Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[1muttsfan]

Hi Tiffany, welcome to BYC and the Michigan thread

I had a friend from Pinconning in college and we used to go to the Auburn Corn festival. And the Munger Potato festival, the Pinconning Cheese festival, and multitudes of Catholic Church festivals. Beer tents and polka at night, sunning on the beaches during the day (including up by you, Raz)

 

[Tmcfarland]

Hi Tiffany, welcome to BYC and the Michigan thread

I had a friend from Pinconning in college and we used to go to the Auburn Corn festival. And the Munger Potato festival, the Pinconning Cheese festival, and multitudes of Catholic Church festivals. Beer tents and polka at night, sunning on the beaches during the day (including up by you, Raz)

Lots to do in the summer! My boys are in band & march in the corn fest parade. We look forward to the beer tent at St Stan’s.

 

[rjmyooper]

Can I ask what happened to the neck feathers on this chicken @Dreamzchaser ?

 

[uchytil]

Uhm. How dangerous are coyotes? Or coydogs, maybe. To people? Like me. Directly.

I though the "fox kits" looked pretty big but I thought maybe they are about grown. My neighbor said the adults are at least twice as big. And one was trapped under they shed when she finished blocking it off. She could not believe how much noise and commotion it made or how big the hole was that it dug getting out.

She is seriously afraid of them. As in that they might hurt her.

I saw one of the adults last night. I didn't have a clear view (dusk, tall grass and other obstructions). I couldn't really tell how big it was but it didn't act like a fox. At all.

I did a bit of checking, fox kits typically aren't ready to leave the den until July. If these are really half grown or less, they will be way bigger than a fox.

The neighbors shed is about 50 feet from each of our houses. The new den is closer than that to my garden. I saw four or five faces watching me pull weeds yesterday... the first I've seen they since that first day.

I know they can take deer and good sized calves. I like to sit to pull weeds. I can change that but I will still need to be down to harvest anything. There is a fence but just a weak deer/rabbit fence.

I wasn't worried about the chickens. Now I'm rethinking that. The pit bull that visited couldn't get in. But she would have if she had had all night to try and had moved from trying to go through the metal lath over the openings to going through the wall. The walls are just pine boards.

I'd rather have the wood chucks and voles.

Quite dangerous to livestock especially now during their birthing. Coyotes (not "coydogs" which is really not what they are although if a Coyote bread with a dog the offspring would be that) will take ducks and chickens and you won't even see a feather. Mainly nocturnal so lock up any free-rangers and your penned flock at night. Coyotes tend not to bother anything too large but don't take chances, they will take dogs and cats.

 

[Folly's place]

That chicken is a Necked Neck, which is a breed. Sparse feathering all over too, nice for plucking as they are mostly a meat type. Either love or hate the look...
Coyotes have taken small dogs out of fenced yards in suburbia, seen by dog owners in suburban Detroit. The ones who live here are very shy of humans, as some neighbors do shoot them. It's good that we have a couple of coyote families around here, or we'd be hip deep in rabbits! They 'sing' at night, nice to hear.
Mary

 

[chickflick]

Tiffany

 

[taprock]

I’ve only had one coyote make me feel nervous. It’s behavior wasn’t normal. We’ve have fewer coyotes the past years since the wolves have moved in. I know my birds are secure at night so I don’t worry, but predators that show up during the day are eliminated if possible. Our small dogs never go outside unattended. Yesterday there was a coyote behind the house at 10 am so there isn’t really a “safe” time.

Fox we never see - except tracks, even though they are around.

 

[uchytil]

LOL, hip deep in rabbits. My Beagle is loving the cyclic rabbit upswing here. I lost a duck to a Coyote about two weeks ago. Didn't see her/him but I know. It was at dusk and they were being bad ducks out in the back swamp before getting tucked in for the night. Babies gotta eat but gee wiz. Only has happened here 2 or 3 times in the last 20 plus years. I did lose a full grown Calico Turkey Hen once and that was hard on me. Not one feather!

 

[saysfaa]

The remote garden plan is coming together. The real driver to it is that I want to can tomatoes next fall.

I thought about it last year and decided to invest in a raised bed and expanded deer fence here and pots here instead of a deer fence there. The tomatoes in raised beds and in tubs did not do well last year. We got only enough to eat.

The rule of thumb (as in numbers I got from the internet) is a half bushel per plant and expect to can up to 18 quarts per bushel. That is about a dozen tomato plants to get the 100 quarts I want. If the plants do well. So maybe 2 dozen plants. That is doable with a hoe and watering can but is enough to think about alternatives since I expect to visit it only once a week or two. The alternatives matter for the size and shape of the patch.

If I make two rows, I can drag between the rows and have a lot less to hoe for the first half of the summer. That would need 20' wide by 50' long (150' of fence)

If I make one row, I can drag each side of the row. That would need 30' x 100' (260' of fencing). Better for hoeing; not so much for minimizing the amount of fence to buy.

It might be worth doing if I planted something less sprawling down the sides.

Also, deer don't like to jump into small spaces; one row with space to drag each side is getting too big to discourage the deer. Maybe an illusion of a fence to subdivide the space? With step in posts and deer tape?

If all I'm trying to keep out is deer, maybe chicken wire would do? It could be reinforced with two or three strands of high tensile wire or, possibly, with deer tape or something similarly visible.

 

[Folly's place]

One hundred quarts??? WOW! I do maybe a dozen quarts, which may last the two of us two years! Only Roma types are worth canning, nice meaty tomatoes, so worth the time and effort. We have a Victorio thingie, works great to make the sauce. Just straight sauce, no spices or salt at all, only a little vinegar or lemon juice for acidity.
Mary