Michigan

[Olive Hill]

Oh OH! NOW little miss "what do you have to barter with" has come around! Not so smug now, are ya!

LOL! I'm not going to lie, the smug just doesn't go away... ever.

Thanks for the info on the bees. I'll take a walk in the morning and see if I find anything. It'd be neat if they set up a wild hive out here though, too. Save me the hassle of continuing to pester the DH about being a beekeeper, and no worries about plenty of pollination for those fruit trees I'll be making him plant later this year.

 

[Amy PT]

Welcome!

I can't help you with your questions but I will say stay away from Olive if you want to start small.

(everything's broody Olive! I'm going to have like 60 birds here next month!)

Amy, um, 2 months ago I had NO birds. Just sayin...

Hee hee... I get it. We're building the coop this weekend, and we're building it for a smaller flock. We'd better build fast before I feel like we need 7 or 23 more...

 

[EeyoreD]

AGAIN?!?! What the...

Are they still coming back when you're outside? Maybe you could rig up some kind of covered something or other... your hoop house with a quick wrap of some of the fence you'd been using for the turkeys? Lock those naughty ducks up for a few days and see if it helps?

Hmm, good thought. It would suck to not be able to move the chicks into the coop but maybe (if I get a net...) and chuck them in the hoop house for a few days they'll get the hint. I think part of the problem is they like to hang out in the shade and the nasty geeses like to use the ducks to find the BEST shade and then run them off out of it.

All of them also seem to really enjoy the back part of the yard where the coop is, but won't actually GO there unless I'm there. Timid freaks.

I wonder how the ducks would do in WITH the chicks...

 

[BackyardFarmMom]

I am about five million steps ahead of myself... But Vj has already named her coop the Banty Shanty and it is not yet finished ( or is it?)
Anyway I have named my unfinished ( and will remain so until the sun dries it out

which could be never in MI) coop...
The Oven...
I am counting my chicks before they hatch... literally and have nammed them as well...
Nugget, Marsala, Noodle Soup, Broth, Fingers, Wings, Pot Pie, Parmigiana, Salad, Casserole...
Though none will (more than likely) be made into any of these things...

Hi Michigan thread. I'm new to the board. And to chickens.

We have three 2.5 week old chicks in a basement brooder. It's looking like our BO is going to be a rooster: wattles sprouting already! And we can't have a rooster (or... legally, hens). I'd like our flock to be 3-4 hens. Our original 3 were from Townline Hatchery, but I'd like to go smaller if we get more chicks. Any suggestions for places near Grand Rapids? Also, is anyone looking for a very young BO rooster-to-be?

Name the BO Dinner!

I say that but could not take any of my birds to freezer camp myself...

 

[BackyardFarmMom]

Better go back and edit. Pigs are highly social animals, they shouldn't be kept individually. Do you have room for pigs???

I am not actually getting a pig... I just can't wait for pics that is all!

 

[Olive Hill]

Hmm, good thought. It would suck to not be able to move the chicks into the coop but maybe (if I get a net...) and chuck them in the hoop house for a few days they'll get the hint. I think part of the problem is they like to hang out in the shade and the nasty geeses like to use the ducks to find the BEST shade and then run them off out of it.

All of them also seem to really enjoy the back part of the yard where the coop is, but won't actually GO there unless I'm there. Timid freaks.

I wonder how the ducks would do in WITH the chicks...

Interesting, here the Scovy drake was king of everyone. The geese would pick on the scovy hens if the drake wasn't around, but as soon as they saw him coming they'd run off. Such cowardly bullies they are.

If you want to put them out together I'd put a hen or two in with the chicks first, they might adopt them. Scovies are good broodies. If they do, then I wouldn't hesitate to toss the drake in there, too. They shouldn't allow him to mess with them -- and if he sees them as babies of the hens he probably won't want to.

Or are your "chicks" older? If they're feathered out/adolescent size I wouldn't worry at all.

 

[Olive Hill]

I am not actually getting a pig... I just can't wait for pics that is all!

This is what we all say. I'm not actually getting 1100 chickens... I'm not actually getting ducks... I'm not actually getting a second coop to house the 1100 chickens... ha! Likely story.

 

[BackyardFarmMom]

I got bees this year because I always thought it would be neat to keep bees. I know at some point I'm going to be randomly leaving honey in malls and gas stations just to get rid of it. But I will say this: I've had my bees installed for just about 2 weeks. I read tons of books and was fascinated. Once I got them I'm even more so. Maybe someday I'll try to put into words the feeling of working with and having (at this point) just a glimmer of understanding of this massive organism made up of individual parts that works and can be read more efficiently than a machine. For now I just love to watch them. And they seem totally fine with me doing so. I'm going to stop before I gush. I love them.

Olive already tried to sweeten up to you... Darn! and she is bartering with meat... Double darn!

This is what we all say. I'm not actually getting 1100 chickens... I'm not actually getting ducks... I'm not actually getting a second coop to house the 1100 chickens... ha! Likely story.

Well so far I have no chickens... just eggs... really warm eggs... 13 really warm eggs... I am going to have to build another coop! Triple darn!!!

You win this time Olive!!

 

[EeyoreD]

Interesting, here the Scovy drake was king of everyone. The geese would pick on the scovy hens if the drake wasn't around, but as soon as they saw him coming they'd run off. Such cowardly bullies they are.

If you want to put them out together I'd put a hen or two in with the chicks first, they might adopt them. Scovies are good broodies. If they do, then I wouldn't hesitate to toss the drake in there, too. They shouldn't allow him to mess with them -- and if he sees them as babies of the hens he probably won't want to.

Or are your "chicks" older? If they're feathered out/adolescent size I wouldn't worry at all.

Ha! Strange! Here the geese seem to run the show. Though occasionally the turkey hens will get fed up with it (even before they were broody) and run them off. The tom just follows his women around.

My chicks are pretty much fully feathered. Some tufties on the head and their armpits (wingpits?). They're not full grown chickens yet; but I have a hard time calling them "chicks" anymore. If that seems OK then maybe the week or so that I'll be keeping the chicks in their new home will be enough to let the scovies know it's their place too. There's plenty of room. It's 8 x 10 and I have 12 chickens. I only have the one 10 foot roost board now but they'll sort it out, yeah?

 

[Olive Hill]

Yeah, they should work it out. The ducks are bigger so they'll pick their spot and then the chicks will take what's left, probably. I'd just do it on a day when you have time to keep an eye out. If they're going to be abusive you're going to see it pretty quickly, the scovies are pretty non-confrontational (unless the ganders pick on the hens, lol) so as long as they have space, plenty of feed and water there probably won't be any tiffs.