Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Maah]

For whatever reason, we got just ONE egg the other day. I thought "oh great... the girls shut down", but things were back to normal the next day . I wonder what it was this time? Their food & water was good so it must have been some funky weather related chicken issue. Maybe all the drama queens were spending too much time cackling around the water hole that day. Who knows.

 

[RaZ]

My cuckoo Marans hen who is trying to crow has now started to mount the other hens.
I wonder if this is in response to the recent Supreme Court ruling.

 

[justplainbatty]

Nice looking birds. at 7 weeks all mine started to have some comb growth. However my male's combs continued to grow, while the ladies sorta stopped. Now at 17 weeks the ladies are having a growth spurt with their combs/wattles.

To you, wanna, did you find that rooster in good shape? I hope so, he should have been able to find his way home. If he's around, I would love to have him!
To @gladahmae if some of those are cockerels and are RIR's not PR's and Wanna's bird is gone, I would take one off your hands. I am starting breeding programs and have 3 RIR hens to breed. I could use a RIR roo and I don't eat my pets! They all get the S.S. plan for their service and a proper burial!

 

[wannahomestead]

To you, wanna, did you find that rooster in good shape? I hope so, he should have been able to find his way home. If he's around, I would love to have him!
To @gladahmae if some of those are cockerels and are RIR's not PR's and Wanna's bird is gone, I would take one off your hands. I am starting breeding programs and have 3 RIR hens to breed. I could use a RIR roo and I don't eat my pets! They all get the S.S. plan for their service and a proper burial!

He appears to have a leg injury that isn't healing well. His one leg is cocked out to the side at the ankle. I don't think this injury is related to his escapade however, as I noticed prior to he was favoring one leg over the other.

 

[gladahmae]

They aren't rir sadly.

 

[Living the Simple Life]

Quote:
We don't add supplemental light, however we do add Calf Manna to their feed during the cold months. Our hens consistently lay straight thru the winter. We also add fresh greens as much as possible. No scientific evidence, only personal experience but the increase protein from the Calf Manna seems to allow them the extra energy they need to stay warm and lay.

 

[aart]

Quote:
We don't add supplemental light, however we do add Calf Manna to their feed during the cold months. Our hens consistently lay straight thru the winter. We also add fresh greens as much as possible. No scientific evidence, only personal experience but the increase protein from the Calf Manna seems to allow them the extra energy they need to stay warm and lay.
Even the older ones?
When do they molt?

Not sure protein would do the trick as I thought it was length of dark(length of day) that effected the pineal gland that controls hormones to release ova?

 

[Serena1233]

I'm wondering if anyone else is from the Wyoming MI area?

 

[1muttsfan]

It is not just the length of day, but if the day is becoming shorter or longer - so the combination of shorter days with decreasing day length triggers molting, and short days will cause many birds to stop laying until day length increases again. But our birds are far from their wild roots, and many breeds have been selected for laying for longer throughout the year.

I let my birds stop laying and molt in the fall, which gives them a chance to grow a good feather coat, build up fat and pigment stores, and be dewormed before winter arrives. Since I use Valbazen and have to throw the eggs away for 20 days (they get 2 doses 10 days apart), it also decreases wasted eggs. Then at the end of December a light goes in the coop that gives them around 12 hours of light a day, enough so that they lay well but not maximally. They stay in good shape all winter, and I get enough eggs and have some to sell as well all winter.

 

[1muttsfan]

Hi Serena, not me I'm afraid