Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Stacykins]

Has anyone seen this? http://www.offthegridnews.com/2013/...se-organic-free-range-chicken-farms/#comments

Yea, that would be terribly depressing if that happened. They are right that all the major salmonella outbreaks assosciated with eggs have come from eggs from big factory farms, from caged hens wallowing in their own filth.

 

[ladyrsanti]

Has anyone seen this? http://www.offthegridnews.com/2013/...se-organic-free-range-chicken-farms/#comments

More and more these days I can imagine a world in the not-so-distant future where we backyard chicken owners are part of an underground food network - illegal - but thriving. And by saying so, I've already condemned myself to be one of the first picked up by the government's egg snatchers when it happens

Well, the season is wearing on, changing most notably through events like frosty mornings though it truly changes almost imperceptibly like the movement of a hand on a clock. I love this time of year.

 

[preciouskitty]

Quote:
I had a HARD frost Saturday morning (9/14/13) down her in SE Mich (Howell)...trashed my basil...AND, had frost on my windshield AGAIN, this morning... Posted a pic Saturday of my car windshield.... Yet, just driving THREE miles from my house to the freeway (lots of cement!), it was 8 degrees warmer...argh..

 

[gladahmae]

EEEK! not the basil! I should probably get out there and get mine all harvested!

 

[preciouskitty]

Quote:
I would suggest you do that! Luckily, I had an obnoxious amount & HAD harvested some...was able to eke a little more out after the frost. Parsley was ok, so got that out..BUT have a TON of Bird's Eye peppers that are still green, was gonna try & let the sun help them this week, then let finish ripening inside before dehydrating..may have blown that opportunity..

 

[Amastacia]

EEEK! not the basil! I should probably get out there and get mine all harvested!

+1

poor tender semi-tropical plants of such tasty-ness

 

[smcduff]

Does anybody use the nipple/bucket water system? This will be my first winter with it. What kind of heaters do you used to keep the water from freezing? I've been looking into birdbath heaters on amazon, but would love recommendations...

 

[naglady]

Raz, that is so normal for the first timer.. i vowed never to hatch again after my first time. i only got one chick out of a batch of i think 20eggs.. lots were infertile.
second time had alot better result. 3rd time was really good. i did dry hatches.
sounds like your getting good results.. just be patient. and go till day 26 atleast.
what kind of incubator do you have
and what did you run your temp and humidity at..
thinking of you.. all weekend, and bringing back memories of my first hatch..


that poor great dane. the eggs are a good idea. its good to get some puppy food for the mommy dog... will help replenish those lost nutrients. hopefully the puppys are all healthy.. which i am sure they are.. dogs have pups in the wild all the time and they survive.. why do people do that.. or maybe she got lost who knows. but anyways very sad.



no frost here, i think living across street from lake huron helped.. i did harvest all my basil and parsley last friday just in case, house is smelling like basil the last few days..

 

[kimmie6067]

Good new my EE hen has been found in the corner nesting box that is hard to get to when I reached in there I got pecked! Yay there she is laying on eggs. Ok only one chicken gone my roo so, I will miss that roo. Now what to do with this dog.

 

[ladyrsanti]

Does anybody use the nipple/bucket water system? This will be my first winter with it. What kind of heaters do you used to keep the water from freezing? I've been looking into birdbath heaters on amazon, but would love recommendations...

Hello. I used a 50w aquarium heater in a five gallon water nipple bucket last winter and it worked for all but the very bitter cold days when the nipples would freeze on the outside of the bucket. But for the warmer winter weather when it hovered around the freezing mark, it was alright. When it dipped down into frigid temps, I would let the chickens out into the barn and they drank from the sheep's bucket that has the real tank de-icer in it. This sounds good but that's when my roo got frostbite, from dipping his waddles in the water. There's no perfect way to go about it from my experience. Just muddle through, day by day.


DH and I are trying to get a FLL robotics team started at the elementary school, for the kids who are interested in science and technology. I think I've mentioned before. But we're running into some passive resistance. No one has yet said that we can't do it but they aren't at all warm to the idea, almost cold actually and have posed some very odd questions to us (like how, if we can only have 10 members on the team, are we not going to hurt the feelings of those who can't join? As if this is any different than any other team activity). I just got back from dropping off a necessary form at the school where the old secretary lady was borderline rude to me. She ignored me completely except to take the form, look it over and frown. She said nothing in the way of a hello or goodbye even. Not even a 'thank you'. She's always been amicable in the past. I was discussing the program with another lady in the office who is super excited about it and the secretary kept hmphing behind her desk, pretending not to be listening of course. The principal is no more enthusiastic but a little more polite at least. He just makes us feel like we're stressing him out or burdening him with one more thing to deal with. I wish I knew why, why they're acting like this. DH and I are planning on asking if we're stepping on toes or taxing the district (you know, they gotta pay the janitor to keep the building open after hours) but I'm bracing myself for a cryptic answer because I don't think it's money.

It's so strange moving from a district that can't form enough teams fast enough to a district that doesn't even want to do it. The lack of enthusiasm let alone this strange passive resistance, to me, is almost alarming. I can't say why and I could easily write a novel about the issue but I don't want to be banned from the forum so that's all I'm going to say about it.

The good news is that we don't need the school to form a team. We can do it in our living room if we have to. It would just be SO nice to have the school backing the kids.