Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[mrcush]

Yes, it can.

Keep the dogs from ever getting near the chickens off leash until you can trust the dogs completely...could take up to a year or two.
Lots of variables here in how you train.

Are they free range birds?
Might want to confine them for a couple days to 're-home' them to the coop nests.

Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers. Leaving them locked in the coop for 2-3 days can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests. They can be confined to coop 24/7 for a few days to a week, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon. You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it.

They are free range for the most part. All the others are still laying and laying in the coop. I'll try it and leave them locked in. I just feel horrible for doing it because they were "cooped" up all winter.

Thanks

 

[1muttsfan]

Went ice fishing up on Munoscong Bay, ice is still almost three feet thick, and the fishing is great - perch, pike and walleye. Yesterday the temperature got close to 50 and we actually got a little bit of a sunburn.

Hello!
I'm new to the BYC. I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot of questions from me soon. I'm going to incubate eggs for the first time whenever they arrive. Trying to add more diversity to my small flock of 5 SLW hens, a Seramas hen?, and a NHR roo.
Wish me luck and I'll keep you posted

Welcome Laura to the Michigan thread

You may want to read through the Hatching 101 article in the Learning Center

The itinerary has arrived from the hospital. I guess this surgery thing is going to happen. It has suddenly gotten a bit more real.
Better get off my butt and get some chores done. 

I still need to find a sitter for the time that I'm actually in hospital.  And it would be nice if someone else had the stuff for Chicken Stock.

Raz, sure wish I was closer.

Opa, thank you for the wonderful chart. As much as I want to plant something, I also don't want to start the season off with disappointment.

X2

They are free range for the most part.  All the others are still laying and laying in the coop.  I'll try it and leave them locked in.  I just feel horrible for doing it because they were "cooped" up all winter.     Thanks

I would start there too.

 

[birdman55]

welcome to the michigan thread for all the new people

moved the jumbos to their temp pen ...

 

[gaitngirl]

Question for fencing experts. Is there a preference for in the hole of wood posts? Stone, crushed concrete, etc. Not cement. Need good drainage material. Picked up 50 "landscape timbers" couldn't resist at $1.97 home depot this week.

I know they'll work, parents used them for horse fence years ago and most are still good.

I've used them for fence posts and for partitioning off part of my pole building for a run-in area for the horse and mule. They worked just fine. I plan on getting some to expand the pasture this year - I've been using T-posts. I will probably use the landscaping timbers for my corners and use T-posts in between. I just used crushed stone left over from the driveway and some crushed cement (from broken blocks).

 

[gaitngirl]

Just finished spreading pelletized lime in the Muscovy pen. It is soooo stinky in there! I desperately need to have sand brought in this year. I told myself that was going to happen last year but there were too many financial setbacks to actually do it. This year I have the money set aside to actually do it and to hire help to dig it out first.

More exciting news . . . I just picked up 4 Marans yesterday that were hatched from eggs shipped from Sims in Virginia. Two blue pullets, one blue cockerel, and one splash that I haven't figured out yet. I bought 3 FBC Marans cockerels from the same gentleman a month or so ago that have great color and decent leg feathering. They were also hatched from eggs from the same farm. My Marans are getting older and only a couple of them lay eggs 4 or darker. My Welsummers lay darker eggs most of the time.

I hope everyone is well and enjoying this gorgeous day!!!

 

[swampducks]

Well I just planted 2 variety of snow pea today because the soil was dry, has been workable for 2 weeks and went I stuck my probe thermometer in the temp read 54 degrees. The seed packet actually specifies soil temps between 40 and 70 degrees. Still have one more variety to plant but I still have to work up some more soil and pull out the old weeds and I don't want to throw my back out again so I'm doing it in stages. Must say it was a gorgeous day to garden up here, 73 degrees! But man do I have a bunch of achy muscles after two afternoons digging!

 

[wannahomestead]

I couldn't read through all the posts I missed, hopefully I didn't miss anything cool.

We had a bit of an episode today. I decided I wanted to take the flock out of the brooder and let them bum around outside for a while. All was good for about a half hour until I saw a shadowy figure hovering above. Already I knew what this meant, HAWK.

I went outside to keep an eye on the bringer of chicken death, and watched as he got closer and closer, realizing this was not a drill. Soon, a second hawk joined the circle. By this point I was already putting together my plan to save the flock. I had to start wrangling them all back up, with the help of my girlfriend. I grabbed the storage tub brooder I used to take them out there and worked to start gathering them back up inside it. All the while the hawks were dropping closer and closer. Then, I looked up and realized there were a total of 7 HAWKS CIRCLING US. SEVEN HAWKS HOPING FOR A CHICKEN LUNCH!

Thankfully,we were able to gather all the chickens up, including the rogue easter egger who decided it really wanted to be hawk food and ran from us. I locked the brooder lid back on, and set them aside in the shade while waiting for the hawk-nado to pass.

I spent the rest of my late morning/afternoon building a makeshift chicken tractor-y thing out of scraps I call the Hawk Blocker 9000

. My girlfriend calls it the chicken shack, but in the end it gives the ladies/gents access to the outside while being better protected from death raining from the sky.

 

[1muttsfan]

It seems likely that those were Turkey Vultures, as they hang out in groups, where hawks are almost always solitary. Vultures are more interested in the deceased than the living. They will occasionally kills small, young animals, so putting your youngsters up was a good idea.

 

[bigmrg74]

Had the flock out today for a couple of hours today while I cleaned the tractor out today and moved it for the first time since November. Had the little chicks out in the playpen watching me coming and going and all of the mucking and raking of the straw up. put them back in the brooder and they promptly fell asleep. So glad I got that done.

 

[Trefoil]

I got my second egg today from the golden pheasants I got from Birdman last month. It seems like everybody except my peas are laying.