Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Trefoil]

Glad your son got taken care of Tap,at least he won't have that problem again.
Opa - Good luck with the mri, I hope its just a regular abcess, although they aren't that much fun either.
My columbian wyandottes are not a year old, but they aren't nasty, Its my brown rosecomb leghorn roosters that are nasty. They are also back attackers, only they so far have actually gone for my back, not my legs.

 

[Juise]

Hi all! I hope everyone is doing alright, I will have to get a Nova Novel again.

I have a question. Should have just asked you guys this in the first place, don't know why I didn't, except that I feel a bit guilty for popping in with a question when I am over 1,000 posts behind, teehee.

I posted this in the emergencies, etc. forum, but haven't got much for replies. Not that I don't like the answer, "Don't worry about it," but I would feel a bit better if I heard it from more than 1 person.

Is road salt safe for chickens?

I almost slipped on an icy patch in the driveway today, so without giving it any thought, I went in, grabbed the road salt, and scattered it over the icy patch. When I went back out later and walked past the area, the combination of salt and chicken prints all over the snow struck an alarm in my brain.

Chickens + Salt = Bad, right? Will they eat the road salt?

It was not really possible to tell whether or not they had eaten any, and if they did, there (as far as I know,) isn't anything I can do about it now, except prevent further issues. They walked all through it, but they walk all over the place, so that doesn't really mean anything.

I honestly can't remember what I did the last couple Winters? But probably I put down salt and just never thought to worry about it before for some reason.

Oh yeah, someone wanted me to post a picture of my scoopable poop board / roost, and I completely forgot. Is that still relevant / that person still around?

Aaaaaaannnnnddd, also, hey, how about kitty litter? It's getting pretty hard these days to shovel myself more sand when I need it for the poop board, could I use and compost kitty litter on it until the sand is not solid ice? no idea if you can compost kitty litter.

<3 to you all!

 

[NovaAman]

There is paper based cat litter that would compost quite well i'd think...

Sorry... My brain is to fried to write a novel right now. Lol. How are ya Juise? Was thinking about you the other day actually, we are painting... Got my boy an art set and easel for Christmas.

 

[Opa]

Chickens + Salt = Bad, right? Will they eat the road salt?

Walking thru road salt shouldn't have any effect on your birds. The salt would have to be almost a powder before any would adhere to their feet and the worst it could possibly do would be to dry out the skin on their feet. However, as soon as they walked on something else the salt would come off. So you have nothing to worry about from that.

I suppose that chickens might ingest salt granules much as they would any grit. However I doubt if they could eat enough to create a problem. A chicken never eats more than a small amount of grit s I can't imagine the salt would be any different.

 

[snowflake]

I got attacked today by the neighbors rooster. I was walking a few of his girls back in the dark, they had come over to visit, they had heard me whistling for my birds to come down off the roost and get some mac and cheese. Anyway, I am walking them home and their freaking stud cakes rear attacked me. I have a cut on my lower calf, and one on my ankle just above where my shoe sits. I tell you, I kicked that crap out of that b

bad roosters are a pain,, All hatchery roosters are not bad though, my EE will be 6 in Feb. never attacks even little kids, got him from McMurry'smyu other rooster is from 1mutsfan a Bisque and he is also a doll,

Hi all! I hope everyone is doing alright, I will have to get a Nova Novel again.

I have a question. Should have just asked you guys this in the first place, don't know why I didn't, except that I feel a bit guilty for popping in with a question when I am over 1,000 posts behind,

glad to hear from you, hope you had a great Holliday ,

also glad you asked that question, hate to use salt,also not good for plants,,,kitty litter gets mushy and the clay kind is slippery, paper kind is a good suggestion, I put old bedding from the floor on the poop boards, easy to clean off any time of year

 

[1muttsfan]

Clay cat litter can't be composted and turns into a sticky clay mess when wet.

Bad rooster = stockpot. No matter what body part they attack. They are very dangerous to children in particular, since they tend to go for the face, as it is much closer to the ground.

 

[Stacykins]

I got attacked today by the neighbors rooster. I was walking a few of his girls back in the dark, they had come over to visit, they had heard me whistling for my birds to come down off the roost and get some mac and cheese. Anyway, I am walking them home and their freaking stud cakes rear attacked me. I have a cut on my lower calf, and one on my ankle just above where my shoe sits. I tell you, I kicked that crap out of that boy as gently and firmly as I could, but he would not stop! I finally caught him between my legs, which could lead to a whole slew of umm... jokes. SO there I stand, a rooster stuck between my knees, a bag of suet in my one hand... I put the bag between my teeth, reached down grabbed the ratturd's feet, held him upside down only for a second so I could shift him around and tucked his @$$ under my arm. Everytime he tired to squirm free, I held him tighter. Carl told me I should have kicked him more, but I was like, DUDE, I kicked him 4 times and he still kept coming. I held him for about 10 minutes while I was talking to Carl. Carl says he's going to get rid of him, because he'll be fine, won't attack anybody, then all of the sudden he attacks only when your back is turned. I told him when if he wanted a nice rooster, let me know, I'll be working on faverolles this spring, I'll give him a pair, a boy and a girl. He said, well they all get mean at about 2 years. I said, NO they don't. Mr. Fluffers was nearly 4, and he never attacked any one. Roger was a year and a half, he never attacked anyone. Depends on the breed, and with his being a factory columbian wyandotte, and not a good quality one either... they aren't bred for niceness... I told him he needs a nice fat cochin boy or a faverolle. OR keep one of his older hens, even if she's stopped laying as his head hen.. she'll keep them in line then...

I have an acquaintance whose rooster only attacks when someone's back is turned. He'll kind of sneak up on you, because he pretends to do chicken things (pecks around, picks up sticks and drops them, inches closer). Then, when he is close enough, BAM! I got nailed once on the calf, but when I turned and faced him he backed off. He is a good lad to his hens, at least. I was more surprised when it happened, since it didn't hurt (he hit the back of my leather work boot).

I am very thankful that my two Araucana roosters don't have a mean bone in their bodies. They've never made a move to hurt me or anyone else, and are quite calm when I pick them up.

 

[NovaAman]

I haven't had a bad roo myself, yet...Big Guy was showing some signs that he could have been, but he was destined for the stock pot. I got my britches off last nite and found a nice set of scratches on my calf that I hadn't noticed since I only looked at the leg that was stinging. Yeah, he's gonna be going. Carl and Earlene do not like that he is bi-.po.. Will be fine, the attack out of the blue, especially if you have on blue shoes. He is good to his girls,keeps them together. Maybe last night he thought I was a threat because I was walking some of his girls home in the dark... I don't know, but I sure as heck didn't like the sneak attack. Well anyway. He'd have been brought to the processor the first time he went after any one here if he were mine.

 

[SillyChicken]

long ago I had a beautiful Americana (sp) roo that was mean and went after everyone.. he didn't last long. All of the faverolle roos, probably 10 over the last few years, have been good. I had two that were a bit aggressive, but not s much to me. The white silkie roo's I got from TSC were all a bit nasty, I culled all of them. The sumatra roos were good too (so far) which has surprised me.... I've been really lucky. The only time they would come running was if a hen was in distress, but they stopped when they saw me. I would surely expect them to come running to help the hens or they wouldn't be doing their jobs. I'm down to one faverolle roo, one sumatra, one uggo, one silkie, one millie fluer and one porcelian roo.... the millie needs a home with girls if anyone is interested!

Opa, good news about granny, hope the MRI is clear and she heals up quickly.

Jusie, nice to see you back! I wouldn't worry about the salt either. If you're still uncomfortable, get some play sand to put on the ice, it will help with traction..... which I wish I had when I slipped on the ice feeding the goats this morning..... I was SO hoping I didn't land on any of the pooh cause I had my work clothes on! other than a pending bruise on my backside, I was pooh free! Phew!! LOL!

Stacykins... I read the same for CL and that for more accurate CL results, the whole herd where a goat came from would need tested ....... impossible to get that info really, and I"m not about to test someone else's herd for them. I don't have an issue doing blood draws myself, I give my own shots etc so drawing won't be much different. I have found out the type of collection tube that is needed and how to handle the blood for the CL, just would need to find a lab to test it. Wonder if MSU could. For the CAE, I think I got tubes and regular syringes, it doesn't make sense to use the other type of collection needle for a one time draw. I've been doing research for a buck for my doe and everyone I've looked at want proof the doe is CAE/CL free. Which is understandable.

Raz, how much wood would a woodchuck, chuck? Hopefully "she who must not be named" isn't giving you any grief about that pile o wood!

Farmer, awesome job on that soup, hope you feel better. We fixed 15 bean soup the other day with the left over ham/bone from the holiday... man did that turn out tastey! We decided not to use the salt flavor packet that came with the beans and added our own dried herbs and stuff... turned out much better that way.

 

[RaZ]

Morning coffee and catching up...

I'm getting a late start. I wanted to start cutting up that wood early. But it is only 9:30 so I have time. I suppose it will take me a few days for this load. I got it from a guy who does big job clean ups of storm damage and whatnot. The dump body is 6x12x20 so that is a lot of wood. It was maple this time and he has an oak for next week. I might be crazy, but it is fun for me and not really work.

Clay based litter and compost do not mix well. The recycled newspaper stuff is OK but kind of pricey. Same for corn cob litter; good by pricey. It may be too late this year, but you can get shelf material that has a coated surface that is easy to clean (can't think of the name of it right now). I used that and it is very easy to clean.

In the last couple of weeks, my egg yolk are not as orange as they are in summer. Still a nice yellow but not as dark. The lack of bugs and live greens is noticeable in the colouration. Still better than store bought, eh?

Y'all have a nice day, it's very sunny and cold here but I'm going out!