Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Farmerboy16]

Oops, double post. Blaming it on this wonky laptop.

 

[Farmerboy16]

What? Triple post? Really blaming this wonky laptop! So glad that my brother found me a refurbished laptop only for $225!!! Yay! My very first computer!!! But he has it, can't get it until I see him again. :/

 

[teeville5]

I am very humbled by all of the responses and prayers and I sure tomorrow when Granny is more lucid and I can tll her about the outpouring she will be deeply touched. Thank you all.

Opa, I'm sorry granny had issues from that shot she received and I'm glad that her treatments are going well. Get well soon, Granny.

Did anyone else already post here that Rockford (a town just north of Grand Rapids) made up to 5 hens legal this week? Good news for chicken keepers who live there.

I didn't know it was passed, but I knew it was in the works. DH works with a lady who lives in the city limits and has 5 chickens she got this past year. She tried to keep them on the down low, but the city found out and told her they had to go. DH said she decided to take action and try to change it. Looks like she did the job. Good work!

 

[ladyrsanti]

So my first thought was- I am certified to do wildlife rehab. DNR trumps city. I can legally rehab raccoons and oppossums and squirrels- I just stopped doing it because I didnt have anywhere to release them....

.....

Then my next thought was- I COULD go buy up all the brown and black rats in the pet store and start a breeding/and release project out of my backyard...oh, undercover of course..


there ARE worse things to deal with than the neighbor owning a few hens...


OH- my husband was told he cant keep his classic John Deere in our front yard any longer. He has to move it. However, I just replaced my toilet. The old one is out on the deck. I plan on planting flowers in it. I think it is going to look PERFECT right in the spot that the tractor now sits...

Sorry you're having to deal with this. I went through a similar situation with a neighbor when I lived in SE MI, except we knew exactly who it was and she was a witch with a 'b'. It stressed me to the point of affecting my health, having to live under her constant scrutiny, knowing we were scum in her eyes. I still think about that neighbor from time to time and hoping the people who moved in our old house were every bit as obnoxious as we apparently were. She called the township on us twice (luckily we didn't have chickens but I wouldn't have dared get them while having her as a neighbor). I too had a toilet outside, in my back yard, that she hated. I planted flowers in it as well. It was my way of giving her the finger, each and every day. That and I finally found something to call her on, burning fresh lawn clippings (which is expressly forbidden in Bedford Twp.) Boy was she PO'ed when the fire dept. showed up! That carries a fine too. Yay! for small victories.

Good luck.


Also good to hear about Rockford. We almost considered moving there but it was all so suburbanite, from the listings we had to work with at the time. So we chose someplace a little more rural.

 

[taprock]

I get my seeds from Fedco, good seeds and a good price. I also like their policies.

So sorry mom, I hope your "cat" project works DH and son say you need to disguise them as grouse. Not sure why grouse.

I finally have eggs.......and the single egg on the lid is the first from my 9 month old Orloff....Boris. She worked so hard on laying that egg today.

 

[RaZ]

RaZ! I am planning to make some raise beds for the strawberry plants that I have ordered, and would like to know if I could fill the raise beds with all that manure that I have, or will have to get topsoil

I'm guessing that then manure is aged or composted already. Use the oldest material first.

You have a perfect opportunity to experiment. You could divide the bed into thirds: 1/3 all manure; 1/3 a 50/50 mix of manure and soil. last 1/3 just plain top soil. It could be interesting.

 

[BackyardFarmMom]

It looks like 2 of your eggs are a "rose" color...What breed lays those?... All of them together are a great Easter basket!!!

 

[Nigellas]

Mom2 - I'm so sorry! I'd be really, really upset too. I hope your plan works out!

I lost a hen to a hawk yesterday... Came home to it sitting on top of her (already dead). I'm going to have to revisit them staying in their run... I just really didn't think a hawk could take on a full-size chicken. Ugh, poor girl.

 

[drumstick diva]

ladyrsanti Cool, I love it that you were able to return the favor and report her burning grass clippings. People who spend their days trying to get neighbors in trouble NEVER think it could happen to them.

 

[Amy PT]

Mom, I'm sorry that happened. As a fellow "secret chicken keeper" I worry we'll get a notice. I hope your plan works out.

I don't know many of the details about Rockford. I'm glad to see more communities accepting and legalizing backyard chickens, and am impressed when a group of folks can make a change like that.