Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[1muttsfan]

I think everyone who is new to country life is shocked by how many different critters want to eat your birds. There is no such thing as too much security when you live out in the boonies. Not only are there a lot of them, they have to eat to survive, so they are good at what they do.

 

[Candy442]

West Mid-Michigan here!! How do y'all resist the temptation to bring home more chicks... when your incubator already has 20 eggs and your bantam cochin just went broody on 12 eggs?! uugggh..... I guess we'll be getting cornish rock crosses! When is the real question. Anyone in here know of a good Sebright breeder in Michigan I can hook up with? Thanks!!

welcome @Wahlfarm!
my answer is....you can't !

the more the merrier for chicken people. I do not know of Sebright breeders though, sorry! Hopefully someone else knows. In the meantime let us know how your hatchfest is going .

 

[RaZ]

I think everyone who is new to country life is shocked by how many different critters want to eat your birds. There is no such thing as too much security when you live out in the boonies. Not only are there a lot of them, they have to eat to survive, so they are good at what they do.

Thanks for the link. I just couldn't find it.

I think you are right. I see several "neighbors" who retired from the city and moved up here. Trying all fall long to blow the leaves off of their manicured lawns and complaining about the critters that they see. Or installing street light type illumination.

I love being up here. Even though the fox got a couple of meals I was still thrilled to see it doing what nature intended it to do. But enough is enough. Fencing going up right now. I need a work crew to help me with chores. Any volunteers?

 

[RaZ]

Welded wire fencing is now around the coop. Not ideal yet but better than the nothing that was there before.

 

[1muttsfan]

Wouldn't it be fun if we could have an old fashioned coop raising?

 

[RaZ]

Wouldn't it be fun if we could have an old fashioned coop raising?

I don't think that there are any chicken keepers in my area. But with 3 or 4 people helping, I could be done in an afternoon.

The people who do live here year-round have disabilities or medical restrictions. I'm not complaining, I'll help them as much as I can. Yesterday I helped a couple of guys with moving firewood but it took a toll on my weakened hand. I did get "paid" with homemade soup and a stuffed pepper casserole. It's so nice to live in an area where people care about and look out for each other.

Have I mentioned how much I love living up here?

 

[bigmrg74]

Foxes will kill cats, but savvy barn cats (already survivors!) know this and are careful. Adult cats are not an easy meal for a fox either, so I think the two species would tend to practice avoidance instead of fighting.
My barn cats have died of other causes; cars are #1!
Mary

Yeah, we've had several that we realized later on had been sleeping under the horse trailer while we had hooked up to the truck and then pulled it out. Never fun seeing one of them flopping about. And of course there was the one that mom got with the tractor that she said that it just sat there and watched the tire roll right over it. that wasn't the brightest bulb in the bunch.

Wouldn't it be fun if we could have an old fashioned coop raising?

Would be nice to do it. Trick is to just find the right time to do it.

 

[gladahmae]

Apparently SOMEONE up here decided to put their kids' snow clothes away because we woke up to 5in of snow and it's still coming down. I learned my lesson a few years ago: don't put the snowpants away until April unless you want a big snow storm to hit.

Brooder testing continues. Sunday night I turned the dimmer down to about half way it was 55 degrees in there when I checked it after getting the kids on the bus Monday morning (coop temp of 32 degrees). I turned it back up allll the way and yesterday afternoon it was reading 89 degrees in the brooder with a coop temperature of 42. This morning with all the snow it's showing a steady 79, with a coop temperature of 32 (28 outside.) I haven't added the optional side-curtains that are recommended for sub-freezing temperatures, but I'm fairly certain if I did the temperature would be a lot closer to the 85 degrees I'm shooting for at this point. Depending on the forecast, I think I'll be evicting everyone to the coop on Sunday afternoon. My biggest hurdle now will be figuring out a water heater since my current set up is too tall for chicks. Would a heated mat like this one work for a 1 gallon water fountain to sit on? It's on clearance at my TSC and I'd rather not spend $45 on a heated waterer.

 

[aart]

My biggest hurdle now will be figuring out a water heater since my current set up is too tall for chicks.

If you put water just under the hover(with curtains added) you might not need a water heater...another test to make, actually I'd try it before curtains go up.

We got less than in inch of wet snow, looks nice,
glad I don't have to move much of it.

 

[gladahmae]

Putting it underneath is something I considered but the issue with putting it *under* the hover is that I'll have to pick up one entire end of the brooder to fit the fountain underneath it. Not a deal-breaker, but I feel like there might be a better solution. The recommendation on the page i got the instructions from is to put the quart jar water foutains at the edge for the first week, and then after that move them a foot or so away from the brooder to encourage the chicks to move around more. The whole design/idea was tested at ag. stations in Ohio, and I'm pretty sure they don't have 20 degree temperatures in March down there, so some of this I'm tyring to puzzle out. They discuss keeping the *brooder* warm in freezing temperatures, but not how to keep the water from freezing.