Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[MIchickens]

CONGRATZ!

 

[mara1]

TY
now I have to figure out who?

 

[mara1]

By the way I think its great reading about byc's going out of there way to help others.

 

[jlynnet]

This is the coop we built this year. We plan on raising a few different breeds, so each room has it's own outside run.

 

[gladahmae]

I am seriously considering just OPENING THE DOOR of the run and letting all the layers out. It's getting ridiculous. My stinky-pants marans hen gets out all the time, but NOW I have 5 more who think that THEY TOO need to escape and forage around for treats. *sigh* i don't think they are going to like winter when they will be stuck indoors most of the time.

 

[gladahmae]

OOOOH. And I have a question. I have 6 chicks in my basement that hatched the same time as RaZ's canaries. I think they are...ummm......6 weeks old now. I would REALLY like to get them out of my basement. I haven't been heating them for 3 weeks now, and it's probably around 65 down there. If I build them a box and put a lamp in i and put it in one of my meat tractors, do you think I could put them outside now? I'd really like to get them out of the house and weaned off warm temps before winter *really* gets here.

 

[SillyChicken]

see... i knew there was something with cords and distance.. LOL! thanks for jumping in and filling the gaps for me!


Wow thats quite a coop jylnnet!

Gladahmae... are the chicks fully feathered? I would say they would probably be fine during the day without a heat source, esp if they have an out of the wind place to go. But you may want one at night for a week or so. I would also lift the light to reduce the amount of heat it provides so they can get used to the temp drops.

If you use one out in the coop, triple secure that light so the birds cannot knock it down and catch your coop on fire!

I hate heat lamps in coops so maybe thicker bedding would be better than a lamp.

 

[mara1]

Love the coop jylnnet.

 

[RaZ]

My canaries will be moving to the outdoor aviary in a few days. First I need to do some rearranging. I'm not too concerned about the temperatures as they are fully feathered. I will have a red heat lamp properly secured just in case but I don't plan on using it.

Tomorrow is the Ag meeting in Lansing. Even thought the GAAMP proposal is not on the agenda there will be a lot of us there. Please join us if you are in the area.
I thought I might miss it due to yet another truck problem but the guys in the repair shop are squeezing me in for a rush job. Thank you Dewey's Transmission in Garden City!

Today is election day, go exercise your right to vote.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

I don't know if the 2nd year is easier, exactly. It is just helpful to know what worked (or did not) last year. I am really trying to get the winter prepared mindset. But not totally feeling so hot so that seems like its stalling my progress a bit. So today, I set up my winter waterer, based on our Friend Wynette's design. Keep in mind, this is for ducks only. The board across the top must stay in place always to prevent drownings (ducks can and do) and the over excited swimmers in the flock. If I had it to do over again, I would def go with two 2.5 gal buckets rather than one 5gal.
My run is totally uncovered. I did find last year that blowing snow was much more of an issue than actual snowfall. Plus I had a few Pekins that actually enjoyed playing in the snow!

RaZ I had put that meeting on my calendar, but looks like I won't be there after all. Sorry. Thanks for what you do!