Michigan

[wilobrookfarms]

Hello everybody!
Glad to see there are so many bycer's from Michigan!
I have a question for everyone. I want to show my silkies next year, where do I get info on upcoming shows? Any hints on getting started?
Thanks, Laurie (from Eaton Rapids)

 

[RaZ]

Quote:
Two words...
Nail Gun.

 

[chickflick]

Good Morning!!

wilobrook! Have no info on that, but someone will come along that can help you.
Angela, tell Remmington that the silkies are hardy lil birds. They won't break!

Nancy, glad you hen is doing better!

Keep us updated.
Keyt, glad Sammy is doing so well. What a good mommy to work with her all summer. Must have felt so awesome to see Sammy fly. Ol
Olive... thanks for the compliment. When my daughter got pregnant, I told her I was too young to be a grandma! Can't believe Chelsea is 18 and getting ready to go to college!

Have a good day...

 

[AngelaB]

Quote:
Chickendales would be able to tell you. He shows and breeds Silkies. He is on the Michigan forum.

 

[AngelaB]

Quote:
I think she is just seeing these little birds and thinks they get hurt easy like little chicks. They are starting to get used to being handled and settle down quicker now when you pick them up. Once to get them settled, they will cuddle right into you. What do you think about the egg issue? (From my previous post)

 

[NovaAman]

She might be getting regular..

I was doing fall cleanup work this weekend... I moved the silkie coop from the back, and when I opened it up to clean it, I found a nest... There were about 6 eggs, all of them broken and eaten at except 1. I threw that back to the woods. Well, now I know where Buffy decided to lay her eggs for a while! She took over the silkie coop when I got rid of all the roosters and moved roger to the big coop. No wonder I thought she wasn't laying when I couldn't find any eggs in the tree/bush line where they hang out! I never thought to look in the silkie coop, and I should have, since Roger and his brother didn't know how to climb a ramp, I set it on the ground, so It was easy for Buffy to just walk into, lay her egg and head back out. SO, I hope what ever critter was enjoying her eggs enjoyed them well, cuz they aint gettin no more! LOL

Speaking of Roger, He's finally sitting with the others at night, instead of on his own. With the silkie girls that is. They started sitting on the window seat and now he's getting up there and sitting on them. Yes.. On them. I will try for a picture of it tonight. Its funny to see.

AND does anyone else have a cat in the nestbox problem? My Fuzzy Monster, she's my indoor outdoor girl has taken to bunking in the nest box during the day, and Buffy has even gotten in it with her and laid her egg! I worry that she's going to go potty in the pine shavings... Will that bother my chickens? I clean the coop pretty much every other day, but I worry about the cat urine... EW. I think I will build her her own nest box and pine in the garage. She really seems to like it. LOL. I can see why, she was very very warm in there! Silly cat.

I hope it clear up. Trick or treating tonite.... Guess I will bring the big umbrella just to be on the safe side.

 

[Olive Hill]

Angela, I would suspect your Lt. Brahma for the lighter egg you found. IME the LB eggs are easy to identify vs the BA eggs. Mine almost always lay a much fatter, rounder egg with a much lighter shell. I've also never been impressed with the shell quality/thickness on the LBs. Which is why I'm down to just a couple and will not replace them when they're gone despite their heft. She looks perfectly capable of laying to me.

As far as the darker egg two days in a row, you should probably be able to tell by size unless the original BA just started laying recently. A first egg is usually going to be smaller than all the others. There are exceptions, of course, but if the eggs were comparable in size I'd probably assume your BA who was already laying just switched up the schedule a bit. It happens. And as she gets older she should lay more often than just every other day. BAs are generally wonderful layers.

 

[Chickmate]

Quote:
Angela - I hung a 4 ft. full spectrum tube light in the coop two weeks ago and have it set to go on at 6:00 a.m. and off at 8:00 a.m. I don't use any artificial light in the evenings. I have still been getting between 8 and 13 eggs a day, but have also been wondering if it would be wise to give them a break at some point. Olive or anyone else, what are your thoughts on adding supplemental lighting now and then stopping it before spring to give them a few months of rest before they start laying again. Good idea or bad?

 

[AngelaB]

Quote:
I am putting up a pic. This is the order in which I got the eggs. dark, light, dark. So in the past few days, I have gotten 3 eggs, when usually I would just get 1 or 2, both dark. So, I am hoping that my Brahma has started laying. That would be cool. They are laying in the same spot too!

 

[AngelaB]

Quote:
Angela - I hung a 4 ft. full spectrum tube light in the coop two weeks ago and have it set to go on at 6:00 a.m. and off at 8:00 a.m. I don't use any artificial light in the evenings. I have still been getting between 8 and 13 eggs a day, but have also been wondering if it would be wise to give them a break at some point. Olive or anyone else, what are your thoughts on adding supplemental lighting now and then stopping it before spring to give them a few months of rest before they start laying again. Good idea or bad?

Right now, we are just going to use a regular light, on a timer from 6-8 a.m. With so much going on at the moment, I can't do anything really detailed until mid November. Let me know how yours works for you