Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Opa]

Looks like all we are going to see for the next few days is rain and more rain. I empathize with those of you who have to deal with flooding. Fortunately I stay high and dry and the only problem the rain is causing me is that it is preventing me from fishing. I'm afraid that by the time the water levels are down enough to allow safe fishing conditions the steelhead will have spawned and left the rivers.

Yesterday was the 3rd day for the new chickens in the grown pen and I half expected to find them all wet and bedraggled after the first torrential downpour. However, when I checked on them after the rain passed they were all dry so evidently they figures out how to get in the house. When I checked them again after dark they had all gone to roost so I guess I can quit worrying about them.

 

[taprock]

What did google searches suggest? Always open to other ideas! The ACV did work, I have active fermentation, and yes, kept it covered with water......... and I fed it to the birds for the first time last night.......... they went nuts over it and cleaned all of it up. Best part was, I fed 2 dry scoops worth of feed to all the birds. I would normally be dishing out 5-6 scoops of dry. I admit... it was a huge hassle to drain the food with my current set up, so I need to figure out something else. But, if this is any indication of how much feed I can save, it'll be worth the extra time.

I do mine in two 5 gallon buckets and draining is very easy. I have found corn does not drain as well as other grains so I usually do 50% barley 25 corn and 25 oats.

Nova I was thinking of you this morning when I looked at the radar, It's raining up here also but we needed some.

 

[gladahmae]

They're using the s-word for tomorrow's forecast up here.

Hopefully the rain can pause for a little while this evening so that we can get some of the tractor framing done. We got all the rafters cut last night, so not it's mostly a matter of getting them naile d and screwed together.

Now that the weather is warming up, I'm thinking about moving my polish and houdan into a separate part of the run and having them housed in one of the growout coops so that their crests can grow back. They've both been bald all winter, and the polish looks awful. I'm going to see if I can grow their crests back and then re-integrate them, and if they get picked on again, I'll have to re-home them.

 

[Lisa and girls]

Some toms out by my coop this morning.

 

[snowflake]

in after dark they had all gone to roost so I guess I can quit worrying about them.

Some toms out by my coop this morning.

NICE!

nice yard Nova, (glad it isn't mine)

 

[SillyChicken]

Tap, do you just use the seeds? or layer pellets too? I couldn't get the crap to drain through the holes, so had to scoop it out........ and what do you use to activate the fermentation?

 

[going country]

Hello Michiganders,

There's someone in Columbiaville, MI who has a lot of poultry posted on Craigslist. Chicks and laying hens and some ducks and turkeys as well. I wondered if anyone has bought birds from there and what they were like? Would appreciate hearing about anyone's experiences. Thanks!

We get our chicks from him. He gets them shipped in from a friend of his. We've never had any problems. Be sure to call first to make sure someone is home.

 

[jrsckn]

Hello Michiganders,

There's someone in Columbiaville, MI who has a lot of poultry posted on Craigslist. Chicks and laying hens and some ducks and turkeys as well. I wondered if anyone has bought birds from there and what they were like? Would appreciate hearing about anyone's experiences. Thanks!

PS--I just posted some free OEG bantam cockerels in the BST area if anyone is interested. They are my extras from an order from Ideal Hatchery. If I don't get rid of them earlier I will bring them to Chickenstock.

I got 10 pullets from him last spring, 2 out of the 10 ended up being roosters which isn't too bad except they were beautiful and wanted to keep them! I got 5 jersey giants which turned out beautiful with the georgous green sheen, 4 easter eggers which have all produced green eggs every day even through winter, and 1 silver laced wyandotte that looks like a seagull lol. All are healthy and I'd go back if I decided not to get show quality birds.


On a side note, I know we have plenty of members here who have ducks, is there any way to determine sex on 8 week old pekings? They both quack the same so I probably have two of the same sex but they're my first ducks so I really don't know if its raspy or distinct.

 

[Living the Simple Life]

Good morning!

Getting a wee bit of sunshine here in the southern part of the state, but thunderstorms are predicted by this afternoon with another 2 inches of rain expected by morning. I feel for all who are dealing with water issues...we spent 8 years with that mess. As most of you know, we were fortunate enough to move in November....thank you grandpa for building on the hill!! It has been wonderful not worrying whether there was going to be water in the basement and getting up multiple times during the night to make sure that the sump pump was still running. Our house was originally designed as a walk-out, but my grandmother was having none of that so the foundation was backfilled. It is times like this that I am happy for that.

There is a slight chance of "sxxx" for Saturday morning...seriously!!! Hopefully it will clear out and we will be able to get some yardwork done. I am looking at the calendar and feeling like I am already running behind....I hate that feeling!!! It is April for goodness sakes! I should not be feeling that I am behind the eight-ball already! An annual psychosis for me, unfortunately. It is probably compounded this year by the fact that we literally have 40 years of repair/maintenance/updating to do. I keep telling myself that it took many years to get to this point...I won't be able to do it all in one year...

 

[NovaAman]

Well, the yard is WORSE! LOL. The run and under runs are flooded pretty bad. The straw I put in there the other day sure does help keep them out of the mud though. I also have a few folding tables in there. LOL. Thought they'd enjoy a place completely up out of it along with the coops and roosts. I don't have it as bad as some. neighbors pullet coop is under water. He's going ot have to move the pullets out of there. Did i mention, we've never had our yards flood like this before?

Guy across the street where the stream is, that stream is now up and over his driveway, over the bike path and the lake in is back yard now extends aroudn the front of his house to the front. Only the West side of his house is yet grass land. Mrs Brown to my west also has a nice large lake. The corn feild on the other side Bill, two down east, is also a greater lake. The water is coming off that feild and through our yards. There used to be a ditch between that field and our yards, but since Bill hasn't really been around much this last year, the ditch hasn't been maintained... Thus.... we are now flooded since the ditch is full of debris.

Looking forward to the next few hours. Not.