Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[1muttsfan]

Fuzzy, so sorry about your little guy.

My birds have been eating apples, seeds and all, for years without issues, maybe there is some other problem going on.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Sympathy to you Fuzzy. I'm so sorry.

 

[Lisa and girls]

Please everyone don't feed apple cores to your birds. I fed some to my little d'uccles and my sweet rooster ate the seeds. He got really sick and is dying.  I am crushed about this since he was my little love and i was the one who did this to him. Many happy hours together in the old lawn chair.

Most things i read said that it would be ok, but i know for sure since he was fine a few hours before. I also know what poisoning looks like and he was a classic case.
Apparently if the seeds pass whole they might be ok but if they grind them up at all...............

 

[chickflick]

Had carpal tunnel surgeries in both wrists. Trigger relief in 8 of my fingers.. one finger done twice. And now my thumb/wrist. Which is a different tendon than what they fixed before! I don't have very good tendons...

Sorry, Fuzzy....

 

[Trefoil]

As I sit drinking the first coffee of the day I think about how fortunate I am to be awaiting the arrival of another sunrise. The news is filled with tragedy and sadness and closer to home I am reminded that none of us are immune.

Two nights ago the lights of both an ambulance and a fire truck lit the neighborhood as the stopped directly across the street. They soon left with the husband of a girl I had watched grow up. They were at her parent's house showing how their week old baby when he experienced an aneurysm. Yesterday the decision was made to take him off life support. So young, with so much of life awaiting him and it was gone in an instant.

That is so sad. Best wishes to the family.

Ugh, here I've been waiting a week to get a quote from this guy that said he could help fix up my old shed and convert it to a chicken coop. Finally gives me his quote today of $1200!!! Seriously! I could buy a brand new one for less! Now its back to square one and we are so anxious to get started

man i wish my hubby or i were more handy!

Like everybody has said, post pictures on here or in the coops thread and decide what needs to be done. If you don't get help to do it, then check craigslist for a handy man and pay by the hour to have the necessary stuff done. Do you have tools? A lot of the stuff is so easy anyone can do it, IF you have basic tools. Three or four years ago I had a shed fixed up for chickens and a 12 x 16' run made for just over $100. in labor. The guy I called brought 2 buddies to help him, I couldn't believe it. And, they did a good job.

Tap, dentists say that if you ignore your teeth they will go away.

 

[tsetse9]

OK so thanks for all the encouraging words. It was all stuff I kept telling myself too but also thought my hubby would freak out if I started doing it myself.
So i officially outed myself on facebook about getting chickens. I was mostly worried about what a few of my family members would say....but a few people have offered to come help. I promised beer, food and future eggs, lol. My worries are not so much making it into a coop as the actual structure has some rot on roof and all along the bottom. And also building the run. I will try to post pictures...never done that yet.

 

[tsetse9]

You can see the sunken shingles here. A large tree branch fell in a storm a while back.



Rotted ceiling under that damaged roof



Rotted on the bottom so large gaps between floor and wall

 

[fuzzybutt love]

no i'm sure. I found pieces in his poo. Poor little sot probably tried to impress his ladies.

His eye pupils were dialated, whole body was stiffening and his heart was beating too rapid and shallow. His lungs sounded good. Poops normal, flockmates normal. No one else has been sick except the occasional "sniffle" but that's usual in my flock with the rapidly changing temps. I tried to take him to a vet to get the antidote but no one would see him. I went through 2, and by the time i got done driving around and around i missed the 3rd. I was also quite rudely informed by one of them that even most bird vets won't see "barnyard pets". :/

The antidote for cyanide if anyone else ever needs to know is nitrites, which are used as a food preservative. The kind you are supposed to use is something that goes in an i.v. but i didn't have either so i fed him chunks of hot dogs which i know have high concentration of the stuff. FIL ate too many once and got gout from it. (his mom got him a hot dog rotisserie thingy and he went nuts on it, LOL) It saved my roo but there's not much left and he really needs some injectable vitamins and fluids.

His will is strong and so i haven't given up yet.

One thing i wish very much is to make a list of docs who DO see chickens. I would put it in my "notes" for future helps. If anyone else has a bird vet could you tell me somehow ???

 

[SillyChicken]

very cute and salvageable...



You can see the sunken shingles here. A large tree branch fell in a storm a while back.
Is the building where you want the coop to be? I would trim back all the branches for starters if it is (will make fixing easier)

​

I'd cut out the section between the lines and replace.​

Are the rafters (support 2x4s) ok? poke with something like a screw driver to see if the wood is rotted/punky... if it is then you have to replace them. If they are good and solid yet, then it looks like you'll have to replace the two "curved" sheets of osb and the shingles. I would be concerned about leaving the black moldy osb inside the coop.. my best case suggestion would be to remove the osb and replace it. While you're at it, I would add a ridge vent to increase your ventilation...If you do that you probably could get away with cutting down the center of the roof allowing for the vent space, and not need to disturb the other side of the roof (bonus) you're going to need to add ventilation anyway so you may as well do it while the roof is partly off. You'll also need to add some vents along the end or sides of the shed.
Rotted ceiling under that damaged roof


Wow.. I can't believe osb was used for the bottom plate... I can see why they wanted to charge you so much to fix.. it's all something that can be fixed but will require some work. To do it right, the building should be lifted and 2x4 treated lumber should be put under the studs. You may be able to get away with cutting one side at a time the thickness of a 2x4 on the 2" end, and slipping the lumber under the wall studs.
Is it sitting on cement or dirt?
The best way to prevent the siding from continuing to rot, would be to get the ground away from the bottom of it.. 6" minimum from the bottom of your siding.. However that's generally not feasible. I may suggest at least 2 treated 2x4 or even using a 4x4 to raise it up.
Rotted on the bottom so large gaps between floor and wall
I could offer a bunch of ideas.. you more than likely will need to trim away the bad siding at the bottom and replace it with new...

Like you could trim off a few inches of the siding and use a 1x6 treated board to trim the bottom, use some z trim between the old siding and lap over the trim board. You'd have to take into account the thickness of the new bottom plate etc...



This will be a great coop once you can get it fixed!

 

[taprock]

There are some plans if I remember correctly under the coop section that show how to convert this type of shed into a coop. If I can manage to build a coop anyone can.

It just has to be secure, not beautiful.

Nova I have Jack and Jill pictures finally.




I think I heard him crow yesterday but I couldn't catch him in the act. You can't see in the pictures but his hackle and tail feathers have a green shimmer to them.

Oh and I did manage to nab my escapee pheasant when he wandered in this morning.