Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[preciouskitty]

Quote:
Sam..so sorry about Daisy..first I have been online since last Thursday...I'm with Will Rogers...

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

The alternative is the factory raised chicken. Or the battery eggs.

Anyway, welcome to the thread. 
Despite the drawbacks of raising one's own food, the benefits outweigh the negatives. IMO

X2
But will add, one other alternative: DUCKS
Not as susceptible to as many diseases etc.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Love the pics y'all.

I thought all you Syrup makers said the trees were finished? I trimmed a quarter size branch off one of my Naples on Friday... It's *still* weeping! DH saw it yesterday and said I should go get a bottle to collect it to make syrup. Lady, I told him what you said about cost to produce a quart of syrup, he laughed. Thank you for sharing that, otherwise he might be out there now brewing up the world's most costly cup of syrup! LOL

Ok I need to report on my wattle fence. I'm about halfway done, it works at containing ducks.

 

[tori8780]

Love the pics y'all.

I thought all you Syrup makers said the trees were finished? I trimmed a quarter size branch off one of my Naples on Friday... It's *still* weeping! DH saw it yesterday and said I should go get a bottle to collect it to make syrup. Lady, I told him what you said about cost to produce a quart of syrup, he laughed. Thank you for sharing that, otherwise he might be out there now brewing up the world's most costly cup of syrup! LOL

Ok I need to report on my wattle fence. I'm about halfway done, it works at containing ducks.

Wow! That fence is so cool! I would love to make one of those.

 

[SillyChicken]

Does anyone in the Kent Co. area have a chicken plucker they might be willing to let us borrow this summer? I really want to do a batch of freedom rangers but DH says no without a plucker I would be willing to share a chicken or 2

I wish... but no I don't

 

[ladyrsanti]

I don't know what was in the water but my little 9 day old chicks are just blooming roos all over the place. I could be wrong of course but the number of chicks trying to crow is bizarre. My son reported that another one "crowed" yesterday. And now this little guy. The only FBCM chick that hatched is getting such big wattles already that he's getting picked on, big time. The little icelandics will grab hold and yank and tug and pull. That's a dab of blu-kote on there to hopefully stop the picking at what was already nearly bleeding (which didn't work). I shut down the light in the brooder room to try to prevent it. Usually I can't tell the roos from the hens so early on. Poor little guy though, can't get a moment's rest.

 

[SillyChicken]

Love the pics y'all.

I thought all you Syrup makers said the trees were finished? I trimmed a quarter size branch off one of my Naples on Friday... It's *still* weeping! DH saw it yesterday and said I should go get a bottle to collect it to make syrup. Lady, I told him what you said about cost to produce a quart of syrup, he laughed. Thank you for sharing that, otherwise he might be out there now brewing up the world's most costly cup of syrup! LOL

Ok I need to report on my wattle fence. I'm about halfway done, it works at containing ducks.

That's quite a fence!!! I love the old world type fencing etc. Have you thought about planting a vining plant on the outside to further it's fencing ability?

I've been mulling over planting and pleaching osage orange trees along one side of my property to act as a windbreak/natural fence and to help with erosion from the neighbor field. Apparently the wood is good to work with too. I haven't done it yet because we have been saving to get the land surveyed... luckily, the survey should be done in the next week or so! Excited to see where the boundaries are so we can move forward with getting some fencing up. I mentioned before that we suspect one of the jogs on the side of the property is going to work for or against us.. not sure. But we need to know.

 

[tori8780]

Is it expensive to get your land surveyed? We need to do ours. When we bought the house last year it was listed as 1.5 acres but the ordinance I read last night says that every parcel in our zone must be 2 acres. So I would be really excited if some of the neighboring field belonged to us!

 

[ladyrsanti]

Is it expensive to get your land surveyed? We need to do ours. When we bought the house last year it was listed as 1.5 acres but the ordinance I read last night says that every parcel in our zone must be 2 acres. So I would be really excited if some of the neighboring field belonged to us!

I got an estimate a couple of years ago on a survey and it was over $1000. Can't remember the exact price but call and find out. Doesn't cost anything to ask.

 

[Opa]

Just got back from the farm and the roads sure are going to need some work. Not as many potholes as the city streets but all asphalt is subject to frost heave and drop and my route was no exception.

My old farmer's nephew had implied that his uncle wasn't mentally capable of handling his own affairs, yet when I arrived today I found the the old boy had gotten the new dozer out and moved some logs and graded out a frozen mass of snow that had accumulated at the end of the driveway. This piece of equipment is much different to operate than anything else on the farm. He had read the operator's manual cover to cover a few times and decided to try it yesterday. He said he wanted to use it while no one was around so that if he had trouble no one would see and he wouldn't be embarrassed.

His old dozer required using a stick and a brake for each side. The new one has one joystick to control the tracks and one to control the blade. Fairly simple but it does require a light touch or the blade will gouge what you are grading. What I found today was that the area he had worked was perfectly graded. Plus backing it into the barn only allows 2" on each side and he didn't have any problem with that either. Pretty much shoots the nephew's theory that his uncle is mentally deficient.