Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[lbrykowski2011]

That looks like alot of year's worth of note taking and organizing @fuzzybutt love . Thanks for sharing with everybody

 

[fuzzybutt love]

sorry to be chatty

I only have a limited time on a real computer, making the most of it! For those of you looking for brooder ideas there is always dog crates and human baby play pens! Just have to figure a way to make them safe for the dogs or cats or kids in the household. If you have more $$$ a large rabbit cage that you assemble yourself could be an even better option as long as you are able to leave out the wire floor so the chick's toes don't get caught. (bigger, have a slide out tray for sand and whatnot)

Thus far my go to is a large used dog crate i picked up cheap. Folds when not in use, and by cutting a 2x4 a little wider than the width of the thing and notching it at the ends for the bars you also have a future sick bay, broody box, ....... many uses from the same humble used dog crate! And for the chicks you can wrap finer hardware cloth around the base so no escapees, i hooked a fine chain to my heat lamp with a snap lock end so i can safely lower or raise the thing without fear of slippage. Another handy item is sand, if you can get it. You can use a cat scoop to sift it; it will still need to be changed frequently but the advantage it has is no fear of chicks eating it and getting plugged up (woodchips can be eaten) cedar chips emitting toxic fumes and killing the little guys, or your heat lamp falling and catching it on fire! I went 2-3 years with no mishaps, i was really lucky that the last time i brooded i had used sand because the light did fall, and had i not the whole coop would have been up in flames!!!!!

 

[SillyChicken]

Fuzzy, what about pre soaking the dry scratch in water over night... will help with moisture for the bird and any expansion etc would not happen in the crop. good luck with her!

Rubbermaid totes, just be very careful about the heat lamp not baking your babies! I use one all the time. I use a camera tripod, makes it easy to adjust height. Also, listen to your birds, if they're chirping and all huddled up, they're too cold. If they're spread out to the very edges and trying to hid under stuff, they're too hot. When they get bigger I have an adjustable window screen you can get at ACO. Just get the wide one that will fit your tote and expand it to fit. Easy and cheap!

Skirted Dani's and Penny's fleeces today...This is Dani's pre skirting and then all sorted into piles.




Aren't these hives Beautiful? Gives me some ideas of my own!!! (though I wish I thought of it first!!)

 

[Candy442]

Candy, thank you,  she is an EE, her name is Happy Feet.  I will be getting a Chantecler in May, how do you like yours?

I love our Pearl! When i first started researching different chicken breeds I decided on white Chanteclers. Well one trip to TSC last spring caused us to get 8 cute fuzzies instead. Impulse buyer ! . We then lost one to a dog attack and found out a BYCer lived close to sell a 5 month old Ameraucana. She also had same age white chanteclers. Seeing them in person i fell in love. Since Jet would have been all alone in quarantine she offered me pearl to buy. I will definitely get more ...very cool birds...alert and good at avoiding danger...great free rangers too.

 

[uchytil]

Aren't these hives Beautiful? Gives me some ideas of my own!!! (though I wish I thought of it first!!)

Are they yours? I was thinking more about bees and wondered if hives were something I could construct myself. I'd need a pattern, or plans, but have all the woodworking tools needed, even the box joinery like those, or dovetails. I'm sure there are inner pieces I would have to outsource?

BTW, I finally got back to the guy selling everything - he has no milking equipment.

 

[Maah]

For those of you that like to shop online, or just plain don't feel like driving into the farm store... Randall Burkey Co is doing a "free shipping" event right now through the 14th. They even have a little "clearance" section that says up to 70% off, but I didn't see anything that low. LOL. Though they no longer sell live chicks, they still sell supplies & such.

We used them a couple years ago to buy the "drink cups" & mounting brackets to install a PVC system through our coop & run. LOVE the drink cups... One of the best modifications we've done.

http://www.randallburkey.com/

 

[RaZ]

Indeed, any tote used for a brooder needs to be monitored so you don't cook your chickies. The totes can get real hot, real fast. Invest in a thermometer so you aren't guessing. And make certain that your heat lamp is in a properly rated ceramic base fixture and triple secured. Don't cheap out on a flimsy clamp-on bulb holder.

I just made this brooder for a friend today. The tote was about $11. I just need to clean up the cut edge on the lid and smooth out the mesh insert.

 

[RaZ]

Are they yours? I was thinking more about bees and wondered if hives were something I could construct myself. I'd need a pattern, or plans, but have all the woodworking tools needed, even the box joinery like those, or dovetails. I'm sure there are inner pieces I would have to outsource?

BTW, I finally got back to the guy selling everything - he has no milking equipment.

@uchytil I've constructed my own hive bodies and supers based on just buying some frames (http://www.dadant.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=23_39) and building around them. I think I still have some patterns in the garage but I need to do some digging. You can also buy a single frame kit and copy that.

I have an idea for a "stealth" hive that I want to try to build when I can get out to the garage (wood shop). In the meantime, I'll look for some on-line plans.

ETA: Plans http://www.michiganbees.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Hive-Bodies_20110323.pdf

 

[shmccarthy]

Hey y'all I'm looking for about 2-3 dozen hatching eggs for the Easter hatch a long I have no adult birds right now but would really like to participate. I'm not looking for anything in particular, even a barnyard mix would be great! However, I do like marans, australorps, EEs, polish, silkie, leghorn, barred rock, and wyandottes. I am located on the border of Livingston and genesee county and am more than willing to meet someone within reasonable driving distance PM me if you would like to sell me some eggs!

 

[Elyssia001]

Skirted Dani's and Penny's fleeces today...This is Dani's pre skirting and then all sorted into piles.

Aren't these hives Beautiful?    Gives me some ideas of my own!!! (though I wish I thought of it first!!)

Those are beautiful fleeces! Please share pictures when you have it all spun!

And I agree, those hive boxes are lovely. Makes me wish I knew how to carve.




Anyone here raise Utility Pigeons? I've been reading a great deal about squabbing this week, and I'm curious enough to pick someone's brain.