Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[SillyChicken]

Got some spring chickens going on around there huh

It drives me nuts when people say "multiply like rabbits"....I've been trying since November to get my does to take and have yet to have a litter! ARGH! And we're talking 12+ does here, not just one. These last few days have been nice and warm and we've been trying to accomplish getting these girls bred...I keep threatening to eat them if they don't have babies! LOL.

Could it be your buck? Or could the girls be too heavy? Ours are pretty fat right now...may have to get them out to hop a few laps!

I'll be starting to breed mine soon.. We gave them (us) a break over winter.

I'll be planning a litter or two to bring kits to Chicken stock... NZ?/CA mixes.

 

[MIchickens]

[COLOR=0000CD]Sorry you had a bad experience from McMurray what did they say about the dead chicks? Are they going to resend? I got mine from Meyer they are really nice there and have a wonderful selection. They will be a year old this spring and right now I get almost 100% laying. Where is Crazy Chicken Ranch? I want some SLW or GLW. Have fun with your new chicks I am so jealous.[/COLOR]

Everybody at McMurray was great. I called them and reported the dead chicks....without question they returned my money for those. Im not upset with them...just a part of life I guess.

Crazy Chicken Ranch is in Capac,MI. I left their web address in a previous post. Im so glad I picked up the GLW's....I love their colors and pattern.

 

[Nigellas]

Well, if you want to pick a few of something different, I'm happy to bring them home for you.

Oh... now you post this! Already put my orders in... didn't go with other hatcheries cause of the shipping costs were more than my bird order. Not horribly fond of Ideals birds, but, they have been giving some great customer service so far this year.

 

[mrcush]

Hey RaZ,

I got an email from Jamie today saying she would have chicks in April so we decided to wait. We have never raised chicks before because the 4 we have now a friend raised for us until they were a few months old. We really appreciate the offer though, Thanks!

 

[Moma Hen]

Hi everyone! I'm new to backyard chickens and I live in Michigan. My husband and I plan on getting chickens in the spring. I live in the Imlay City area. Can anyone recommend a good place or person to get chickens. We want chickens for eggs. Eventually I would like to show my chickens but I am starting out slow.

 

[naglady]

Hi everyone! I'm new to backyard chickens and I live in Michigan. My husband and I plan on getting chickens in the spring. I live in the Imlay City area. Can anyone recommend a good place or person to get chickens. We want chickens for eggs. Eventually I would like to show my chickens but I am starting out slow.

 

[Juise]

Today however is my turn. I've got to go to the VA hospital in Ann Arbor for a hearing evaluation. Hopefully Uncle Sam will help with part of the $6000 hearing aids I need.

My Dad was there today, too. He's been having some heart irregularities. He was just telling me the other day though about some new hearing aids coming out now, that are much, much cheaper. They're made by a company that normally makes noise-canceling headsets, and are now making hearing aids that filter sound. I think he said they are something like $400. Might be something to ask about.

So, I am taking advice and going to change things up.

tj, We use out spare bathroom. Duct taped over the bathtub drain and filled it with sand. Doesn't give you the horrible dust of doom inside that woodchips do, stays much more dry, doesn't stink to high heavens, and can be scooped with a kitty litter scoop instead of having to replace it all the time. Chained the light to the shower fixture. When we're done brooding, we shop vac it out. We have a screen that we put in front of the tub when they start flying about, but you could use a plywood board, or whatever. Works for us.

On a more entertaining note....... I totally gave myself a fat lip and bloody nose yesterday. Turned to fast to go back in the house and the slight spacial miscalculation caused me to darn near knocked myself out, hitting the door frame..... it was epic! LOL! Today I have a fat lip and bruised nose and sore tooth of all things. LOL!

GEEZ, Silly! At least you didn't knock any teeth out while you were at it! Hope you heal up quickly.

Hi everyone! I'm new to backyard chickens and I live in Michigan.

 

[mrcush]

Hi everyone! I'm new to backyard chickens and I live in Michigan. My husband and I plan on getting chickens in the spring. I live in the Imlay City area. Can anyone recommend a good place or person to get chickens. We want chickens for eggs. Eventually I would like to show my chickens but I am starting out slow.

I'm new at this also Moma hen and have not purchased from them yet but people on this thread refered me to Crazy Chicken Ranch in Capac. I will be purchasing from them in April but I know people on here are getting some now because she just hatched her chicks. I have not found a website for them but they have a facebook page if you have access to facebook..

https://www.facebook.com/CrAzYcHiCkEnRaNcH

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Also, guys, I was wondering... today is ivermectin application day for my flock. I know that the BYC-accepted dosage is 4-5 drops for regular commercial types. But what dropper is best? I've heard some use a needled syringe. I don't have one but could buy one this evening when I'm in town. I also have an oral medicine syringe laying around somewhere from my cat's worm medicine, years ago. I might be able to find that. But what about a food-color dropper bottle? Are the drop sizes so different?

Close enough for this situation. I had heard 1 - 3 drops, though, depending on the size of the chook, are you using the cattle pour-on? Maybe I just ended up with a different source, but it did do the trick for the mites on my chickies. I did a few practice runs to make sure I could control the number of drops very precisely, since overdosing will kill, and found that every few times, too much would squirt out. I had the least amount of control with a oral medicine syringe, you mean the kind with the little plunger in it, right? It would all be going well, and then ssqqquuuiiiirrrttt! I don't know if my droppers just sucked, but it worried me, and in the end I just made sure I only had as much ivermectin as I wanted to use on the specific bird in the dropper each time. A needled syringe would probably give you the most control, I think I will find one by next time. Just make sure it doesn't get sucked up by the feathers or all is for naught.
A little late to this discussion, but i was thinking an eye drop bottle would work nifty too? That's my hope, anyway. Never considered a food color bottle! Otherwise i'll have to find an infant med that has the dropper bottle and just use the bottle. Kinda pricey? There has to be a place to buy those dang dropper bottles!


Quote: Originally Posted by snowflake
If you read through this, under the "merricks" paragraph it very clearly says that the vaccine does NOT prevent the bird from getting OR spreading the disease, only that it keeps the internal damage to a minimum. What most of the vaccinations are is a strain derived from wild turkeys, which is less harmful to the chickens than the "chicken" form, but that allow the bird to develp defenses against it. So it is possible still that your vaccinated birds gave your unvaccinated birds the virus?
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps030

http://www.examiner.com/article/how...mareks-disease-michigans-small-chicken-flocks

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/203602.htm

One of the articles says that if you have a carrier that isn't showing signs it's OK to breed with that one, and that the commercial industry is breeding for resistance, so it IS possible; that may be an option still for you? But you aren't supposed to breed any bird that is showing intermittent signs of the disease; because that one's weaker and won't pass good resistance genes.
I hope and pray mine got the wild turkey form from my visiting wild turkeys, otherwise i too may be in for heartbreak some day.

 

[NovaAman]

Juise, that is.... LOL. Ya know, I was wondering what the heck was going on with your sentence... NOW I realise I started it with the lovely touchpad error of putting in a "." because I must have double spaced. Ah, the joys.

The chicks I picked up from Townline I didn't have vac'd. Now I wonder if I am glad I didn't.