Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[RaZ]

I used the sprain wrap tape that sticks to itself. I cut it to a thin width and pinched the ends back on itself.
The first time, I did not get the legs close enough. (My big fingers, tiny little chick with wiggly chicks)
Second time, I got it wrapped better.

I recommend a helper when wrapping the chicks legs. It would be less stressful on the chick if one person gently restrained the body while the other got the legs properly spaced.

FWIW the chick slipped the wrap last evening and the legs look great. Thank everyone for the tip.

 

[Amastacia]

sorry for all the losses. it is always hard.

happy fall everyone

i love this time of year. i know i seem to be in the minority for that, but i don't handle heat too well and have always found this to be the prettiest season.

this weekend my group of friends had a harvest feast, with most of the food having been home grown. it was great, with stew and pie and homebrew and mead (also home made) and bonfire and drums. then yesterday my DH and i stopped back over at the friends who hosted's house to help clean up and ended up hanging out for about 8 hours. had another bonfire and more stew. their 15 month old daughter apparently loves apple pie. she had three pieces yesterday.

and my parents are coming to visit this coming weekend. back in February i arranged to by a pair of rabbits from my old 4H leader, a buck and a doe. i got the doe, but she ended up not having any bucks to sell me at the time, so i've been waiting to be able to meet up with my parents for the last two months to get him. now they call last night to let me know that not only am i getting the baby (4 months old) that is supposed to be a very good show rabbit, but they are also bringing me a not so good show buck that i can breed with my doe this fall/winter before the baby is old enough then butcher in the spring (he was on the breeder's butcher list anyway). and the best part, she is giving me all of these rabbits for free with the agreement that in the future she may want some of the offspring. so i really need to get my extra rabbit cages cleaned out. a broody-gone--molty in a spare cage is rather messy. and i still need to get my doe away from the mutt-babies she has right now. all this week.

one the plus side, it looks like my egg production is coming back up. i've gone from an average of 3 a day from my 8 hens to 5. and sometime next month i expect my pullets to start laying. so that is nice. 3 eggs a day isn't very many.

 

[NovaAman]

Candy, you can preach to the choir. I think most of us here prefer to see our birds HEALTHY, how nature intended. I have gone to the critter barn here in Holland, and they've got more chickens than they can handle really, but they do their best to take care of them. They are everywhere. They have what it call a "Hen House" where they've set it up to be how you would see birds in a factory farm setting. I was dismayed to see it. I was actually quite disgusted. Though they hadn't gone as far as cutting the top beak, they were living in cages, with constant supply of food and water. I wanted to cry. I realise they are "showing/teaching" how some modern farming/animal husbandry practices are, but I can not agree with it.

 

[Amy PT]

Candy, you can preach to the choir. I think most of us here prefer to see our birds HEALTHY, how nature intended. I have gone to the critter barn here in Holland, and they've got more chickens than they can handle really, but they do their best to take care of them. They are everywhere. They have what it call a "Hen House" where they've set it up to be how you would see birds in a factory farm setting. I was dismayed to see it. I was actually quite disgusted. Though they hadn't gone as far as cutting the top beak, they were living in cages, with constant supply of food and water. I wanted to cry. I realise they are "showing/teaching" how some modern farming/animal husbandry practices are, but I can not agree with it.

The "hen house" makes me so sad.
We've been to the Critter Barn 4 times now. Every time, my7 year old prefers to spend most of the time there with the chickens in the banty house.

 

[Lisa and girls]

Sorry to all about the losses....it is hard. I read somewhere, maybe in this site, that a chicken will attempt to fly right before they pass. I got to witness that when Diggie died. She actually did fly right before she died. She flapped her wings, flopped on her belly, let out a sweet little "skwauk" and that was the end. I tried to find out if this was true by "googling" the topic, but couldn't find anything. A coworker asked me "is it worth it" because when I told them about how she used her last bit of energy to "fly", I started to tear up. On my facebook page I posted why it is "worth" it. I posted a photo of a newly released "battery" hen....the same breed as Diggie. I know I am singing to the choir here, but out in the world of people who just don't understand how wonderful it is owning chickens, maybe they will start to understand after awhile. Above is a "battery" hen for commercial production and below is the same breed having fresh air and freedom.

Omg that picture makes me want to cry!

 

[RaZ]

Omg that picture makes me want to cry!

Don't cry.
Get mad!

Call and write to your elected representatives and let them know that the new changes to the Site Selection GAAMPs will discount the RTFA by excluding all Michigan citizens who live in Category 3. They want to let the local government decide who can have chickens and other livestock. This has the backing of MDARD commissioners who were appointed to their position and care little about small "hobby" farms.

From the look of things, the public will not likely be allowed to address the proposed changes.

 

[Amastacia]

Don't cry.
Get mad!

Call and write to your elected representatives and let them know that the new changes to the Site Selection GAAMPs will discount the RTFA by excluding all Michigan citizens who live in Category 3. They want to let the local government decide who can have chickens and other livestock. This has the backing of MDARD commissioners who were appointed to their position and care little about small "hobby" farms.

From the look of things, the public will not likely be allowed to address the proposed changes.

for the sake of those of us new to being politically active, is there an easy way to find address/email address/phone numbers for contacting such people? and do you or someone else around here have some template letters? or at least guidelines for writing some? i would love to do my part in ensuring that this government is in fact "for the people", an idea that seems to be getting overlooked far too often, but i don't really know how to do so.

and now that i think about it, this is something that should be taught in public schools. we have to learn about how our government works, but they never teach us how to work with it. this system is so very broken

 

[RTFchickens]

Amastacia, this is a copy/paste of the letter I sent yesterday.
There are MICHIGAN House of Representatives. That you should contact. This is what I was told at the agricultural meeting that I went to at MSU extension office with Raz, and Wingless...
There is power in numbers...

Mr. John Bumstead
My name is Deanna. My husband and I recently purchased a home on 59 acres in Baldwin, MI. After much searching we were unable to find reasonably priced farm land, and instead found this 59 acres where we are raising chickens. We are enjoying teaching our children about animals and caring for our environment as well. They are learning to compost and fertilize our garden with what many consider "garbage". Unfortunately not everyone is as excited as we are about our chickens. Lake township has an ordinance against owning chickens, and we have been cited with an ordinance violation. Our chickens cannot be seen, heard or smelled from any neighboring property. We have asked the township to rezone us as agricultural since it is currently zoned residential. We have already been told "that is never going to happen" (getting re zoned agricultural).
Frequently agricultural property gets re zoned to residential to allow for subdivisions and other housing, but we are losing farms and farm land at an alarming pace. I would appreciate your attention to this problem. We would like to preserve our farm, and get and keep it zoned as agricultural.
We are MAEAP verified proving we are GAAMPS compliant and environmentally friendly. We sell cage free organic eggs, and educate our children with our chickens. It's unfortunate the township is so against our business.
Please respond to our situation. Your response is appreciated,
Deanna Gualtieri

 

[RTFchickens]

Here is a possible start...
http://www.house.mi.gov/find_a_rep.asp

This was part of the "automated message" I was sent as a reply.
I hope this helps.
Let make some noise!!!! :-D

 

[RTFchickens]

Sorry, typo.
Should be "let's"