Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[snowflake]

Woohoo! I finally have internet again! Been down the past week and I've been going crazy without my BYC and MI thread. Got back just in time to see I won the "Guess when 200,000 members" contest, so that is cool! I don't have any BYC t-shirts so I think there will be one on the way soon.

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Since all work and no play makes for a rather boring life, I did take some time this evening to assemble the bimini top that came today and install it on the boat. It will work great for providing some shade when sitting on a lake this summer, and the enclosure panels I am going to have made will make an excellent place to get out of the wind and extreme cold when fishing the rivers this winter. An infra red propane heater tucked inside will allow us to fish even with the cold is extreme.

don't know were you get all your energy!, maybe I need to start drinking coffee,
the boat cab sounds real nice

No. These little guys are still here. For some odd reason they are not considered chickens or poultry. At least for now.
I am so confused.

thees are canaries right?? the only bird allowed in Garden City,

congrats on getting the fines paid off, it does not surprise me that they found another fee to slap on you, don't know how they sleep nights

Definitely NOT pigeons.
There was a 80 year old man in court a few weeks ago who was fined for feeding the pigeons.

those people are sick!!

It seems that the

I need to get all the plants on my porch into the ground,
it is lovely out,

 

[Scifisarah]

Wow Sarah, I can't believe how pretty he turned out. However saying that... Pat has him beat on foot feathering... I had to trim them cuz they were getting so tangled with his chest feathers. Lol. Not kidding, you shoulda seen the poor guy, face planting big time. Trimmed his feet, and WOW! He was sure happy.

I know, I really wish I could keep him, but he is quite feisty about going after other roosters. I am hoping if I get a nice roo from Orion's chicks, he will be as mellow as his daddy and be able to live harmoniously in the same coop with him. Hah, no more clown feet for Pat! Glad to hear he is getting around well now.

 

[uchytil]

Daron, ,Gotta love the goats! I'm glad I have a hoof trimmer onboard! I'm looking for someone with a Toggenburg buck to breed my does. Do you still have those pigs you raise? I can't remember the breed and I may get a few this fall.

 

[SillyChicken]

cute kids Farmer! My little buck Cas, has 10% Lamancha in him. I hear they're very sweet goats.

DH and I have finally agreed on a small pole shed shelter for our goats. We've enlarged it from 8x8 in the drawing to 8x12 (12x16 total). we wanted to set it up so the goats could be fed and watered from the outside and shelter for us as well... mostly to make it easier for anyone to help us feed them if we went on vacation or something. We'll build a second one next year for the other pasture.

 

[hickchick55]

If anybody likes felines, check out today's Cat of the Day- my Buster!

www.catoftheday.com

I guess that makes me an official crazy cat lady.
Now I'll have to get a chicken on Pet of the Day.

 

[Farmerboy16]

Drumstick- The Emus are doing well. Can take pictures of them today.

Daron, ,Gotta love the goats!  I'm glad I have a hoof trimmer onboard!  I'm looking for someone with a Toggenburg buck to breed my does.  Do you still have those pigs you raise?  I can't remember the breed and I may get a few this fall. I will have lots of piglets available starting in July.

Yeah, love goats, but I still love my cows more!

Yup, still have American Guinea hogs. I have 3 sows that are due to have piglets within the next 2 weeks.

 

[gladahmae]

Well, I'm getting ready to do my coop clean out today! (putting those shavings in my veggie garden is a no-no, right? flowers=yes food=no?) I've got 2 broodies in there right now so hopefully they can get along when I toss them both into the dog crate to keep them out of the way!

I've gotten my 'shuffle' all worked out as far as which chickens are going where to make room for the newbies, with the exception of the excess roo. Here's my question: my roosters were raised together. They've had a shared fence for their run since I separated them in March. They don't fight through the fence. Is there a decent chance they'll get along if I put them together? One is an EE that we haven't had any aggression issues with, and the other is a Wyandotte. They're both about 9mo old now. Should I combine them at night? Put the hens away and combine them? Just throw everyone together and let them sort it out? I have 15 pullets/hens, and will have a minimum of 8 more joining them in the fall (probably more like another 10-15 by the time I get done hatching). All extra cockerels will be getting made into dinner in the fall from what I'm hatching, and I'm only planning on keeping 1 more rooster (from my BLRW hatch) if he has good lacing and type to work on a breeding program, and they'll have their own coop and run. But for right now, I'm just worried about the 2 roos I have killing each other.

 

[SillyChicken]

Sam, glad to hear granny has a clean bill of health!! Hope she'll be up to coming to CS!!

 

[nluoma]

Hello from Willis!
Glad to see there are fellow Michiganders with Chickens. I'm new to the whole thing, and I'm going to need advice and support!
Nanette

 

[RaZ]

Well, I'm getting ready to do my coop clean out today! (putting those shavings in my veggie garden is a no-no, right? flowers=yes food=no?)

I'm sure you will get a few different answers. Personally, I would have no problem using the coop sweepings in the vegetable garden. The plants won't be producing fruit for several weeks/months so the nutrients will be absorbed over time. If the coop material is coarse, you can use it to make paths between the rows. Or use it as mulch.

Personally, I will compost the coop sweepings for a few months. If you saw the photos of what I tilled, that was the coop clean out from winter with chicken poo added daily. It is now rich, dark humus that I'll plant over the next couple of days.