Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[preciouskitty]

.  This one was a tall 4 point and with the nonchalance they exhibited they must have known that my muzzleloader was locked in my truck 10 miles away. 

I am chuckling even though its really not funny. Isn't that the way it seems to work?
The deer in my yard keep showing up right after last light & are quite active around 2-3am...

 

[Folly's place]

Hi everyone, it's been a while since I was here, so took a while to catch up! Glad you're better, Opa, sorry about the untuochable deer. Glad it's not winter yet; who ordered this? Can't wait for January! I've still got a black Ameracauna cockrel and two millie bantam boys to go___ anyone? Mary

 

[taprock]

Tap, do you get any ill effects from frozen eggs? I occasionally find a frozen, or at least partly frozen when I crack it into the skillet. It seems to cook and taste fine... Any other problems known?

I usually just toss them. If I want to take the time to thaw them they go back to the birds. I know they are ok to eat but the whole washing them with a crack grosses me out.

As I sit watching a wide 6 point feed on the windfall apples I had dumped about 40 yards behind the house a second deer decides to join him.  This one was a tall 4 point and with the nonchalance they exhibited they must have known that my muzzleloader was locked in my truck 10 miles away. 

Deer are smart that way.

I ended up with 4 kids braving our 6+ inched of snow today for the Beaks 'n Books program. One girl read Buzz the showgirl to sleep on her lap. Her mom was going crazy with her camera. It is so fun to introduce kids to chickens.

 

[lbrykowski2011]

They do make little things so they can't pick on each other (not sure what to call them) . They slide into the nostril holes and block all their vision except looking down to eat. I had considered some at one point because I had a bully but she was super sweet with me. Someone else may know what they are called.

I will have to look into that, it would be perfect. I'd hate to cull her since she just started laying and she is very pretty. Put her back in at night so she don't freeze alone in garage and then i put her in garage during the day for now. Wonder if TSC would carry those or if you have to order from somewhere?

I've only had a couple frozen eggs and once a shell is cracked, I wry bout bacteria having a way in. I toss em, but I go out about 3x a day, so rare to get a frozen 1.

The drive too and back from Frankenmuth yesterday was awful and took all my energy, I didn't even sneak out of the meet to shop

, however, my boy went 5-0 and team took 2nd, so it was worth it

. MHSAA has him ranked 9th in the state now with 11-1 total, only 2 wks into season and looking good

I am a proud momma of my kids and hens, O and ducks. Have a great Sunday

 

[1muttsfan]

When eggs freeze the contents expand and cause the egg to crack. Like any cracked egg they should be used or frozen immediately, as bacteria can now enter the egg.

Sounds like Tap is training future BYC members

The winter solstice up here usually ushers in the 2 most bitter cold months of the year. This year the cold seems to have arrived several (unwelcome) weeks early. Yesterday my optimist BF remarked how much warmer it felt at 14 degrees than at 5 :/

 

[ladyrsanti]

Snow, snow and more snow. Not sure how much we have now. We had about 4" and then another 3" or so on top of that and it's still snowing kind of a lazy snow. Sounds like lake effect for the next couple of days. I too am counting down the days until the solstice, even though it takes the earth a few months to catch up. It's the thought.

 

[RTFchickens]

I so appreciate everyone's knowledge on here! This being my first winter with chickens, its nice to hear the problems and solutions that others have. Most of us being from Michigan all have the same weather issues going on at the same time too.

 

[preciouskitty]

While the snow looked pretty this morning, I am already sick of it. Guess I'll wait a few hours til this NEXT band finishes, then go clean off my car, etc. (hate cleaning it off in the morning before work, so I'll be proactive & do it today )

Have a great Sunday, all

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

If they freeze and crack the shell, why not just make an omelet?
At worse if you don't want to eat them you can feed them back to the chickens or your dogs. No sense in wasting them.

I have fed them to my dogs. But we know that with cracking comes a risk of bacteria entering the shell. So my opinion is that a cracked egg is not worth the risk of eating. Food poisoning is serious business, and hospital bills are too expensive to take the risk IMO.

 

[RaZ]

Everyone has their own level of comfort when it comes to consuming food.
This article just popped in my in-box a few minutes ago. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/12/07/refrigerating-chicken-eggs.aspx