Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[nlvjlj]

Thank everyone so much for the help and advice. Hiiiii Kimberly lol.

 

[NovaAman]

I saw the netting on Ebay and the prices were quite decent for the variety of sizes available.
 I think I'd like to see a hawk bounce...LOL.. That's just my sadistic side.  Got a nice dorking roo to help out with watching the girls.  He seems to be rising to the occasion.  

I don't think it is sadistic... I want to see it on video so I can rewind and watch it again... Hehe...

 

[applegal]

I got white leghorn chicks last year at Family Farm and Home the first week of March last year, just in case you can't find any locally now.
Here's the link to there store locations https://www.familyfarmandhome.com/inet/custom.php?page=locations

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Bluish comb in the winter can also mean not enough water, very likely the meanie was keeping her from drinking enough. Sometimes if you nurse a hen back to full strength, then pull another hen with her for a bit before re-introducing the pecking order will surprisingly change to put her higher up! She just needs her strength to stand her ground.

 

[gwenirish11]

Not 100% sure yet, but I am thinking of selling a trio of young Araucanas. The cockerel is a rumpless and double tufted lad, blue with gold leakage. This girl, columbian, is also rumpless and double tufted. The last girl, I don't have any direct pictures of her. She is the blue girl in these shots. Cleanfaced and tailed, but if bred to the above laddie, might produce some nice chicks! Another picture of the blue girl, but she hadn't been the focus of the picture. The splash rooster is her father.

Hello I may be interested in a pullet if you wouldn't mind letting one go. I can't have a roo.

 

[snowflake]

Hi everyone, I have a question I got 4 hens in nov.. and they are suppose to be 1yr but i think i have a old hen in the bunch.. I took some pictures tonight.. she stands around most the day. she is eating and drinking.. on sunny warmer days she is more active.. I did notice the girls really pick on her. I felt her stomach and pelvic bone, which stomach is hard, and pelvic bone is like fingers width, oh and vent has yellow around it.. other then that looks good.. classic symptoms of older hen.. I almost culled her the other day. she was looking pretty weak.. we started feeding her extra protien and extra love she is looking better.. what do you all think.. her comb is pale..and some blueish in it.. so i was reading maybe some cardiac going on.. not sure in a bind.. she is under alot of stress from the other hens.. she stays in the nesting box at night.. I think i am going to have to crate the bully.. dont want to get rid of the bully because i think she is my 3rd consistant layer.. here some pictures.. my guess she is old or something is making her weak.. she is a sweetie, lets you hold her all day but i think that is because she is weak.. bottom picture is one of her siblings supposedly.. any feedback would be great..

She could be sick I would separate her right away, before the others are infected.

Hello I may be interested in a pullet if you wouldn't mind letting one go. I can't have a roo.

if you have 2or3, they can stick together ,,adding a new hen upsets the pecking order and they all want to show the new bird who is boss

 

[SillyChicken]

I wasn't expecting them till this weekend..CHICKS ARE HATCHING!!.... have 2 out of the shell and one working on it... One has a bad leg and I may have to cull it unfortunately. I'll give him a few days to see if he can work it out. Had to call off work (may go in later) so I can get them some food. I'm pulling the chicks as they hatch cause I added some at different intervals... and there are turkey eggs in there as well. The other eggs aren't doing much, but I swear I see tiny jiggles in some. This is the first time I've hatched any so it's exciting for me! Will post a couple picts later.... off to TSC!

 

[fuzzybutt love]

careful, silly. I'd give as long as you can before opening the bator, the humidity dropping can shrink one in there, and contrary to what i presumed my first hatch it will kill them, i had supposed i would help out anyone who got stuck.

(I did a hatch and shrinked the last poor guy. I found him after the hatch was done, very sad. I did a ton of research and that was what i learned)

I also learned that the chicks do a tapping to communicate while still in the shell, before they start popping out. Somehow they work out amongst themselves a "time" and the early ones will wait if they can for the others before they start working their way out, neat! Since they go 3 days before they eat or drink i'd give it a day or two unless there's an emergency. Hearing the others peep helps the late bloomers get up the energy to get out, they wanna see their hatchmates! (I had one in particular that had to bumble over and attempt to neck-hug each one as it came out, cutest thing EVER)

Here's a clip out of my notes, don't click on the autopsy ones unless you have a good stomach, it's graphic! I needed to know what went wrong, i felt so terrible and i didn't want to ever do it again. The boy or girl one isn't graphic, that one is for the live chicks to help try to suss out who your girls are!
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Egg autopsies, for those that didn't make it. Sad, but helps to fine tune your process so that you don't make the same mistake twice GRAPHIC
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/363717/eggtopsy-what-happened-to-my-egg-graphic-pictures
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/491421/shrink-wrap-vs-sticky-chick

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/eggs/res24-00.html
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boy or girl? http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/6/6-3/determining_sex_in_chicks.html

 

[fuzzybutt love]

I almost forgot, for the newbs i wanted to say it is also a good idea to research how different breeds get along before you submit your spring orders, some do better than others together. Another noteworthy thing to look into is how the roos act together, some breeds the roos are more tolerant and will allow other roos in the same pen as long as they can work out a few hens for themselves, some though will attempt to eliminate any competition.

I mixed orpington, cochin, d'uccle and easter egger because they are all breeds that are often on the bottom of the pecking order and are supposed to be very human friendly, all was true. I tried introducing a rhode island red (granted she was an adult used to complete free range) and i almost lost some birds because she wasn't letting them eat. I free feed, so there was never a shortage she just did not fit in so i found her a different home.

Those breeds are SUPPOSED to have nicer roos, as well as maybe silkies, wyendottes, favorolles? I will say that on the easter eggers their rooster temperaments are a coin toss. I've had them go mean on me, and had complete softies. The ones that get the tall comb seem to be the most hormonal, and the ones with the short almost hennish combs have been the softies. Not sure why, that's just what i've worked out so far. My current roo is mixed with buttercup, and he's a sweetie and is tolerating the d'uccle boy (though he insists that the girls of the trio are HIS, which isn't right) The d'uccle just keeps trying to steal a big girl out of the EE trio
Also my "mean" rooster i had that was mean sometimes and lovey other was super nice to babies, even if they weren't his. My current roo is too, but not as much as the other was. That is a huge deal, since other hens and often roosters will go after chicks if they aren't born into the flock and sometimes they still will even then.

 

[jedidiah]

i am new on here and want to know hou to find birds for sale on here?