Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[NovaAman]

Oh my goodness, Kimmie, it was a bog here! Good thing not a peat bog, or we'd all be missing!

 

[kimmie6067]

For some reason I thought Fowlfest was this weekend would have went there for nothing

 

[NovaAman]

You would have went for something... the drive... LOL

 

[gladahmae]

going to treat 2 chicks for spraddle leg today if I can find some bandaids! I'm still waiting for my 4 remaining black copper marans eggs to hatch. it's day 22, and a few of them are rocking around....but they've been doing that since day 20.

I really hope my new incubator gets here before next Thursday!!!!!!

 

[tmkuroda]

Hmmm. wonder if you built your "farm" in the center of your property, so it was surrounded by your other properties, if you'd then have a problem... How far away are your nearest neighbors going to be, and MAYBE you should go and check them out and see who has what...

Where I am, we are A1. LUCKY FOR US! Since we moved here, and got birds after being here for a almost 2 years, we've had several other houses in our little corner of N. Holland get birds. There are 7 of us in the 3/4 mile triangle that makes up our neighborhood. My neighbor and I are the only ones that let our birds run all over our property though. In the next few years, that's going to change. I am starting this year with buying fencing posts to run every 3 feet, 2 feet inside of my property line. Then work on the rolls of fencing to go all the way around to keep my birds inside my property. This is ONLY because I don't expect my one neighbor to live forever (83yrs) and I can not expect who ever gets her house afterwards to be ok with my chickens all over their property. Mrs. Brown doesn't mind them. She loves them, and loves even better that she gets the benefits of them visiting, and not the chore of cleaning up after them. She especially loves the faverolles roosters. LOL Wait till she gets a load of the coming chicken eye candy this fall when the phoenix are feathered out!

Well, anyway... I'd see what your country neighbors have going on, and go from there. If there are already homesteads with horses, chickens, etc... you're probably going to have a much easier time. ALSO, if you go to neighbors with coop design/barn design and containment area plans in hand, might make some more comfortable with the idea if they are the "we moved to the country for peace and quiet" type.

We are in the only area designated for farm animals so that is a good thing. I think (Hope?) the township just wants to know what is going on and needs money. I know that about a mile away there is a mini farm on my same road. Also a few houses down I can hear a rooster and I have seen signs for fresh eggs. My dad is a great guy and plows everyone's driveway for free in the area and we allow snowmobiles in the winter to cross our property from the people behind us. So if they want to continue to do that then I would suggest they say okay. Otherwise one bad apple is going to ruin it for everyone else.

Tina

 

[tmkuroda]

This is a panoramic view from the doorwall. On the left is the other property we own. The other properties we own are behind these two. I was thinking of birds and garden in my yard (I am planning on cutting some trees in the back down another 10 foot or so) and the other one for goats etc. The property on the left has a small pond. The trailer on the right is for sale and an older couple own it. Their kids are all our age and pretty cool.
Tina

 

[cuppycake]

We are in the only area designated for farm animals so that is a good thing. I think (Hope?) the township just wants to know what is going on and needs money. I know that about a mile away there is a mini farm on my same road. Also a few houses down I can hear a rooster and I have seen signs for fresh eggs. My dad is a great guy and plows everyone's driveway for free in the area and we allow snowmobiles in the winter to cross our property from the people behind us. So if they want to continue to do that then I would suggest they say okay. Otherwise one bad apple is going to ruin it for everyone else.

Tina

Bribery. I like it

 

[tdhenson86]

.Some mornings start off unexpectedly. As is common I was awake before 4am. As I sat drinking my coffee I worked 3 crossword puzzles and tried to decide if I should read a book or go back to sleep. Each time I stood to go replenish my coffee cup I thought I could detect a faint odor of burning plastic. Each time I stood the smell seemed to be getting stronger. Finally I convinced myself that I needed to find the source. Fortunately locating it went quickly and I found that a dimmer wall switch had malfunctioned. Not only was the device melting the wire supplying power was melting as well. Had I not discovered it it would have undoubtedly led to a house fire.

Now the plug is removed and the danger is passed and when Home Depot opens I will go and get a replacement switch. Some times it pays to wake up early.

Oh my!!! I'm so glad you caught it in time!!!!

 

[tdhenson86]

Opa, glad that you found that! Our house burned down in 2000 from a faulty wiring in the smoke alarm in the basement under the living room. Thankfully we were at our vacation house in Frankfort. It was on Sunday morning, and a neighbor thought that we were burning trash in our fireplace on a hot August morning, but he realized that there were smoke coming out of the eaves too. Everyone thought that we were still in bed in the burning house, so 2 firemen got hurt trying to make sure that there were no one home. One fell through the floor, and the other got his head burned as his helmet fell off while trying to get the guy that fell in out. We lost everything in the house. My mom was 7 months along for the her 9th child when the house fire happened. Us kids were divided among family and friends for a few months. My dad rebuilt the house, but bigger and better than the previous one.

That's terrible and ironic. I'm glad that they were okay, you had somewhere to go, and that the house was rebuilt bigger and better, though!

 

[RaZ]

It is difficult to follow the rules when some faceless bureaucrat arbitrarily decides that you can't even play the game.

The following e-mail (copied verbatim) came from the MAEAP tech who first evaluated my farm and was very supportive of backyard chickens. His bosses in Lansing have stopped the process in spite of the governor's directive to step up MAEAP certification.

I will be writing several letters to MAEAP, MDARD, DEQ and the governor. I find it outrageous that state agencies are actively discriminating against citizens and selectively favouring others.


As you know, the MAEAP process is a proactive approach to environmental hazards that may be on a farmstead. We can proceed with cleaning up any possible hazards that might pose a concern for you. However, your residence does fall in a zoned area that the Michigan GAAMP’s does not recognize and you will not be able to be MAEAP Verified in any system as I have mentioned. The soil erosion (RUSLES) and wind (WEPS) assessment forms that need to be included on a Cropping System will not be needed for a review, because a final verifier will not be called to review you residence. I can work with you to assist in environmentally assured practices and concerns with your operation but remember without meeting the criteria in the Michigan GAAMP’s (Must not have a zoning issue) the MAEAP Program can only assist and cannot verify a farm.