Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Folly's place]

Same here, welcome. I'm just east of Lansing, near Perry. And lots of cockerels here too right now.
He is handsome!
Mary

 

[Sally PB]

It's raining! Wonderful, soaking rain. Thank you Mother Nature! More rain chances in the next few days too.

I hope it washed the #$%^* gypsy moth caterpillars out of the trees!

The strong winds and hail both missed us.

I heard some of the cherry farmers lost all their crop, both sweet and sour, with the April freezes. Some "only" lost about half.

 

[aart]

It's raining! Wonderful, soaking rain.

IKR!?!?!
There was some thunder and a few lighting flashes and a bit of wind, but mostly just rainrainrain.

 

[DobieLover]

Sweet!!


Broody back in crate.
Let her out after 48 hours, but she's not 'done'.
New cage feeder.
View attachment 2721401

At least it's the correct hen...
My two are still in the clink.

I'll let them out tonight. I think Jody will be ready but not Tonk, the miniature turkey.

 

[aart]

At least it's the correct hen...

Yes! Haha!
I had to move her to the outside crate yesterday afternoon due to the high heat.
When I grabbed her out of there to move back inside her tail was flared out like Tonks,
and she was still ticking. SMH.

 

[Frankiegirl]

So my girl that was “tik tik” sounding hasn’t laid an egg in 10 days. She’s losing feathers…appears under her belly in a couple of spots but isnt going into the nest box. Is that broody? She was hanging in the box for about 2days, but not any more. I am just noticing a lot of her feathers near her area on the roost. She is the lowest in the pecking order.

Is this normal? She hangs out with the rest of the girls and is no longer tik sounding

And BTW - Butterscotch is fully healed on her eye. Must have been a war wound

 

[aart]

Is that broody? She was hanging in the box for about 2days, but not any more. I am just noticing a lot of her feathers near her area on the roost.

Sounds like broody to me.

Is this normal? She hangs out with the rest of the girls and is no longer tik sounding

She might have 'changed her mind'....for now.

And BTW - Butterscotch is fully healed on her eye. Must have been a war wound

Good News!

 

[snowflake]

Welcome david,

 

[1muttsfan]

HI David, and welcome to BYC and the Michigan thread . I have had many Delawares. My sister had some Buckeyes and they were nice birds and decent layers, but nothing like a good Delaware. The trick is to get good ones - there are a lot of poorly bred, smaller, not as productive birds from not great breeders. The best ones I have are from Sand Hill Preservation, the girls are laying machines and the cockerels grow huge. They are also quirky, bossy, social birds that are fun to have around.

You might like to look through the Henderson's Chicken Chart, it gives some good basic information on breeds, including productivity - http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

So now I'm thinking about how to enlarge the run without encroaching on access to the well head

There are health regulations regarding how close livestock can be to a well head, you might check with your local heath department about that. Rain and snow runoff can seep down around the well head and cause bacteria issues.

I heard some of the cherry farmers lost all their crop, both sweet and sour, with the April freezes. Some "only" lost about half.

That's the thing about farming - if everyone has a great growing year, prices are down and you don't make as much profit. If others have a bad year and you have product, then you are going to get more for it.

So my girl that was “tik tik” sounding hasn’t laid an egg in 10 days.

Is this normal? She hangs out with the rest of the girls and is no longer tik sounding

Sounds like she is toying with the idea of going broody. You'll have to watch her.

 

[chickflick]

Could she going thru a molt? I have one that's molting now.

Does anyone want a trampoline to use as a chicken tractor? Seen folks attach chicken wire or hardware cloth around it and use for use for their chickens. Thought I'd ask before we dispose of it.