Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[ToniTalley]

Hello everyone!

We raised chickens in Arizona but we just moved to Michigan a month ago.  We are only renting right now and we intend to buy a house in a year when our lease is up.  Are any of you located in the metro Detroit area?  I just see suburban area everywhere and I'm worried I won't be able to find a house with enough land for raising animals.  My husband works in Dearborn so we need to stay fairly close to there (no farther than Ann Arbor).  We also have children so the schools need to be good as well.  Any helpful tips???

i live about an hour away from Dearborn (just west if Toledo) and there are some more rural areas south and west of there. I love A2 but the traffic to and from Dearborn might end up being a headache unless you know some good back way. There are some great rural communities, I am sure you can find something that fits your needs. I have not heard much about schools up there.

 

[suliah]

I house my ducks and chickens together for winter. I have several roosters and drakes together and the only problem i have had is my muscovy drake killed my borrowed pekin drake

But that would have happened anyhow even if i had ducks and chickens seperate. The ducks sleep on the coop floor out in the open(not under roost poles usually) and stay pretty clean given they live in a chicken coop but we do keep the coop quite dry even with ducks in there. The waterer sits in a 2 inch tall metal tub which keeps most of the water from them washing off the floor and bedding. We sometimes take them a 3 gallon pail so they can wash their heads, necks, wings and whenever it is reasonable we take them a big contractors tub with about 15 gallons of water in it so they can do an all over bath and play. Shortly the ducks will be going out to their pond and next winter they will get their own coop quarters. The worst behavior we have seen is the ducks sometimes eat chicken feathers....they pluck off the chickens

Nothing excessive just a chicken or duck feather here or there, no idea why.

I also have ducks and chickens together. My female Khaki Campbell was raised with a batch of chickens (and 2 other ducks that I lost to hawks last summer) and she sleeps on the roost with the chickens! The male I picked up off craigslist (rouen) and sleeps under the roost and gets pooped on.

They all live happily together, no issues at all other than the mess made by ducks.

 

[uchytil]

Purebred (can be registered ADGA) NG doeling twins. Photos were 24 and 36 hour old respectively. 5 days old now and kicking up their heels and zooming around.

 

[uchytil]

Ended up being a good sap year. I hope everyone that tried their hand got some amber sweetness. So far I've boiled a few hundred gallons of sap and am at the point where I'm getting tired of smelling like wood fire every night, lol! I still have another 100 gallons and think maybe, just maybe, I'll pull the taps...till next year (and bigger and better things).

As a closing to Maple:

1. The darker color means the syrup has more organic (think bugs) material which is harmless but usually graded lower.

2. The lighter amber is usually graded higher.

3. Both taste as good as the other.

4. Maple is used here in making mead, rubbing all over pork shoulders before slow cooking, making Pecan Pies, selling, and of course pouring all over waffles, pancakes, and french toast.

 

[chickflick]

Welcome to all the newbies!!!
RaZ, good luck tomorrow. Have a good nap!!

 

[snowflake]

Purebred (can be registered ADGA) NG doeling twins. Photos were 24 and 36 hour old respectively. 5 days old now and kicking up their heels and zooming around.

thanks for sharing pics, love the baby's soo cute

As a closing to Maple:

1. The darker color means the syrup has more organic (think bugs) material which is harmless but usually graded lower.

4. Maple is used here in making mead, rubbing all over pork shoulders before slow cooking, making Pecan Pies, selling, and of course pouring all over waffles, pancakes, and french toast.

did not need to explain about the organic matter, sounds

Welcome! I work in Novi and live near Perry. It's a long drive, but having a small farm (50 acres) is worth it! Be very careful about zoning issues if you want critters, regardless of lot size. Mary

very good advice. especially after the issues some have had

good luck tomorrow Raz hope all goes well

Looks yummy, is pure maple syrup thick like artificial syrup or is it thinner?

I think the thickness depends on the cook time

Welcome to all the newbies

I see more then 1 new name..........hope you can make it to chicken stock, fun pic-nic in Lansing, June 20th

 

[uchytil]

Someone asked about thickness in real maple. It's not thick like corn syrup found in the artificial stuff. The sap is usually stopped at 7degF above boiling (219degF). You can go longer but risk getting a thick goo, and/or crystals. Mine is thinner and my DW lets me know! Oh well. The big producers use viscosity testers to get theirs "just right". I go by eye.

 

[Stacykins]

Ended up being a good sap year. I hope everyone that tried their hand got some amber sweetness. So far I've boiled a few hundred gallons of sap and am at the point where I'm getting tired of smelling like wood fire every night, lol! I still have another 100 gallons and think maybe, just maybe, I'll pull the taps...till next year (and bigger and better things).

As a closing to Maple:

1. The darker color means the syrup has more organic (think bugs) material which is harmless but usually graded lower.

2. The lighter amber is usually graded higher.

3. Both taste as good as the other.

4. Maple is used here in making mead, rubbing all over pork shoulders before slow cooking, making Pecan Pies, selling, and of course pouring all over waffles, pancakes, and french toast.

Congrats on the two doelings! I'm thinking pink with my girls...because everybody wants girls. I've got like, four people in line for doelings. Hopefully my girls produce at least a couple! I felt kids rocking and rolling today. One ND is due on the 13th of April, the other ND is due on the 18th!

I want to someday make mead. I actually have a few five gallon glass carboys. I'd just need to purchase the other supplies to brew. But to make mead I need to have honeybees survive the winter and actually produce enough extra honey the next year. It is getting depressing, losing all these honeybees. Another yooper beekeeper I know also lost his

 

[tdhenson86]

I really like the looks of the CL hens, they are such pretty little things. Mine are quiet, active, and excellent layers.

Thanks! I love my CLs. They're from the newest line (Jill Rees). I'm very excited about them!

 

[tdhenson86]

Why I am craving pancakes at 1 am just finished boiling down almost a gallon! woot woot! still have more sap this is the first run...

That looks delicious!!!