Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[RaZ]

Oh...and...did you know our Mary/Folly is a VIP?!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/byc-member-interview-follys-place.1279936/

I know somebody famous!

 

[Folly's place]

I sure didn't think I was a VIP either!
Mary

 

[aart]

AAACK!
Looks like we may get it good(bad?) Fri/Sat!
Gonna be scrambling today to get some things done before that sh!t hits.
I am between the kazoo label and the end of arrow:

 

[chickflick]

Nice story, Mary.
Hubby hasn't finished putting the roof over the run yet. Decided to work yesterday and today. Snow tomorrow. Sat going to West Bloomfield for son's wedding reception. (Ran off to Oregon and got married) Next week's weather looks to be very cold. Told hubby not to wait until it started to snow to start this project!
Have a good one...

 

[1muttsfan]

Corn snow and light flakes here, 33 degrees.

 

[SillyChicken]

oh my gosh the hoses!

Yep, I have to get mine in yet too... I don't think they'll freeze quite yet though. This weekend is kind of the last hurrah for me to get ready for winter...I got the hardest work done last weekend. Shoveled out the barn and new fences put up! I have a gate to put back up, burn a pile of wood and branches and clean the coop. Water heaters are all ready and waiting to be filled and plugged in. Oh crap I have to fork out the pigs shelter too........... ugh.........I have to get it all done this weekend! The rest of my free time is designated for deer season!

Raz, I hope you get some time to rest that hand of yours.

 

[SillyChicken]

Anyone hear from Sam (Opa) any more? Any word on Granny? He hasn't been on since April.

 

[1muttsfan]

Hoses and heated water base still to do, as well as various cleanup. The run needs a new door but I patched the old one with hardware cloth and that should do for winter.

 

[aart]

Got hoses drained and stored, after watering garlic in, and the big bunch of ornamental grass up by road next to driveway cut down(that was a bit of a bitch to do alone but not as bad as I had feared) that makes a mess of throwing snow if not removed, BTDT.
Only dire chore left today is to mulch the garlic.
There some other stuff...and a bunch that just isn't going to get done(ohwell) this year.

 

[rachelsflock]

Sheesh, winter's really creeping up on me. I still have young girl ducks left to sell.
I've had a heck of a time selling female muscovy over here by Detroit. They're really nice, solid chocolate-although some have the chance of developing a "collar" line on the front of the neck as they age, which I can show people on the one female I have that has it. They're nice heavy ducks, pinioned so they can be penned, and they lay really big eggs and make more of themselves. Nobody seems to want them but my meat buyer, and it makes me sad to see such nice female ducks go for slaughter. They're also calmer than normal-their dad gave them a more sedate temperament. But they're still here, listed on FB and craigslist. Darn winter. I'm going to wind up putting them in OUR freezer if they don't sell, and that would also be sad. But I can't keep all 8 of them, plus the 3 older girls I plan on retaining (each girl likes to sit on 3-4 nests of 20-24 eggs and hatches almost all of them, so do the math, too much meat, too many girls, especially if they're not selling).

So I guess if anyone wants solid brown, docile lady muscovy here for something other than just to take home and slaughter, let me know, come out and I may cut you a deal. They do lay great big eggs seasonally-usually too many for us. One of mine starts in January, the others usually start a month or two later and they go usually until fall, then take a break and start up again.

But if it comes down to it I'd rather process them myself than stress them out so they can go to someone else's house to be butchered that evening for less than what I've put into them even if there is something to be said for not having to feed them anymore (but that's what home butchering is for).

As a side note, I've discovered that muscovy breast is best cooked to 135-140, not 165, and at that temp they usually don't even need the skin if cooked with a little fat. It actually tasted just like steak last night.
That's definitely one of my new favorite perks of fall.
I think even if I have to process my extra 8, muscovy are still better than meat chickens for us (risk disease exposure, less waste, better foraging, no brooding for me). I just may need to sub in more golf balls for eggs next year and better limit hatch size.