Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[fuzzybutt love]

Quote:Originally Posted by Candy442 That is what i walked into today; a bunch of half-balded beards. Idk what is up with that, i hope they grow back quick! I was thinking about the anti-pick spray?

 

[Peep-Chicken]

Makes you wonder what kind of eggs they used - ostrich?

Sad news here, I saw fewer Monarchs last year than ever - I leave Milkweed unmowed and hardly saw any eggs.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...a86415d0944d_story.html?wpisrc=emailtoafriend

We have milk weed and only saw one Monarch, I never saw a caterpillar either.

 

[Peep-Chicken]

Anyone want to hatch Speckled Sussex x wc black polish bantam eggs?! The eggs won't be fertile for much longer. We can't hatch them, since we are getting to the limit with chickens. We would buy a female pullet if you hatch them. Please consider.

 

[Peep-Chicken]

Anyone want to hatch Speckled Sussex x wc black polish bantam eggs?! The eggs won't be fertile for much longer. We can't hatch them, since we are getting to the limit with chickens. We would buy a female pullet if you hatch them. Please consider.

We are in the Commerce MI area.

 

[snowflake]

uchytil and chickwisper...Thank you for the info on the Amish and chicken soup recipe

don't know how I missed these, Very helpful thank you, wanted a simple soup recipe, so many have a lot of spice and family won'r eat them

 

[fuzzybutt love]

My camper (coop) floor is metal, and without the snow banked around the camper base to insulate it is quite cold. Even so, i put at LEAST a foot of straw for floor insulation. Other than that, dry leaves were ok. Any other type of bedding and it don't hold out against the cold; i've sat down there more than once so i can attest to this first hand! i guess if i wanted to know i'd put a thermometor in there and get down on the floor to check for ammonia levels, especially if the person closed up the coop tighter than usual. There is a disease that they can get that is specifically caused by bedding too, specifically on the kind that is topped off and not changed out. I at least try to change mine out once a month. Not worth the risk, imo.

Mostly i think any bird that wasn't in peak condition would probably be at risk,
whether it was age, nutrition, worms/bugs, or if they were carriers of anything. Mine already having crd i took extra precautions with putting the teramycin in their water at the beginning of the worst of the cold, and the last month they've been getting the kent feed with the chelated vitamins and minerals. (easy to digest) Then i got the manna pro omega supplement, which also is full of vitamins. I give it out on a platter for "treats" when i go out there. Baby spinach gave vitamin c, and corn kept their internal furnaces stoked.

Also, i was suspicious of either the purina all flock or the dumor feed. As soon as i changed from the purina laying pellets i started having problems, pale combs and diarrhea but with the weather dipping i could not prove it either way. The final straw was when one of my INDOOR birds died.
I DO know as soon as i switched out combs reddened back up and they got really active, and laid more!

 

[Candy442]

That is what i walked into today; a bunch of half-balded beards. Idk what is up with that, i hope they grow back quick! I was thinking about the anti-pick spray?

I watch the RSL's especially do this to the three EE's. My EE roo only allows his EE girls to clean his beard, but the two EE girls have sparse beards right now. they both molted in December of all times and now have a lot of their feathers growing back. I think when the spring rolls around they will probably get their beards back...

Do they make anti pick spray?

 

[SillyChicken]

Question.......does any one have cement floors in their coop? my son in law said his brother has lost 8 hens this winter (I think he has around 50) he contributes it to the cold cement floors even though he has lots of hay/straw on the floor.

I would be more inclined to think that his flock got a respiratory infection or some other issue. So many people have cement floors in their coops etc that you'd think you'd hear more about it.

 

[chickwhispers]

Question.......does any one have cement floors in their coop?  my son in law said his brother has lost 8 hens this winter (I think he has around 50)  he contributes it to the cold cement floors even though he has lots of hay/straw on the floor.

Yes , I do. I haven't had any problems with them. I have about a foot of straw under roosts and about 6 to 8 inches elsewhere for them to scratch around. Some spots they have scratched bare looking for scratch. However this winter I have 2 heat lamps in there because 2 had bare backs from the dog attack. Last year was my first winter and I only used heat lamp for less than 15 degrees.

@snowflake You're Welcome! Hope you enjoy it if you make any!

My 2 cents on the Bieber and the "twerkers"

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

Question.......does any one have cement floors in their coop? my son in law said his brother has lost 8 hens this winter (I think he has around 50) he contributes it to the cold cement floors even though he has lots of hay/straw on the floor.

I had a cement floored coop (a section of a 100 yr old barn) and absolutely loved it. I just let the bedding pack up during the winter and scraped it out after the first big thaw in spring, I never had a problem with respiratory problems and I never lost any birds due to the cold, that barn was pretty drafty.
I have a wood floored coop now (its a trailer) and even with deep bedding, I did loose my first bird ever, one of my BCM roosters, during the first sub-zero week we got in December Unfortunately he was one of the better colored ones too.