Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Sally PB]

Dreamz, I'm glad you are home and that your ER visit wasn't for a major sickness or injury! Not that pinched nerves don't hurt...

 

[1muttsfan]

Unfortunately I do not have his address. Or his phone number.

If you get new birds that are quarantined, they need to be completely separated from your current birds far enough so that you won't get windblown transmission of illness from one pen to another. Once they go through a two or three week strict quarantine, then you want the see but not touch introduction.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

Hi Northwoodschick, welcome from the UP

Fellow Yooper, eh??

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

The run? I can reach the top with a broom, no problem, so I just kept it cleaned off.

I can reach all but the top of the coop roof too. The way it's built, it's strong enough for DH to stand on, so it'll handle a lot of snow.

I'm replacing the tarps on the run with some polycarbonate sheets soon. Maybe there'll be enough light to get the pullets to lay this fall/winter...?

One of them has dark pink wattles and comb, but they're still quite small.

Hi, I’m new to the MI thread. I’ve lived here since marrying my husband in 2001. I’ve had chickens going on three years now and still feel like a newbie. This past summer we let two of our broody hens raise chicks. They’ve been such a joy to watch grow. Here’s a pic of two of my 4 month old roos. View attachment 2851091

Welcome! Beautiful birds

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

I like Puerto Rican food quite well, but it is pretty tough to get up here. Along with Chinese, Japanese, French, Spanish, and everything else apart from things like Pasties and Poutine. The Meijer store up in the Soo has fresh Sushi, which is heavenly.

If you get around near Marquette there is a GREAT Cajun/ creole place called Lagniappe (pronounced Yon-laap). I get there about once a month for my fix of shrimp n grits. Any longer of a wait and I start having withdrawal symptoms.

 

[Dreamzchaser]

Unfortunately I do not have his address. Or his phone number.

If you get new birds that are quarantined, they need to be completely separated from your current birds far enough so that you won't get windblown transmission of illness from one pen to another. Once they go through a two or three week strict quarantine, then you want the see but not touch introduction.

I do not have an address either but will pm you next.
ok, for 4 wks I can do that. The garage is in the front of the house which faces west and my girls are in the back of the house facing east. Most winds come from east here but some times from north or south. I guess I am ok on that eventhough they will not be coming out of the garage until I divide the run. Once the quarantine is over in a month, for how long will the look but don't touch should be? Would they be able to share the coop or would they always have to be separated?

 

[Dreamzchaser]

If you get around near Marquette there is a GREAT Cajun/ creole place called Lagniappe (pronounced Yon-laap). I get there about once a month for my fix of shrimp n grits. Any longer of a wait and I start having withdrawal symptoms.

cajun/creole is that spicy?

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

cajun/creole is that spicy?

A little more than a hint of spice..just enough to be addictive. The flavor is hard to describe but it is sooo good!

 

[Sally PB]

for how long will the look but don't touch should be? Would they be able to share the coop or would they always have to be separated?

Usually a couple of weeks, at least. It helps to have the new chickens closer to the size of the original chickens.

Here are some pictures of what I did.

There's some chicken wire dividing the coop.

There's 2x3 fencing dividing the run. It doesn't have to be predator proof, so chicken wire is fine. I happened to have this stuff. I put chicken wire from the roof down to the fence because the littles could fly well enough to get to the top of the fence.

It looks like Darl, my rooster, is sticking his head through the fence, but he's not; the fence bends around right at that point.

When it was snack time, I put spoonfuls of it on both sides of the fence so that they could get used to eating together. Their snack is their regular food, wetted into a thick mash, so it scooped easily.

The low hen of my original flock, Lark, would peck the chicks whenever she could reach them. I had this set up for about 3 weeks, and she didn't get any more tolerant of them, so when it came time to open everything up, I put her in my brooder (a large dog crate) in the middle of the run. She had her own food and water, and I set a piece of metal roofing over the crate so she wouldn't get rained on. I put her in that at night.

Early the next morning, before light, I went out with a headlamp (much better than a flashlight!) and took down the fence in the run. I also rearranged just about everything, and added some more clutter.

Then when I opened the coop, everyone was coming out to a totally different run, and Lark couldn't get the chicks. I took the fence down in the coop that afternoon.

She stayed in the brooder cage for 3 days. She hated it. She made a lot of noise at lockup, because she wanted to get into the coop to roost. Too bad, Lark. I let her out at lockup on the third day. She ran for the coop and got on the roost.

Kept an eye on them the next day. Lark pecked the littles when she could, but by now they knew the layout of the run, and it was all different for Lark. The littles knew to stay out of her way, and there were places to hide.

There were 3 food bowls and waterers. One food bowl was in the coop (I don't keep water in there) so it was out of line of sight from the other food bowls.

Lark will still chase the chicks, but not often. They're almost her size, and they stay out of her way. I really have two flocks: the original one, and the three chicks, who I call pullets now. They're 4 1/2 months old.

 

[chickflick]

Dream, I don't remember how the inside of your coop looks like, but at one time, I put fencing under the roost and if you have a poop board that's even better.... you have a roof! Had the chickens in there to introduce and expose to each other. You'll have to figure out how to let them in the run. lol