Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[naglady]

I got 11 eggs out of 14 hens today.. must be the prime rib bones and fat they been having the last couple of days.

Congrats TC and Hollyduckfarmer on your byc friend award..

 

[Totalcolour]

This darn weather took two litters of kits last night. Lost 14 babies........ very sad.

Silly, I'm sorry about the babies. 14 is a lot to lose. We decided not to breed our girls this winter - it's been cold here too. Waiting till late Feb I think.

I got 11 eggs out of 14 hens today.. must be the prime rib bones and fat they been having the last couple of days.

Congrats TC and Hollyduckfarmer on your byc friend award..

Oooh, so lucky. I am only getting 2 per day out of 12, and our weather is so much warmer than yours.

Thanks on the friend award. Never thought of myself that way before. Someone must like me -heheh!

 

[Amerauchick17]

Polish 2 was really still. Then when I had to file her beak with this Pedi Paws thing I think it was called. Anyways, it made a whirring sound, good girl hardly flinched.

I used dog nail clippers, then a pedi paws thing. I wanted to get as close to the "quick" as possible. My Ameraucana girl was very calm, like your polish. Glad you like your new birds!

 

[Trefoil]

I got Valor barley by the bushel for $18.00.


Tell me more about malted corn RaZ?

What is valor (?) barley? and malted corn? The elevator in my town doesn't carry barley, where do you get it?
Congratulations to the award winners. Is it almost spring yet?

 

[Amerauchick17]

It's like clipping dog nails. The top and bottom beak should line up without top or bottom hanging over too much. Look fot the "quick", or blood supply. You can use a file, dog nail clippers, or a pedi paws filer. Be careful not to cut off big pieces of the beak at a time so you dont split it or cut too short. It may take 2 people if the bird will not comply... but my birds are very tame so I did it by myself no problem.

 

[gladahmae]

Ugh. I am SO ready for spring. If this ridiculous cold keeps up we'll be really close on having enough wood for the winter. I've already done 3 different sketches of potential garden layouts, and i'm sure I'll end up doing 10 more and then doing something different than any of the drawings. Gotta make it through February.....that's the month that gets me....shortest month, worst part of winter. We always get a "valentines thaw" that gets my hopes up and then it's back to single digits.


In other news, if anyone comes across a non-hatchery blue laced red wyandotte roo, I need one. I culled mine today. His leg issue wasn't improving (was hoping it was a sprain, and today he had 0 use of his leg.....i could flick his leg and it would swing back and forth) so I decided that it would be best for all parties to end his time here. It's been incredibly frustrating with these birds. My first attempt at hatching them ended with a bunch of dead-in-shell chicks. The 2nd round of hatching went really well (for shipped eggs) and then the dogs got into that pen and killed all but one (all of the cockerels and left me the 1 pullet). So, I paid to get a nice cockerel shipped to me in September. And now I have no cockerels again. BLRWs were going to be my spring/summer project. Looks like it'll be back to sex-links for a project (which I was already planning on, but I was really excited about the wyandottes.)

 

[snowflake]

congrats,TC and Holly on the awards,

they are calling for -25 for Monday, so are you doing anything extra to keep chickens from freezing or just giving extra treats maybe some pepper to heat them up for the night?

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Thanks! My 2 Runner drakes are having a rough go of things. They both developed bumbles like overnight, and it is only those two and aggravated by the snow. So I'm locking up earlier, deep straw, and I added the IR Light. Plus added corn and chopped up yolks and some oatmeal, all to the regular feed. It's wicked out there! I should tell you also that when I go out in the am, most of my ducks I find in the other stall, away from the light, but the runners and one of my fall hatches seem to like being near the light.

 

[Candy442]

What is valor (?) barley? and malted corn? The elevator in my town doesn't carry barley, where do you get it?
Congratulations to the award winners. Is it almost spring yet?

Valor is a name variety of winter barley. I Googled barley (http://static.squarespace.com/stati...4270518473/Valor Winter Barley tech sheet.pdf) and found information on where to get the seeds. A feed store in Big Rapids I found on Facebook was contacted and they can special order it by the bushel. I have a coworker (she buys my fresh eggs

)who travels from Lansing up to Big Rapids since that is her family home town. It was the only barley I could find that would be suitable for fodder growing in my area. I can tell this will feed my chickens the entire winter season (A bushel is around a 50 lb bag) and the cost of the growing medium only cost me about 20.00 total. Not bad for extra protein and giving them a good food source in the winter months.

Where are you located Trefoil?

 

[Amerauchick17]

congrats on the 6 egg day! I'm always excited when I get 5 eggs from my 5 girls. I always praise them for their hard work