Michigan

[Ooopsy_daisy]

Morning everyone,

Dont know if the winds caused anyone else any damage or not, but Ive got tree's down everywhere in the back pasture and woods. It sure got ugly here last night.

Grandson's 13th birthday today so he's playing hookie from school. My phone rings at 8:15am....Grammy come get me and lets go get some lunch. (he loves prime rib) Im like, "Austin crawl up on the couch for a few hours, let this weather die down some and at lunch time, I'll come get you". LOL He's so excited to be able to skip a day from school. Bless his heart.

Everyone try to stay warm and dry. Looks like another windy, rainy, cold fall day.

 

[chickflick]

Noooooo! I don't want winter!!! We're gonna have some more warm weather...you just wait and see!!

Welcome goodheart! Glad to meet ya! Most of us are crazy on here, so you'll fit right in, right?

Good Morning all!! Stay warm and dry. Good day to catch up on housework, or for those with clean homes, curl up and read a good book.

 

[wyliefarms]

It is COLD out there! I got up at 5am, put my running shorts on and headed out to the van to head to the neighbors to exercise. I FROZE WITH SHORTS ON!!!

I am now toasty warm with jeans and a sweater on!

Off to get some more work done.

Sarah

 

[zephyrcreek]

Hi everyone! Fall is sure here with a vengence. I hope you are right and we will have some warm weather again. I've been so busy this summer with all the birds and jump orders that I have not finnished any of the projects that needed to be done before the cold. I hate doing this stuff in the cold drizzle. Yuck!

I'm still feeling better and even had a burst of energy hit me Sunday. WE actually pulled all the furniture out and cleaned the carpets! So I guess I did work on one of the projects. Of coarse now I wish I would have taken advantage of some of the nicer weather. Oh well.

I also had a chance to visit with Vicki Sunday. Her family traveled out my way to visit her BIL in Yale. She brought out a gorgeous pair of Blue American Geese and some more ducks for me. We have named the geese Kate and Leopold. You cannot go wrong naming a breeding pair after romantic movie charecters. We are still thinking of names for the ducks. Vicki also gave me a tutorial on sexing geese. If I am correct than Mr. Bob (our goose) is actually Mrs. Bob. We were starting to suspect this anyways after the way she was mothering the young ducks we added to her pen a month ago. Now we just need to find a "Mr. Bob" for her.

 

[chickflick]

Glad you are feeling better, ZC! I went thru a stint of not feeling good for forever a couple of years ago. After I finally went to dr., had thyroid removed, well half, and 6 months later a hysterectomy. Feeling lots better, now. Hope they find the cause of your problems.

 

[Wynette]

Hello, fellow Michiganders! Hey, Rose! Good to "see" you!

Folks, I have two male (gelded) mini donkeys that I'd like to sell before the snow flies. Both are papered, though it might take awhile for me to find their papers. One is brown with a start & white muzzle, the other is dun...or grayish...regular donkey colored. They are VERY devoted each other, and I won't sell them unless they can be together. One is probably 10, the other around 8. I've had them both since they were weaned.

Both are easy to work with, have been handled A LOT, and are very tame. One sometimes has issues with having his hooves trimmed, but he's not too bad most of the time.

If anyone has interest, please PM me. There's absolutely nothing wrong with them, just trying to cut back a bit.

 

[chickinlickin]

Hello there ganders -

I'm enjoying this change in the weather...
and it's got me wondering about my coop. I just built it this spring with a window on each side and vents along the top of each wall (about 5" x 48" each)....and after reading on here I know they need the ventilation all winter....but how much?....should I ever close all of them? Should I plan on leaving one open for most of the winter? ... I can open/close the vents part-way, too... I've had the windows all open all summer...when should I close them up?....

I know I maybe could post this elsewhere or do a search, but I was stopping in to say "Hi" anyway...

Thanks

 

[Wynette]

chickinlickin - I HIGHLY recommend Patandchickens' BYC page on ventilation:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-VENTILATION

 

[chickinlickin]

patandchickens has a neat page about keeping your coop warm, too. Lots of good info for rookies like me......

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-winter-coop-temperatures

CAT - all your vents open, all the time?

 

[CATRAY44]

My vents are up high and yes, I kept them open. I did shut the window, which is lower. My coops consist of 2 large dog houses and one 4x4 chicken coop. I did put stacks of straw around the outside of the coops, stacked 2 bales high, for insulation. I used the deep liter method in the coops. I also stacked straw bales around the edges of the run for wind break. I attached tarps to the North and West sides of the run as well. It worked fine for me. I had eggs all winter. My one luxery was a heated waterer- would not be without that!