Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[naglady]

I think a skunk has attempted to dig into my chicken coop.. when i went out there this am.. i saw a whole.. and then remembered i smelled skunk when i let the dogs out.. will be doing some securing today.. and get a trap out. does anyone know of any natural deterrent to keep skunks away. or is trapping the only way.. I cant believe i didnt even think of chickens when i smelled skunk. now i will..

the baby goats are so cute.. love the scaredy cat story..

welcome nannette..

Like seeing everyones gardens,

 

[gladahmae]

Well I got the big coop cleaned out yesterday! 6 wheelbarrows full of poop and shavings! Ran the shopvac over everything, hosed it down, and then ran the shopvac over a few more places! I painted the insides of the nest boxes with an 'almost black' paint we got off the oops rack, and hopefully having a slightly darker area will be conducive to them actually USING them. When I started the cleaning I took my 2 broodys and put them in the big dog crate; they made a HUGE racket so I tossed them out with the other chickens and they were happy to act like normal chickens for the afternoon. However, once the paint dried and I opened the pop door they were right back to their respective corners. Will definitely have to get the roof back onto the mini-coop and make it into a broody coop!

Opa, I'm so happy to hear that you are doing all you can to allow Granny to go fishing this year. It's so nice to be able to just sit in a rocking boat with a fishing pole in your hands.....

 

[Farmerboy16]

Here is my cows.

Hiding from the heat yesterday.

My own goats. The garden is in the background. Its 100 by 50 ft.

Griffin the male emu.

 

[uchytil]

I know there is probably a thread somewhere in here regarding this ... & I have searched for it but for the life of me can't find it. I live in Michigan (West side of Michigan - about 30-45 minutes away from Lake Michigan) ... we have 2 hens ... I am using childrens play sand inside their coop ... when I went out to slean out the coop yesterday (I clean the coop daily) I noticed that some of the sand inside the coop is wet? Not sure how this happened & if it is good for the hens or not. Any & All help/suggestions/anything is greatly appreicated.

Do you have a concrete slab? If so one other thought is the present humidity. Some spaces with a concrete slab stay very cool near the floor and introduction of warm, humid, air can cause condenstaion. I agree with Opa about wood chips being better than sand for moisture absorbtion.

 

[gladahmae]

Opa: Thanks for the tip you posted awhile back about dispatching birds via cervical displacement using a board. I tried combining the roosters today and they were both panting heavily after about 10min of skirmishing, and were still going at it. Rather than let them continue to injure eachother, I was able to easily catch the one I've been trying to re-home (they were both very tired) and quickly finish him off. Now to figure out what to do with the body......I don't think I'm up for dressing a chicken today

Kind of feeling like a big meany now, and wondering if I picked the right one to keep since the EE roo never showed any tendency to attack myself or the kids, and the Wyandotte is more of an unknown quantity. Ugh. I need to do something to distract myself from this.

 

[poultrylubber]

Hi all !!!! Um I am wondering if there are any people here who show poultry. I am interested in getting involved in poultry showing but I have NO idea how to go about it. Is there a group I need to get involved in? I know nothing so if anyone knows could you help me ???!!!! If you could PM me rather than put it here so it would be easier talk about it!!
Thank you!!!

 

[Fancy Favie]

Hi all !!!! Um I am wondering if there are any people here who show poultry. I am interested in getting involved in poultry showing but I have NO idea how to go about it. Is there a group I need to get involved in? I know nothing so if anyone knows could you help me ???!!!! If you could PM me rather than put it here so it would be easier talk about it!!
Thank you!!!

I sent you a PM.... Also had to share I named my Australian shepard an anime name ( Ken Pachi Raito) Pachi for short

 

[NovaAman]

Here are my phoenix and one lone WC Polish, one White Jap Bantam, (pretty sure she's a she), and two white yokos. I had to unfortunetly put down the only blue phoenix at a week. Bad leg, wasn't growing... Culling chicks is very hard. Anyway, the rest are growing, well, colors are starting to show up and WOW! Sunday it will be 4 weeks for them! First time hatching in a bator! The white Yoko that I helped get out is also very healthy. I had to help it, I didn't realise it was hatching when I opened the bator. It was the last one to hatch, a full day after all the rest were out.. Anyway... Here they are!








I can't hardly wait for those blue ones (technically they are silvers) to finish coloring and filling in. They look so AWESOME! The only boy I am for certain keeping is a crele, and then two ladies for him. He was the first out. If there is interest in the others, let me know.

In the bator now are WC polish in blue, black or splash... not certain what colors we'll have till they hatch... a few red shoulder yokos, white yokos, and white jap bantams. Several of the polish are already claimed. OH, and they are the bantam polish, not standard.

Not the best pic, but how the blues look. I think it is a girl. Such a trouble making diva. Acts like the world is coming to an end when ever I hold her. LOL

 

[ladyrsanti]

There's a pack of dogs threatening my animals today. They're barking and making threats at the fence and then retreating across the field to the pine trees when I go to stop them. I don't know who they belong to, if anybody. Two BIG dogs. They could easily take out a sheep and the chickens if they got through the fence. I shut everybody up and called the Kent Co. animal control to report them but the agency is pretty much non-existent so I left a message and won't expect a call back until well after the dogs have moved on. I REALLY do not like dogs.

 

[NovaAman]

I love dogs... Dogs that are well confined to their property. I have dogs. I keep them confined. My dogs will kill my chickens... Well, one will. Boston bully. Hope they move on very quickly.