Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[snowflake]

Hi Emaw, welcome back to the US and here

X2

and welcome to the new chicken folk

I don't I am actually just getting a flock started. I grew up with them and have missed them. I also have two younger sisters who I am getting involved in 4H as I am a leader. I am thinking some sort of Bantam for them for showing since they are smaller. I am planning to get them each a meat pen to sell too. I am thinking about heading to Marlette after Christmas to see what they have for birds there. Have you ever bought there before?

have not been their so I can't help, do check into vac. for new chickens ....better to be safe then sorry,and prevent what you can


Opa thank you for the clear up on the chicken nipples. I haven't bought mine yet and I wasn't sure about the vinegar and stainless steel

does any one know of a good place to get nipples. I noticed a ## of places on line, don't know if one is more trust worthy then the other

 

[BackyardFarmMom]

I have some EGGciting news!!!


I got TWO eggs today!!!

And one was a water birth!

Pattie looked very puffed up and squatty when I let them out of the run this afternoon so I chased her around until I caught her. I knew what was going on right away she had poo and a little blood on the feathers under her vent so I brought her inside and filled the tub to her vent with warm water. I watched her push a few times and after she would squeek a grunt. Poor baby! So I massaged her vent for a while and finally she pushed it out!!!

I showed her the egg and she seemed to inspect it a little... but most of all she wanted out of the tub. I rinsed her off and wrapped her in a towel. I told her she was special because not every chicken gets to have a water birth!
I hope she doesn't make this a regular thing!

I have a RIRX that lays olive eggs and a BR that lays pink eggs!
The frizzled uggo just got really red in the face too... I just noticed how red she had gotten the other day!
Maybe I will have 3 eggs next week!!

Does anyone else weigh and chart their eggs? I am. It is neat!

The only thing that detracted from this minor but pleasant incident was that as I pulled the door open the nail on one of my fingers caught and tore.

Now you know why we whine when we break one... All that work with the glue and the buffing...

One of the reasons the Cream Legbars interest me is the fact they are autosexing - you can cull males as soon a they hatch, before you have fed, watered and cared for them for weeks. On top of the fact they lay big, beautiful blue eggs.

Add a few of those to my list!!!... If you have a roo... I will have to order some eggs from you in the spring!

 

[1muttsfan]

My best hatches on shipped eggs have been the Basques (28 out of 36 - incubator) and the Legbars (5/7 - brooded under a hen). And I got 2 girls and 3 boys, so should be able to pick out a good roo. I am going to try to get a few more more after the holidays, so hopefully by spring will have some eggs and chicks.

 

[BackyardFarmMom]

My best hatches on shipped eggs have been the Basques (28 out of 36 - incubator) and the Legbars (5/7 - brooded under a hen). And I got 2 girls and 3 boys, so should be able to pick out a good roo. I am going to try to get a few more more after the holidays, so hopefully by spring will have some eggs and chicks.

That would be great! A friend of mine and I would like to do a hatch together in March or April... Keep me posted!

 

[Trefoil]

I don't I am actually just getting a flock started. I grew up with them and have missed them. I also have two younger sisters who I am getting involved in 4H as I am a leader. I am thinking some sort of Bantam for them for showing since they are smaller. I am planning to get them each a meat pen to sell too. I am thinking about heading to Marlette after Christmas to see what they have for birds there. Have you ever bought there before?

I haven't got any there but my nephew has, he got banties and he also got turkeys one year.

No they don't! They still want my attention, etc, of course I being somewhat a forgiving person, have to cave in to November's "scratch my face" looks, which I do.

Most June piglets and yet-to-be-born piglets are for sale, although the piglets can't leave their mothers until 6 weeks old. When cows are treated for Mastitis, their milk does not go in the milk tank, but gets dumped in the drain, so free food for the pigs, but if the any pigs are going to be slaughtered, I will withhold the milk for a few weeks before being slaughtered. Other than that, I hear that milk fed pigs taste great, better than store brought pork.

Duh,, sorry about that, I just drew a blank. About the treated milk. When I was in high school we did an experiment comparing store milk with "fresh", I supplied the fresh. We covered the containers with cheesecloth and left them out, taking samples every day to compare the bacteria levels, after 2 weeks the fresh milk still wasn't showing noticeable levels of bacteria, it was then that I realized that I had taken milk from a cow that I was treating for mastitis. It messed up the results and the class was very impressed with my sanitation measures, at least until I fessed up.

X2

and welcome to the new chicken folk

have not been their so I can't help, do check into vac. for new chickens ....better to be safe then sorry,and prevent what you can


Opa thank you for the clear up on the chicken nipples. I haven't bought mine yet and I wasn't sure about the vinegar and stainless steel

does any one know of a good place to get nipples. I noticed a ## of places on line, don't know if one is more trust worthy then the other

I got them on ebay

 

[snowflake]

Trefoil do you remember which sight?

 

[Opa]

If you decide to use nipple waterers there are two types,push-in and screw in. The easiest to use are the push-in; all that is required is you drill a hole. I've used them on both plastic pails and pvc pipe with no leakage. The rubber grommet seals them. While I have found the screw-in type cheaper on Ebay I have no experience with them. Here is the link for the best price I've found for the push-ins. http://www.qcsupply.com/420011-push-in-style-nipple.html

 

[ladyrsanti]

I have the screw-in type. Not a problem either. I just drilled a snug hole, wrapped the threads with plumbers tape and screwed them in. No problems.

Need some information. After coming up with almost no returns on a search of the site (is the search different to anyone else?), I thought I'd ask you guys before putting out a general post. One of my BO hens started limping the other day. She's top o' the pecking order, the one I posted a picture of the other day, Poof. I figured she was just getting rough like she does and hurt herself. She started putting weight on it yesterday so I wasn't too concerned. But this morning as she was exiting the coop she paused in the doorway to step up onto the ramp and couldn't seem to place her foot correctly. It took her a couple of tries to place it right. Now I'm thinking it's numb and she can't feel it completely. That foot is pale compared to the other and has some greenish tinge to it, like it's not getting enough blood. She's still using it, walking on it but it's definitely not right. I've picked her up and felt up and down her leg and foot but she doesn't fret at all or pull away. No lumps or bumps or anything feeling out of place - that I can tell. I've heard of dislocated hips but not sure I could feel that with my inexperienced hands. Nothing is sticking out noticeably at any wrong angle at any rate. Any thoughts?

 

[ladyrsanti]

Got some photos. It looks like maybe bruising around that joint? But like I said, she doesn't seem to be in any pain when I touch it - just angry that I hold her against her will. See how much more alive the other foot looks? I dunno. Interested to see if anyone has seen anything like this and unless someone has a doomsday prediction for her, I'll just wait and see how it goes.

 

[1muttsfan]

Looks like it could be bruising, or maybe decreased blood flow. Does her foot feel cool compared to the other? You may have to put her someplace warm for a bit to tell. Check up and down her leg for anything that might have gotten wound around it.