Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[NovaAman]

Italian Sweet Cream is the best!

Delynne, welcome to the thread.

Oh, and my sister is very well. She is back to work now. Still has some stamina issues and her lung is healing. Slowly, but surely. The lung was damaged from the bile that was dumping from the liver. They say that can take over a year to fully recover. She won't be running any marathons soon, but she's doing very well. She had 1800 pages of medical documents that she had to procure for her laywer for her lawsuit. She ended up telling the hospital it was needed for a tubal reversal proceedure, and because of the extent of the damages and surgerys she had for the gall bladder, the Dr. doing the reversal wanted to go over it all. Otherwise, the hospital was going to charge $1.50 a page! Yeah. Who has that kind of money to drop just to get your medical records!

 

[NovaAman]

Thank you! That's a bummer about your Wyandottes, they're so pretty though! I'm glad you told me, I was thinking about getting some! My oldest would really like a Cochin, mainly because of their fluffy appearance. Do you know if they're pretty friendly?

My dots are friendly enough. They aren't lap chickens by any means, but they are pretty, they come for treats and do eat out of my hand. They just aren't that big on being held. If you want lap chickens, go with brahmas, silkies, buffs... Faverolles are nice also. BUT, I am very partial to faverolles. Silkies and cochins are known to go broody however... SO, If you are looking for friendly first eggs second, I'd get a few white leghorns or Rhode Island or New Hampshires. They start laying and don't stop, and they are friendly enough and if started early, they can also be lap chickens, or at least catchable, and less likely to go broody. All though, I did just have a New Hamp go broody and hatch out some chicks early last month.... The other NH shows no inclination.... It is kinda pointless to get breeds known for broodiness if you can not have a rooster for chicks. If you can have a rooster, then get some production breeds and some of the more motherly breeds. Either way, you'll end up with a colorful group of lawn ornaments. This is just my opinion and experience. My cochins seem to always be broody. ALWAYS. And my white faverolle is broody again...

 

[Delynne77]

Quote:
I've considered getting a rooster, but I've been told by a few that they don't recommend them for beginners. What are your thoughts?

 

[fuzzybutt love]

I loved my rooster. He did good for a couple years, but after that he got overprotective of his hens, but if they were in the coop he was fine with me.

If you are unsure, i suggest a bantam. They are good for beginners because of their size. They do everything a big rooster does, but with less noise and less damage to the hens.

Do your research, by all means, but know that even in a friendly breed there are exceptions. And vice versa. There is no shortage of roosters, though, and if you hang around here long enough, you may get lucky and find a BYC'er looking for a home for a nice rooster! I love my roosters, and the girls love their guy. Won't even lay an egg without the rooster hanging out by the nest box, lol. Spoiled girls.

My new rooster isn't a lap bird like my old one was, but he is friendly and has started accepting treats from my hand. I bought him as a teen. I have another from my own birds, He's still a big kid, but he is skittish and a little mean to the others, so he may not stay.

My new friendly guy He's part buttercup, part EE


A banty porcelain d'uccle roo, he's a bit on the small side But he likes held

 

[NovaAman]

Get a gentler breed of rooster if you want one. My faverolle rooster Mr. Fluffers was THE BEST rooster ever. AND he was the first one I ever had and in my first year. He was wonderful to have for the very first one. I got him he was already 2 years old. I have his son out in the yard now, and he is also a very very good rooster, and he is not yet a year old. He is not aggressive to me or the kids, but we do not try and treat him like a lap chicken. I do not pick him up unless it is off the roost at night time for what ever reason. I also had a silkie rooster, Roger, and he was just as good a boy. He was very friendly, could pick him up, walk around with him on my shoulder. He was very protective of his girls and his chicks. The only bad rooster I have had experience with is the neighbors. The first one, Bad Bob attacked my kid, big BR roo, and I went after him. I guess he realized I was even bigger threat than his owner, cuz he ran. Then their next rooster, the one now, he attacked me from behind when I was taking care of them, and I took care of him. He no longer attacks anyone unless they are wearing crocs. He hates crocks. He is a year old now, and he's actually a really good boy since he knows his place and his place is not threatened.

If you had small children, I would suggest NOT having a rooster. They can see kids as threatening, with their running and screaming all over the place. Then you have a rooster who feels the need to protect, and you have a kid with facial damage from the roosters spurs. They can put out an eye on a toddler easy. Not a good scenario. If you want a rooster, get one from a breeder. That way you can see how their rooster behaves. If it is a more friendly one, like they owners can walk through the yard, not have to carry the stick, lock the rooster in the coop during chore time... then you can safely bet on getting a decent offspring. Not always, but better chances than with hatchery stock that breeds for production.

Again this is my opinion and by no means am I claiming to be right or know what I am talking about. All though, I am supreme in my knowledge of nothing.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

News from the homefront,
i decided to get the antibiotics for my little porcelain booted bantam. The others were doing ok, and i think they would have been ok without it, but i wasn't sure about her. She never was strong. So everyone is getting tylan in the water, just in case. She seemed a bit perkier already
Supposed to be a bad winter anyway. Don't want to take chances!

 

[NovaAman]

Fuzzy, I have a box of insulin syringes if you'd like. Break off the needle and the syringe is perfect for oral dosing on the birds...

 

[NovaAman]

 

[fuzzybutt love]

lol. They do have a thing for shoes, sometimes. My "mean" lap boy had a special hatred of my silver slip-ons. I don't know why, it was the boot that got his backside first, but he hated the shiny ones.

They do see the running as a threat. My old rooster went nuts because visiting kids had a habit of running down the path to see the animals, i was always yelling to stop running. The new guy isn't mean, but he is easily scared. My old boy started his bad habits originally after a neighbor's 2 year old was sneaking over in the morning and running at the fence over and over. By the time i discovered what was happening, the rooster had already decided that spurring a human was ok. He was never the same. I got him where he was ok around me, but i could never trust him around kids without supervision again.

I don't know what happened this last summer, but his favorite hen wasn't well, and i think he didn't want me around her. He was very faithful to her, hardly touched another hen. She was my lap baby though, and i think it made him nervous. She didn't make the summer, and i buried them together so he wouldn't suffer. I still miss him dearly, he was my first bird, and i miss holding him.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Fuzzy, I have a box of insulin syringes if you'd like. Break off the needle and the syringe is perfect for oral dosing on the birds...

She's a spitter. I tried sneaking a few drops on a cracker to her, but she spit the crackers out! lol. The first night i penned her and the d'uccles in the rabbit cage with their own food and water, so she would feel safer and drink more