Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[RaZ]

That is why this group is the best. Friends willing to help each other.

 

[gaitngirl]

As RaZ said, you make an appt, drop off live & pickup at end of day. I call it freezer day camp...

BTW...I live 2 miles from Munsell's . SO, if your schedule were such that you could only drop them off, but not make it back the same day, I could pick them up & keep them in my deep freeze til you could make it back....

Thank you PK! Everyone on this forum is always so helpful. I will make arrangements for my next weekday off, I think. There are some great consignment stores in Howell I could lose myself in for awhile .

 

[Totalcolour]

do you have a plucker? That seems to me to be the most timely part of proscesing

Yes, have a Featherman plucker and scalder. Makes everything go fast and smooth. I just wish there was an automated way to cut them up properly.

The rabbits are the fastest - they come apart very cleanly and the loins are really easy to remove. Ducks and chickens about the same. I don't like th goats, they are a bit bigger and I don't have a saw for the spine. Oh well . . . .!

 

[Trefoil]

The ducks and pullets are settling in nicely Jake. My muscovy drake is competing with my Buff gander to be named babysitter so it looks like they are going to be confined for the foreseeable future. The gander is a proven babysitter but the drake would try to breed and he's waaaay to heavy for the little duck, and would probably be mean to the little drake. The pullets are comfortable with my bantam wyandottes that are about the same age, so it worked out well.
I think they are still a little upset with me, they will let me pet them but aren't approaching me yet.

 

[EverMystique1]

One of my laying hens has gone broody. I am thinkibg of trading the eggs sbe keeps stealing from the other girls that we then have to fetch from under her, for a few of those in my bator. Since they are marked, we can easily tell which are fertile and which are not.

Should i be concerned about how the other layers will react when/if they hatch, or will mama take care of that potential problem?

Also, how soon do you think it is safe to move birds from the grow out pen into the coop?

 

[Opa]

Leaving a hen and chicks in the flock is always a risky business. The size of the enclosure, the dynamics of the flock, how proficient a guardian is the hen, the number of chicks; all of these are a factor that needs consideration. Even under the optimum conditions it is almost inevitable that a chick will be injured or worse. Personally I think it is to risky.

 

[taprock]

The other foot had some infection under it but no 'corn' so I got out as much as I could and filled it with neosporin.

Hopefully that takes care of it. I will tell you once the scab is off I squeeze it for all I'm worth. Usually you get some disgusting thick stuff that comes out.

I've only had the one bantam roo get sick. But i did find a rather large whole seed in his stool, and what looked like bits of seed husk in subsequent ones. Idk

I was asking a lady who knows chickens much more than I about this because mine eat apples all the time, I give them a bucket at a time with no problems. She told me if they are raised they become immune. Also I have a lot of chickens so no one bird is getting very much. She also warned me that there is the chance of passing the toxic elements into the egg if they are hens and get too much.

Fuzzy if you want a grape jelly recipe that doesn't take pectin but uses natural let me know, I have one I can send you. Actually I have two. Spiced Black Grape Jelly and Green Grape Jelly. I love the book it has my two all time favorite recipes in it. Tomato Basil Jam and Peach Blackberry Jam. I plan on making some of the Peach Blackberry again this year.

We had friends over last night for a bonfire. The kids were doing a scavenger hunt just before dark and I warned them about a underground nest of hornets/yellow jackets because I always worry about someone getting stung badly. A bit later the youngest boy comes back acting strangely. It seems his sister decided to put a stick down the hole and try get the bees upset. The youngest got stung 6 times and the older boy 2 times. We received an email later from their teen brother saying the boy with the 2 stings ended up having a reaction and would be spending the night in the hospital. Kids!

Try to keep them away from trouble and they just can't stay away.

Enjoy our last warm day. I hope Silly and the other bridge walkers bring warm clothes. It is supposed to be 60's here tomorrow and the Straights will be at lest 10 cooler. Good bye summer.

 

[snowflake]

Tip of the Day.

When setting up a game camera, make sure that your bird feeder is not is the field of view.
Unless you actually want 140 pictures of sparrows.

That is why this group is the best. Friends willing to help each other.

x2 good people

Yes, have a Featherman plucker and scalder. Makes everything go fast and smooth. I just wish there was an automated way to cut them up properly.

The rabbits are the fastest - they come apart very cleanly and the loins are really easy to remove. Ducks and chickens about the same. I don't like th goats, they are a bit bigger and I don't have a saw for the spine. Oh well . . . .!

Also, how soon do you think it is safe to move birds from the grow out pen into the coop?

move birds when they are close to same size as adults, can free range together but will need there own roosting area even if it is in the same coop

I always put my broody in her own area, tractor or seperate fenced area, gives the hen less stress, you don't have to worry about her going for a break and coming back to the wrong nest, after the chicks are hatched she can watch her chicks with less stress from other curous hens

Hopefully that takes care of it. I will tell you once the scab is off I squeeze it for all I'm worth. Usually you get some disgusting thick stuff that comes out.



Enjoy our last warm day. I hope Silly and the other bridge walkers bring warm clothes. It is supposed to be 60's here tomorrow and the Straights will be at lest 10 cooler. Good bye summer.

take a can of wasp spray tonight to that wasp nest, always have chewable Benidril on hand, if stug take 2 even if yopu arn't "allergic" you can swell and itch for days

 

[snowflake]

5 loves of Pumpkin,Zuccini bread and a peach cobbler cooling
sure smells good in here

 

[EverMystique1]

Thanks to Opa and Snowflake. I was kind of hoping to get the littles moved in to the large coop/run sooner, and use the grow out pen for my broody layer. Ah well. Perhaps I will just let her keep snacking on my hand as I gather the eggs. DH says he just pets her until she gets upset with him and moves ... after he tried distracting her to lift her for the eggs one time. She usually steals six from her coop mates.

And oh, goodie. My juvenile roo has found his voice. Now I will get a chorus of crows in the morning, as I drift to dreamland.