Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[bigmrg74]

coop cleaned out and converted back into tractor mode. Had the big girls out and helping me and themselves whenever I picked up one of the straw bales that had been around their coop. They have got to be about stuffed on worms and other assorted bugs they found. Baby buffs out in their pen as well, and I think I'm going to not turn on their heat lap as well tonight.

 

[PrairieFairy]

We have a lot of work to do to customize it - the blank wall is where the Mister will add a window. It's 4 ft wide by 8 ft long and 6 ft high.

I have to get on a plane today and I am totally bummed. I have been working to seal the nest boxes - none of the inside is sealed. Want to hold on the floor until we flip it up, I two coat the bottom and the support rails, and then we put it on level ground on top of a layer of brick.

I have a •lot• of work to do to finish her out properly so the babies can move into it.

It's basic - and I have already told the Mister he needs to accept now I am having him build me a chicken palace in 2 years time. He builds stuff to last - he is just working too many hours right now for me to put him on it. Boo.

Which this may make everyone laugh - he was so mad at how it was built. I said it was better than a kit house from TSC sooooo since you didn't have time to build it, this is as good as it gets on our budget. He was at monosyllables and has already been plotting what he wants to do to upgrade it properly. (Should have built me the Chicken Palace upfront...

)

 

[chickflick]

Adorable kids!!

We got a kit from Lowe's. It's a poor excuse of a shed. But, we were moving and were in a big hurry to move and get a place to put my chickens. Got thru the winter, but need to find out where the water is coming in....

 

[uchytil]

Adorable kids!!

We got a kit from Lowe's. It's a poor excuse of a shed. But, we were moving and were in a big hurry to move and get a place to put my chickens. Got thru the winter, but need to find out where the water is coming in....

We're not moving, but, where we keep our chickens (our temporary full garage and side shed coops) may be coming to an end when I rent out the house next door (since the garage is part of that property). Anyway, a few years ago I buried a wire from the big barn across the field to an area I cleared for the new coop. Well, no coop yet. I build a few buildings a year and really did not want to start a massive chicken hotel so I told Cindy to get a hold of the Amish. Ha ha, that'll never happen...I be building again

 

[1muttsfan]

That's just what my coop looks like, but with a tiny little narrow kid's door on one end that I can just barely squeeze through, and a small window on one side. The end gables were cut out and had Plexiglass, I left that in the end where I put the pop door, and covered the other end over as the plexiglass was broken. I definitely could use a bigger door! The coop is set on a treated wood base with a gravel pad underneath.

 

[snowflake]

All the photoshop programs include some sort of a sharpen feature. It can help make the photo look a little more clear, but if used at too high a level also has an effect on how realistic the picture looks.

In Paint.net ( also free and open source) the Sharpen command is found under the Effects tab

Not Sharpened




Moderate Sharpen



high Sharpen

very cool, some day I will figure out some of this stuff, My daughter in law was showing me how to move pics from E mail to picture folder. doing well with that but not much PC time

Some cuteness born a few hours ago. Triplets in case you wondered, lol.

soooooo cute, wish you wouldn't show thees sweet things, makes me want some and I can't have any,

coop cleaning done with the big coop, to many interuptions today or I would have gotten it all done. hope the rain holds off till wed. hoping to get wood chips tomorrow to spread around the flower beds.

 

[snowflake]

Roost and poop boards

cleand dried and put back together

[/IMG]

 

[vintagegem]

I guess I must have jinxed myself recently by saying how healthy and fit my hens look after the winter.....now one of my year old Pencilled Rocks have gone broody...again (she did it that for a couple weeks last year after only starting to lay for the first time) and now one of my red hens is a bit slow and lethargic, and has laid a lash egg.

I have had a few other hens that have had similar symptoms in the last year (apart from laying lash eggs) they all started out being a bit off their feed and slow to get around, then gradually went downhill, couldn't seem to walk properly and wouldn't eat/drink. This one also seems to have a nervous tic where she kind of twitches her head too.

I'm really sad as I'm down to 7 hens right now and they're birds I've had a year or two so they're really part of my family

, I know I probably won't find out whats going on with my little flock, just wanted to vent a bit. Hopefully she will improve, I hope so as she really is a lovely little thing

 

[WalnutHill]

I guess I must have jinxed myself recently by saying how healthy and fit my hens look after the winter.....now one of my year old Pencilled Rocks have gone broody...again (she did it that for a couple weeks last year after only starting to lay for the first time) and now one of my red hens is a bit slow and lethargic, and has laid a lash egg.

I have had a few other hens that have had similar symptoms in the last year (apart from laying lash eggs) they all started out being a bit off their feed and slow to get around, then gradually went downhill, couldn't seem to walk properly and wouldn't eat/drink. This one also seems to have a nervous tic where she kind of twitches her head too.

I'm really sad as I'm down to 7 hens right now and they're birds I've had a year or two so they're really part of my family

, I know I probably won't find out whats going on with my little flock, just wanted to vent a bit. Hopefully she will improve, I hope so as she really is a lovely little thing

Do you or your neighbors put crabgrass preventer or broadleaf or grub killer on the lawn? Even if the hens don't have direct lawn access, worms that crawl in carry those poisons. When they started building around our farm, we wondered why dozens of robins were dead around the yard. It took a couple of years but the deaths followed the chemical trucks.

 

[vintagegem]

oh my!, I never even thought of that....my neighbor has a lawn treatment every year, although I haven't seen them apply it yet this year. Plus he regularly goes around his lawn with other stuff( I don't ask ), and as we live next to a field that is farmed with rotational crops I know they apply various nasties too. I never even thought of migrating worms/bugs

With all that in mind I guess there's not much I can do is there?