Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Trefoil]

Having some kind of problem with a lot of my chickens. A couple weeks ago while I was in Canada, my mom called and told me that one of our wyandottes, one that was practically full grown, had just all of a sudden died. She also said that two of our three brahmas were acting sick. By the time I got back, they had died. We watched out for more symptoms from any of our other birds and nothing came up... until one of my mom's young sizzles got a swollen eye. It is acting fine, but about a month ago we had a young tolbunt with a swollen eye die. And today I went out to check on the birds and found that my young white polish was dead. Yesterday it was acting perfectly fine. I checked on my current young tolbunt and it has an eye that is starting to swell, it looks really red, and there is a little blood in its nose. I have no idea what is causing the deaths of all these birds, since not all the birds that died had swollen eyes and not all the birds with swollen eyes are acting lethargic or sick in any way. This is the first time I saw blood. Please help.

Sounds like it may be more than one problem. Have they been wormed? If not, that's the first step I would take. Unless you can afford to take it to the vet (swollen eye) I would immediately quarantine it and treat with antibiotics for 7 days.

 

[RaZ]

Some of you may recall that I enrolled in a couple of federal programmes that are supposed to help small farmers. One was for pollinator habitat and the other was for a seasonal high tunnel, eg hoop house. This all began in February.

So here today, August , 2014, I get a call from the Ann Arbor based USDA. I have been pre-qualified for a grant to build a hoop house. The actual grant still has to go through the channels before any funding is granted. Then, as I understand the contract, I have to produce a cash crop in-kind with the amount of the grant. After the hoop house has been built by a government approved contractor.

What crops can be grown between now and the end of the calendar year? Not too many that I can think of.
I guess I'll find out tomorrow when (if) I sign the contract with the USDA/NRCS.

 

[bigmrg74]

While I consider myself to be an alpha predator carnivore, I have never taken much thrill from the death of any animal. I have killed hundreds of deer, antelope, caribou, rabbits, and squirrels. Shot untold numbers of geese, ducks, quails, partridge, and pheasants. I pride myself on the shot not the kill. I appreciate the beauty of the animal and am thankful for the bounty they have provided me.

There are however, a few animals that I have little remorse about their demise. Raccoons and feral cats never rate more than a casual thought. Today I added another animal to that short list. I have always had an uneasy peace with the woodchucks I would see grazing in my back field. I figured as long as they stayed back there I would leave them alone.

Recently one fool hardy ground hog decided to violate that truce and decided to take up residence under my large coop. While the evidence of his habitation was quite apparent I rarely saw him. Last week I found several places where he had tunneled into my garden. Several spots he has dug under the buried perimeter fencing and breaches into the chicken runs is imminent. While he poses no threat to the flocks, he is providing egress to animals that will.

This past Sunday morning I went to the garden to pick several large tomatoes that we had been anxiously waiting to ripen. From a distance I could see that they had finally reached the deep red peak of flavor. Imagine my ire to discover that everyone of them had been partially eaten.

Since it would be nearly impossible to just sit and wait hoping for his appearance and a possible kill shot. I opted to go for a method that is always on guard. Traps.

When fur prices tanked back in the late 80's I stupidly sold all of my trapping equipment. So Sunday evening I got on the internet and ordered some 160 and 220 conibear traps. The arrived late this afternoon and I immediately head for the garden. I was only able to set two before the storm hit.

After supper Hope and I went to the garden to pick some vegetables and much to my joy one of the traps had worked its magic. Now I must honestly admit that I was extremely happy for that animal to die.

Woodchucks have never been welcomed around here, with us having horses. I remember as a kid helping my cousin trap some that had set up shop by an old grain bin at his place. And my first road kill was on the way over to his place, just down the road from his mom's house where one ran out in front of me while I was driving our old blue dually truck with my learners permit. Got him with all three tires on the drivers side.

I also do not mind dispatching woodchucks. I once used a cane since my dog was digging at the fence to help him through. (silly girl) As my boy was going to grab the 22, I had no other choice but to whack it upside the head with my cane to stun it and then shoot it.

The only good woodchuck is a dead woodchuck!!

Some of you may recall that I enrolled in a couple of federal programmes that are supposed to help small farmers. One was for pollinator habitat and the other was for a seasonal high tunnel, eg hoop house. This all began in February.

So here today, August , 2014, I get a call from the Ann Arbor based USDA. I have been pre-qualified for a grant to build a hoop house. The actual grant still has to go through the channels before any funding is granted. Then, as I understand the contract, I have to produce a cash crop in-kind with the amount of the grant. After the hoop house has been built by a government approved contractor.

What crops can be grown between now and the end of the calendar year? Not too many that I can think of.
I guess I'll find out tomorrow when (if) I sign the contract with the USDA/NRCS.

I would think that they would have some sort of waiver in there if you don't have the hoop house built by a certain date. Best bet is to ask them before you sign on the dotted line.

 

[SillyChicken]

Some of you may recall that I enrolled in a couple of federal programmes that are supposed to help small farmers. One was for pollinator habitat and the other was for a seasonal high tunnel, eg hoop house. This all began in February.

So here today, August , 2014, I get a call from the Ann Arbor based USDA. I have been pre-qualified for a grant to build a hoop house. The actual grant still has to go through the channels before any funding is granted. Then, as I understand the contract, I have to produce a cash crop in-kind with the amount of the grant. After the hoop house has been built by a government approved contractor.

What crops can be grown between now and the end of the calendar year? Not too many that I can think of.
I guess I'll find out tomorrow when (if) I sign the contract with the USDA/NRCS.

lettuce, cabbages.. radishes........ what about rosemary shaped into small holiday trees? Flowers? http://www.motherearthnews.com/orga...ops-zm0z13onzsto.aspx?PageId=4#ArticleContent

Is the township going to nail you for putting that in your yard? building permits etc? Have you considered installing it outside the city on someone's land?

 

[1muttsfan]

Lettuce and other greens, peas, radishes

 

[tntchix]

Some of you may recall that I enrolled in a couple of federal programmes that are supposed to help small farmers. One was for pollinator habitat and the other was for a seasonal high tunnel, eg hoop house. This all began in February.

So here today, August , 2014, I get a call from the Ann Arbor based USDA. I have been pre-qualified for a grant to build a hoop house. The actual grant still has to go through the channels before any funding is granted. Then, as I understand the contract, I have to produce a cash crop in-kind with the amount of the grant. After the hoop house has been built by a government approved contractor.

What crops can be grown between now and the end of the calendar year? Not too many that I can think of.
I guess I'll find out tomorrow when (if) I sign the contract with the USDA/NRCS.

Yay. Here's hoping there are no strings to this adventure.

Quote:

I just love the rosemary trees.

I would think that they would have some sort of waiver in there if you don't have the hoop house built by a certain date. Best bet is to ask them before you sign on the dotted line.

I would hope so.

 

[Stacykins]

Some of you may recall that I enrolled in a couple of federal programmes that are supposed to help small farmers. One was for pollinator habitat and the other was for a seasonal high tunnel, eg hoop house. This all began in February.

So here today, August , 2014, I get a call from the Ann Arbor based USDA. I have been pre-qualified for a grant to build a hoop house. The actual grant still has to go through the channels before any funding is granted. Then, as I understand the contract, I have to produce a cash crop in-kind with the amount of the grant. After the hoop house has been built by a government approved contractor.

What crops can be grown between now and the end of the calendar year? Not too many that I can think of.
I guess I'll find out tomorrow when (if) I sign the contract with the USDA/NRCS.

Too bad it has to be before the end of the calendar year. A cool, shaded hoop house could be the perfect setup for you to make some mushroom logs with shiitake, blue oyster, etc.! But it takes time for those to establish themselves.

Also, I didn't want your GoFundMe to peter out, so there is a bit more there. I worked a lot of overtime this past week

I'm off to class! I hope everyone has a great day!

 

[tntchix]

Hey RaZ, Did you ever get the deposit from the fund? Or are they dinking around as usual? I have heard several people have minor issues with this, but they get resolved.

 

[thechickenflock]

Okay, there is good news and not that bad news. The good news is that the 2 displaying symptoms yesterday are looking better and are still alive (and separated). No other birds are displaying symptoms, we are providing the 2 that are separated with food, yogurt, and electrolyte laced water. They unfortunately still have diarrhea but are not drinking much, but they are at least drinking on their own now. The not THAT bad news is that we did find red slime on the inside of EVERYBODYS water (Pullets, Younger Pullets and Ducks). So they were all scrubbed with baking soda then treated with bleach. Other than that, everyone is doing well now

 

[fuzzybutt love]

If they all had the same symptoms, it would be much easier to identify.  All I know is that the ones who died quickly and suddenly displayed no symptoms beforehand, there were some who just became more and more lethargic before they died, and some who get swollen eyes but act perfectly normal.  One of the ones with swollen eyes did die, though, but not all of a sudden.

How about a watery filled feeling gizzard? What is that?
I have 2 hens with it. Instead of it being full of scratch grains, it feels like water/fluids.

The eye thing is ringing a bell and i do think it is all related. The ones with no symptoms and died had no resistance.

Mindy, sour crop. Isolate. Check for impaction in the morning, it should be empty. Smell by the beak- yeasty or putrid? For today lots of minced garlic in case it is yeast.