Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[theron]

What time do you think I should arrive for the best selection of birds to buy? Coop-in starts at 7:30 and judging at 9 but it didn't really say what time it opened to the general public not involved in showing or selling. I didn't know if all the good ones will get snatched up right away, or if I don't have to be in a hurry as I am new to the whole poultry show thing.

I would be there as early as possible to buy from the best selection. Definitely best day would be early saturday. I have been to the show on sunday before and actually found a few nice birds, but not as large of a selection on sunday.

 

[chickenwalker]

Does anyone use a seed tray heater mat to keep their water thawed in the winter? It seems like this would work because it doesn't get too hot and it is water proof.

 

[Amy PT]

It really was a shame how many tomatoes remain on the vines but there is a limit to how much work this old fool wants to get into.

Opa, if there are a lot on the vine still, maybe a food bank would be interested helping you clear them? I know in GR, the Gleaners have volunteers who pick fields and the produce gets distributed to food banks and other nonprofits. Here's a link for a organization in your area: http://www.fbcmich.org/site/PageServer?pagename=aboutfbcmich_memberfoodbanks_midmichiganfoodbank

I picked the last of our tomatoes yesterday with my 4 year old. Slim pickins this year for us.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Do want!

I like it!

So I haven't gotten an egg from one of my young hens in about a month and a half or so. .............. She was laying blue eggs nice and regular.

EE's don't usually lay in the winter. Sometimes they will, but most don't.

 

[chicken grandma]

Gosh, that is a tiny egg!

Opa - glad Granny is o.k.

Sorry to all who lost a hen.

 

[NovaAman]

Does anyone use a seed tray heater mat to keep their water thawed in the winter? It seems like this would work because it doesn't get too hot and it is water proof.

Seems like a good idea...

 

[teeville5]

My chickens won't come out of the barn today on account of the high winds...

Most of mine didn't either. Only about a dozen or so braved the winds. It was so windy here that I even had to struggle to shut my car door when I went to take my daughter to her eye appointment. DH was saying it was supposed to be only breezy, but it was more like gale force to me.

Stacykins, I saw the tardis coop on fb. I like it, too.

chickenwalker- haven't done it and it sounds like an idea so I asked DH who has used those mats before. He said it might be more cost effective to buy that for a heating option, but long term it would not be the most cost efficient. That's because the mats are not energy efficient and it would take a lot of effort to heat the water from the bottom up especially if the climate is really cold and most of the heat would escape from the bottom of the mat itself.
But, anyway, those are his thoughts and I think you won't really know unless you try it. So let us know if it works for you.

 

[Trefoil]

Opa, will keep Grannie in my thoughts - that whole thing is a big mess There was no need for the clinics to use a compounded medication, Depo Medrol (the labeled brand name) is readily available - but costs a few dollars more per vial, which is probably why the clinics involved used it. For a few bucks they have put so many people at grave risk, what a terrible result.

I wondered when I saw that if the insurance companies were requiring the hospitals to use the cheapest drug they could get., most insurances won't allow the use of a name brand drug if there is a generic available. And I would bet money that had something to do with it.Of course if that's the case, we aren't going to hear about it from the media.

 

[Juise]

Oh! I had no idea, never had one before, thank you. Her sister is still laying away, almost every day still, it's funny how different they can be.

 

[Juise]

Oh, yeah, and I have been meaning to share this with you guys since some of you have that weird fixation on the TSC metal rooster. It's not in English, but the step-by-step photos are pretty clear:

Egg Carton Rooster -