Michigan Thread - all are welcome!
- Thread starter Wynette
- Start date
Got woke up at 7:30 by one of my juveniles practicing his crow. Now to catch figure out who is what. By my estimations, the pullets should be ready to lay anytime.
If anyone would like to hazard guesses at some of my breeds, I have posted in the breed and gender forum with lots of pictures.
If anyone would like to hazard guesses at some of my breeds, I have posted in the breed and gender forum with lots of pictures.
Amd yes, this is really early for me. I don't usually get home from work until around 3am, so 7:30 sucks many things that I won't post on a public forum.
Oh, Ever, so sorry....think you may need to get ear plugs!!
Mine start crowing anytime between 415-500am. Of course, I get up at 3-330a for work & no later than 4am on non-work days, so, other than the irritation of the crowing contest (& fear that they are driving my 1 & only neighbor nuts), its no biggy for me!
Had 2 more hatch ovenight. Up to five. So far
two years ago i would have said i'd never have chickens. i was in 4H as a kid, and spent a week every summer at the county fair with rabbits. at my fair, the rabbits and poultry were in the same barn and there was a lot of political stupidity between the groups. and that many animals in a barn in the heat of the week before labor day would often smell, and since the rabbit leaders blamed all of the issues in the barn on the poultry people, i did too and never bothered to think about it. now i recognize it for what it was, politics .
then last year my DH and I decided we were going to buy a house with a bit of land. the place we bought has some serious bug problems. ants all over the yard and ticks, with one day this spring, between me, him, and my parents we got about 40 ticks. so shortly after we got the house, he started looking up ways to get rid of bugs and came across the idea of chickens. he spent a few weeks trying to convince me. i already knew that fresh eggs were so much better than store bought, but i had never thought about wanting chickens. but between him and a friend who still wants chickens but has a dog that would eat them, they convinced me that it was a good idea. we ended up going in with that friend (and her DH) and another friend couple and got nine chicks from TSC last spring (they were supposed to all be pullets, but ended up with one roo that we butchered and ate). then this year we got an assortment of 15 chicks + a free "rare" one. down to 14 total chicks now, with the 8 hens from last year. we figure our coop can winter about 30 birds (with free ranging whenever weather permits), so next year we might get a few more, or maybe the year after. and then i will start trying to talk the DH into letting me have another coop
then last year my DH and I decided we were going to buy a house with a bit of land. the place we bought has some serious bug problems. ants all over the yard and ticks, with one day this spring, between me, him, and my parents we got about 40 ticks. so shortly after we got the house, he started looking up ways to get rid of bugs and came across the idea of chickens. he spent a few weeks trying to convince me. i already knew that fresh eggs were so much better than store bought, but i had never thought about wanting chickens. but between him and a friend who still wants chickens but has a dog that would eat them, they convinced me that it was a good idea. we ended up going in with that friend (and her DH) and another friend couple and got nine chicks from TSC last spring (they were supposed to all be pullets, but ended up with one roo that we butchered and ate). then this year we got an assortment of 15 chicks + a free "rare" one. down to 14 total chicks now, with the 8 hens from last year. we figure our coop can winter about 30 birds (with free ranging whenever weather permits), so next year we might get a few more, or maybe the year after. and then i will start trying to talk the DH into letting me have another coop
How did I get into chickens........
When we built our house and moved in (we're on 10 acres) I semi-jokingly asked my husband about getting a horse, or a cow, or SOMETHING. He said no. So I asked, what about chickens? He informed me that we were NOT getting any smelly chickens. I would ask about once every month or 2 and always got the same answer. "NO."
A year went by, and BIL decides that he's going to get some chickens. But the catch was the he had to order 15 to meet the minimum requirement from where he was getting them from. So he called my husband and asked if he wanted 7 of the 15.....free of charge....he just didn't want 15 chickens, but *had* to order that many. Husband decides that chickens would be alright.
*I* decide that I REALLY REALLY REALLY want some wyandottes to go with our 7 chickens (barred rocks, black sex links, and buff orpingtons) and find someone on craigslist who is selling started pullets. We drove about an hour each way to get one gold laced and 1 silver laced. THEN I found BYC and found out about Marans. And I just HAD to have some chocolate eggers! Found someone 40min south of us that was selling them on craigslist. Sent DH to get them while I was at work.
Then our dog got into the chickens and we went down to 3......one cuckoo marans and the 2 wyandottes. Find more chickens on craigslist. Find an incubator on craigslist. Build another coop. And repeat.
At this point we've raised over 150 chickens. Did our first batch of meat birds this summer, hatched our own mutts, and expensive shipped eggs. Have had more dog problems than I want to think about.
When we built our house and moved in (we're on 10 acres) I semi-jokingly asked my husband about getting a horse, or a cow, or SOMETHING. He said no. So I asked, what about chickens? He informed me that we were NOT getting any smelly chickens. I would ask about once every month or 2 and always got the same answer. "NO."
A year went by, and BIL decides that he's going to get some chickens. But the catch was the he had to order 15 to meet the minimum requirement from where he was getting them from. So he called my husband and asked if he wanted 7 of the 15.....free of charge....he just didn't want 15 chickens, but *had* to order that many. Husband decides that chickens would be alright.
*I* decide that I REALLY REALLY REALLY want some wyandottes to go with our 7 chickens (barred rocks, black sex links, and buff orpingtons) and find someone on craigslist who is selling started pullets. We drove about an hour each way to get one gold laced and 1 silver laced. THEN I found BYC and found out about Marans. And I just HAD to have some chocolate eggers! Found someone 40min south of us that was selling them on craigslist. Sent DH to get them while I was at work.
Then our dog got into the chickens and we went down to 3......one cuckoo marans and the 2 wyandottes. Find more chickens on craigslist. Find an incubator on craigslist. Build another coop. And repeat.
At this point we've raised over 150 chickens. Did our first batch of meat birds this summer, hatched our own mutts, and expensive shipped eggs. Have had more dog problems than I want to think about.
I was raised around chickens. When i was a kid it was my job to care and collect eggs. It was only natural for me to raise my own flock after college. Been hooked since i was a toddler.
I now have 3 br, 1 rir, 3 ee, 1 australorp, 2 mixed hens, 3 gold sebrights, 4 silver, 3 oeg, 3 millys and a polish roo bantam. I think thats everybody. Oh! 5 ckicks!
And a wyandotte! Lol
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