Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[HooverHenHouse]

My house is surronded by a hay field..and once the chickens ventured enough to discover the hay field they fell in love. They loved it! (until the hawk attached and now they are not allowed to free range.

 

[Maah]

sounds like you're off to a good start!

When you build your coop, build it bigger than you think you need it. They never end up being big enough! Also, make sure that its EASY for you to clean it!

x2!!

Absolutely make it bigger than you think you need it! Estimated space times three, or more!

 

[1muttsfan]

Hi Maahbeaker, welcome to the Michigan thread

 

[Maah]

My house is surronded by a hay field..and once the chickens ventured enough to discover the hay field they fell in love. They loved it! (until the hawk attached and now they are not allowed to free range.

Our chickens were allowed to free range whenever we were out there doing barn chores, etc. Up until they found DH's asparagus patch! They loved it, he didn't. He won. LOL

 

[NovaAman]

Welcome Maabeeker!

Thanks very much Opa and company for the answer. Now I will not worry on it, I get to enjoy seeing the turkeys even more and the chickens will have a nice patch that's about 1/8 acre of clover and what ever else it was that was in the mix.

 

[Trefoil]

Eh - got completely wiped out Thursday. Hubby and I checked around the coop and with the tracks came up with a weasel. I was set and determined it was a wily, ninja raccoon but it's proof positive now. Have you seen the picture of these cute buggers?? You would never suspect they're serial killers. So my 5 silly silkies, easter egger and Light Brahma are gone. Well, at least I can begin again, alittle smarter about birds. Less silkies (though I ADORE them) and some "real" chickens as my hubby would call them. I imagine by February all the wildlife is good and hungry.

That's horrible, so sorry for your loss. Do you know how it got in?

 

[snowflake]

Ok, I'm jumping on this MI ship. Hi all!

Hi, MaahBeaker, welcome to the MI. thread, You have 2 house cats? how do you get to type, every time I sit at my lap top my cat jumps up and tries to sit on the key board(prrrrr)
I am in Belding MI, E. of Rockford. Hope you can come to Chicken Stock, June 22, in Lansing, all are welcome, a lot of fun. meet all the crazy chicken people

Nova when will you plant?? needs to have a soil temp of 60 or better doesn't it??

 

[Maah]

Hi, MaahBeaker, welcome to the MI. thread, You have 2 house cats? how do you get to type, every time I sit at my lap top my cat jumps up and tries to sit on the key board(prrrrr)
I am in Belding MI, E. of Rockford. Hope you can come to Chicken Stock, June 22, in Lansing, all are welcome, a lot of fun. meet all the crazy chicken people

Yup, we have 2 barn cats & 2 house cats. I also work from home. My employer allows me to log in remotely to the office. YAHOO! Yes, one of our house kitties thinks he needs to help me on a regular basis, ever since he was a kitten. For the most part I've trained him to at least lay on my printer on my desk, rather than right on my arms/paperwork. Sometimes he's gets very insistent and so I end up having to haul him out to the livingroom, put down some kitty snacks and close my office door. LOL. This last week he's been a major pain! I have the brooder in my office with the 2 silkie chicks and it makes for the best kitty TV! He can get a great view from his spot on the printer... but he's been really annoying. LOL.

I wanted to come to the Chicken Stock last year but wasn't able to. I am planning on it this year! June 22... **just wrote it in the calendar!**

 

[boris159]

Eh - got completely wiped out Thursday. Hubby and I checked around the coop and with the tracks came up with a weasel.

So very sorry for your loss. Compared to hawks and dogs and raccoons and other predators, weasels have to be the worst.

 

[naglady]

Ok, I'm jumping on this MI ship. Hi all!

I'll start with... Oh, man! Sorry your flock got taken out! We've been having trouble with coyotes around here for the last month. The more snow we get, the more coyote prints we're finding around the coop! GRR. Luckily none have gotten to our chickens, dwarf goats, or barn cats yet. The farm stores will start having their chicks in the next couple of weeks... You're gonna have fun picking out some little fuzzy butts! I agree with the other poster though. You've gotta have a couple silkies though, they are such good momma's.

....

With that said, I'll introduce myself a bit better. We have a small farm here. We don't produce much other than eggs for our own use, and we give some to our neighbor each week as well. No profit. Wife here, hard working DH (well, I'm hard working too LOL), & we have 3 kids. Outside critters are 11 "real" hens (he he)... BR, NH, Isa Brown, Australorps, Leghorn, Americaunas, Wyandottes... an awesome Light Brahma Rooster. A white silkie pair (we're currently trying to hatch out some chicks. Our second batch is incubating on the counter right now). We also have 3 Nigerian Dwarf goats (all wethers). Inside critters are 2 dogs (Maltese & Boxer), and 2 more house cats, currently 2 silkie chicks in the brooder and 7 eggs in the incubator on the counter.

Welcome to the group Maahbeaker,