Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[aart]

Quote: Well, in the past 2 years I had some that did not molt with the light, even tho I started it later in the year, but waited until spring/summer.
This time 5 of 6 yearlings are molting...remains to be seen who starts laying again and when.

 

[ChickenLady2014]

 

Got a years worth of bedding changed out in the coop the other day, set it to compost with a copious amount of water...it's heating up!

Got the old neglected compost piles moved to a garden bed, full of roots that got chopped up and mixed with other stuff.

Buddy came over to help and he did some mowing for me too...so nice to have the camaraderie not to mention the muscle for such tasks.


Got the garlic mulched yesterday....and there's more fall chores to do today on this probably last warm day of the year.

One of the yearlings finished her molt and is laying again after a 6 week hiatus...glad to see they will molt even with supplemental lighting.

aart I'm glad to hear that, I had a girl last year that never finished her molt was still bald in spots this summer, right up to a predator getting her. I thought it was because I had used artificial light thru the winter. Puts my mind to rest, thank for sharing

Well, in the past 2 years I had some that did not molt with the light, even tho I started it later in the year, but waited until spring/summer.
This time 5 of 6 yearlings are molting...remains to be seen who starts laying again and when.

Thank aart, I holding off a bit longer before I start the light. I've did my fall worming recently so I can't eat the eggs to begin with so diminished eggs aren't a problem currently. My flock consists of the older girls molting & some juviles just coming into point of lay. Have had 3 new gals start laying in the last week & a half. By the time eggs can be eaten their egg size will be better. Its all a game of dice lol

 

[wannahomestead]

Check out the BYC meat bird forum here lots of info there.
You know the birds you raise won't be cheaper than grocery birds?

Thx for the link.

I do know they won't be cheaper than $1.98 a pound. However, I also know that I'll have more control over how they are treated and raised, and won't be locked in a 1ftx1ft cage inside a building forced to experience 24/7 light and stagnant air. I'm happy to spend more to keep my food ethical and not contribute money to the questionable food system. Also I HATE grocery shopping so if that's one less thing then great

 

[1muttsfan]

And they taste really good.

 

[wannahomestead]

And they taste really good.

Is it noticeably different over grocery birds?

 

[snowflake]

Any Michigan peeps interested in a swedish flower hen cockerel? I have some 6 weekish grow outs that are just starting to show their gender. Please PM me if interested. I'm in Delton, MI. Here are a couple of them.

very pretty hens, little girl is pretty too

not looking for more birds though

Opa you are in our prayers. keep working the arm as much as possible, after my friend had a stroke that is what they told her, activity helps to bring things back.

 

[gladahmae]

Thx for the link.

I do know they won't be cheaper than $1.98 a pound. However, I also know that I'll have more control over how they are treated and raised, and won't be locked in a 1ftx1ft cage inside a building forced to experience 24/7 light and stagnant air. I'm happy to spend more to keep my food ethical and not contribute money to the questionable food system. Also I HATE grocery shopping so if that's one less thing then great

If you don't factor in the cost of the tractors, you aren't going to be significantly over than amount, ESPECIALLY if you are processing them yourself.....assuming you can find feed for a bit less.

And they taste really good.

Yes. Yes they do.

Is it noticeably different over grocery birds?

The biggest difference I noticed was the TEXTURE. I rolled my eyes and thought "suuuuuure, you crazy chicken people" when we started with layers (but the eggs DO taste different!) and then again when we did meaties. The home-raised birds DO have better flavor and they aren't MUSH. I still have some birds in the freezer from last year, but with our crazy fall scheduled (2 kids in 3 sports) I have been buying some chicken breasts from the store and it's just.......different.




Here are my recommendations for meaties. Get cockerels. Last time we did meaties I ended up growing out the pullets for another 4 weeks because they were just tiny compared to the cockerels. Have a plan for water because they really do drink an insane amount of water (the first year we had a system in each pen with 2 5-gal buckets with a drop down pvc pipe connecting them with the nipples and that worked well for most of the season and then we had MAJOR leaking issues.) I am not kidding when I say that 30 CX were drinking 6-8gal of water per day out of these. As far as costs, we were at around $12/bird processed (and that includes the $4/bird processing.....the only processor i can find within an hour drive.) They ate around a half a bag of food per bird total when i did final calculations of what we bought. We made 8x8 A-frame pens so we could walk inside if needed, and I wouldn't put more than 30 birds in that space. We did batches of around 60-70 and we put them all in 1 to start with, and then at around 4 weeks we split them into 2 pens and that seemed to work well. OH. And we made feed troughs out of rain gutter. 2 troughs, 5ft long each per pen.

 

[gladahmae]

This fall has been full of "fun" chicken events. I sold off most of my mature flock.....around 13 birds? and managed to "rehome" all of my extra cockerels (aka i gave them away because i didn't want to bother with growing them out and butchering them). I somehow lost half of the ISA browns that I got this spring. I think there was some major bullying going on as far as food/water and i didn't catch it soon enough. Down to around 30 birds now I think, and ONLY IN THE MAIN COOPS which is a huge deal for me since I've had to winter birds in my meat-bird a-frames for the past 2 winters.....and they are literally fenced/framed a-frames with tarp on 3 sides (so NO....chickens don't need heat in the winter.) So YAY for way less work in feeding/watering this winter. Our "puppy" (80+ pound year old labrador) managed to figure out he could get out of the back yard via the fence around my flower garden and caught our oldest hen who lets herself out to freerange. She was a bit beat up but will make it. She lived up to her name (Lucky) as this is the 3rd dog attack she's made it through. Found her hiding under an extra coop last night and discovered that she had bumblefoot in BOTH feet. *sigh* Got that taken care of too.


Hoping to work on filling the freezer back up this weekend. Despite someone in our house hunting every weekend so far this year, we haven't gotten a deer yet. I had an opportunity and was too greedy waiting for the bigger buck to come in another 10 yards and passing on the smaller buck he was with.......then they both ran off. DH hit one in the shoulder last weekend. Tracked it over 100 yards on maybe a tablespoon worth of blood droplets before the trail completely ran out. It was disappointing to say the least. The potential of a slow death for the deer is not a pleasant shot.

 

[Opa]

Yesterday I finished the last of my season's canning chores. I peeled, cored, sliced, and steam canned some winter pears in a light cinnamon flavored syrup. I dissolved Red Hots candies in the light syrup so the pears are colored a light red. Sure look nice in the jars. Both Hope and Granny think I need to slow down but I think if I keep moving fast enough old age has a tougher time catching up.

Looking forward to deer hunting although I will admit I'm not sure how the numbness in my right side is going to be in the cold. Fortunately our farm is only twenty miles from my house so if it becomes to difficult it's not that far back home. This year our area has unlimited doe permits so I hoping my body will cooperate to allow me to process 10 or 12 deer. While that might seem like a lot of venison I make pastrami, corned venison, bratwurst, summer sausage, genoa salami, and jerky in addition to freezing steaks, roasts, loins, and ground venison every bit I can process gets used.

When my father was still living he and my mother lived near Kentucky Lake. When I would I go to visit in early spring I would take enough venison for their needs and well as enough for an aunt and uncle who would visit them often. One year we were holding a family reunion at a campground in the Missouri Ozarks. My aunt introduced me to the people in the next campsite as her "Deer" nephew explaining how I supplied them venison and since she always sent me home with lots of blackberries so she was my berry aunt. When the camper commented upon how nice that was my aunt started laughing and remarked that she hadn't given me any berries in a couple of years and had sent pecans instead which made her my "Nutty Aunt".

 

[LittleLakePhil]

Unlimited doe permits? Wow must be nice . Hunting in the U.P. This year stinks we're aloud one buck period. But from what I can see that in itself might be a impossible task. Too many wolves too much cold and snow last few winters hasn't left many deer. Guess I'll just have to keep fishing. At least the walleye have been cooperating.

I hope your numbness clears soon I know what it's like to have health issues hold you back....good luck with those deer.....Phil