment panels are about 12 inches high. They are so content to eat/drink/sleep that it mostly keeps them from wandering. I feel it's still a better life than some meaties get albeit they don't "free-range". Every year I consider a tractor or some other notion. Nah, after 8-10 weeks they are in freezer camp anyway. My friends that go all probiotic, free-range, etc. end up with more work for them selves, more cost per finished pound, and smaller birds. I also absolutely, do not, ever, take the food away at night. When the sun goes down they sleep just like me. I get 10-14 pounders with a few hens down around 8.

I like your method.. sounds like it works great for you.. think i will be trying this.

 

[Nigellas]

Oh my gosh, Silly- that is a beautiful bird.

SO- for anyone following the Humane Society dyed chick thing - I called them today to offer to foster some of the chicks, but they sound like they are set on homes for them. However, while talking to the man in charge of them, he mentioned that they have several full-grown "Rhode Island Red" hens (and a rooster) that they are trying to find homes for. If anyone has the space, you might consider the Michigan Humane Society (in Rochester) - Ask for the Wildlife dept. He said they get chickens in all the time.

 

[SillyChicken]

omg he is so gorgeous.. wow look at the long tail.. i am not familiar with peas,, but impressed with yours.. how did you travel with him and not break his tail..

Shear LUCK! We put him in a Dane sized dog crate and luckily he didn't move once we got him in it.............they do seem mindful of their tails when moving around I've noticed. I think they're normally traveled in a box with a slit for the tail to stick out of... which I guess I should make one if I'm going to keep collecting them. LOL!

 

[tdhenson86]

If anyone in Michigan is interested, I have a male pilgrim goose that needs a home. He is 11 months old. If someone doesn't take him, I'm afraid he is going to be processed. PM me for details.

Thanks!
Tim

 

[fuzzybutt love]

ha ha ^_^ I am busy trying to rescue some mini roses from the grocery store that didn't get watered; going great! I repotted gently without touching the root system this time. Last time i broke them up and lost all but one! And i'm only putting a tad of water on the old dirt, letting any access water get sucked out by the new dirt. (I have a bad habit of overwatering.) They started dying upstairs, but i put them in the cold and humid basement and they are sprouting all kinds of new growth! YAY! These ones are my coveted shade of perfect apricot/peach/pink

Unfortunately, my success comes on the heels of failure; i tried to transplant and prune my green rose and it's nothing but a little stick And though last year all the meijers had tons of the patio hit green roses this year there are none to be found And my special multi-petaled daffodills got too wet and rotted Stuuuuupid snow! Not good for me or my poor flowers! (Those ones were outside but in a pot that didn't drain well enough, apparently.

 

[Juise]

June 22nd, third Saturday at the same place as last year.

Too early to plant outside, but have strawberry, grape and garlic ready to go when it gets nicer. Also thinking of a peach tree if I can find the one I want.

Have chainsaws, log splitter and more. I work cheap but not for FREE!

It's not too early to plant anything! XD So maybe I will retract that statement if they all die, but... I am putting in beets, cabbages, carrots, leeks, lettuce, peas, radish, spinach, turnips, watermelons, zucchini, and a bunch of herbs. I put in my garlic, onions, and potatoes in the Fall, and they are all growing away.

Um... a case of Bud is "cheap"?

I think I'd like to trade a little for some honey this year, or ?

Maaaaannnnn, I wish I had something I could trade for syrup. >.>

Nigellas - Your avatar... lol!

I am busy trying to rescue some mini roses from the grocery store that didn't get watered; going great! I repotted gently without touching the root system this time. Last time i broke them up and lost all but one! And i'm only putting a tad of water on the old dirt, letting any access water get sucked out by the new dirt. (I have a bad habit of overwatering.) They started dying upstairs, but i put them in the cold and humid basement and they are sprouting all kinds of new growth! YAY! These ones are my coveted shade of perfect apricot/peach/pink

Good luck with your roses... those buggers can be tricksy. >.<

 

[Scifisarah]

This is not my ad, but I thought someone on here might be interested instead of someone that knows nothing about ducks picking them up because they are free. I'm sure there are a lot of this sort of thing post Easter...

"Free Baby Ducks"
http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/pet/3718602171.html