Michigan

[RaZ]

Raz you should definitely get a smoker. And definitely smoke some turkeys to bring to chickenstock.

Donations are welcome and may be tax deductible. Check with your tax advisor.

 

[taprock]

We ended up with a lot of snow today, how much I'm not sure because we shoveled several times. My son and I spent a good deal of time outside shoveling out the coop, run, apron and cleaning the coop. I stirred up the bedding but all the poop was frozen to the boards and will have to wait until it thaws some. We put some cedar boughs in the coop also. Some pictures from today.

My trail to the coop. I had to make a new path each time for the past two days.
I'm not sure what pink in the north means.
Some cedar boughs with Peep and Bertie
Bernice, a poopy roost and Little Bear.
Leo attempting to catch a red squirrel.

 

[RaZ]

Love that first picture, taprock.
Care to tell us why the path meanders so much?

 

[Opa]

I've been smoking meat and fish for over 40 years so you can imagine that I've gone through a few smokers both homemade and store bought. One of the biggest problems with most smokers is hot spots. Sausage, as an example, will over cook at the bottom before the top is done. To over come this problem I decided to build a heat and smoke recirculating smoker. I used an upright freezer for the cabinet. To this I added a recirculation fan and a heat source at is thermostatically controlled. An external smoke box with a fan forces smoke into the cabinet where it is recirculated. The size is large enough that I can smoke 2 dozen chickens at once.

 

[AngelaB]

Wow, tried to catch up on posts, but there are just too many! I was on here a couple days ago, and man I got left in the dust....lol

Man it is cold! My poor chickies are going to go stir crazy stuck in the coop. I got a double yolker the other day. That egg was HUGE! It was from my little EE. Her eggs are usually quite small, and that thing had to hurt bad!

Have a good weekend everyone!

 

[RaZ]

Let those chickies play in the snow, AngelaB.
Mine have been loving it.

 

[yorkchick]

Yorkchic you might try soaked alfalfa cubes, they are made for horse feed and are not expensive. They should be moistened first or they may not generate a lot of interest.

I actually bought a bag of these, I think they are timothy/alfalfa mix, and threw some in the kitty litter pan I also had the hay in (NO, never used for cats, hush up), and also threw some out on the ground. Having seen the goosers chew through wood, I thought they could munch the cubes--but they ignored them, along with the hay. On the other hand, there was still a little grass available then so maybe not a fair trial. Thanks for the suggestion--I will try them again but soak them first. Of course, with this weather, if the geese don't catch on right away the cubes will be harder than ever when they freeze. Definitley worth a try.

 

[swampducks]

Well, dang, everybody, how cold was it! My low here in the just south of Alpena area was -7.8. My neighbors had about -9, they're slightly higher up in the cedar swamp than I am. Closer to the sun I guess.

 

[yorkchick]

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Speaking of ChicwannaB. I am getting worried about her. Why is she not chiming in once in a while?

Hello? Hello, ChicWannaB??? ::tap tap tap:: Hey, is this thing working??? Hello???? Dunno. She's posting on Facebook. But haven't seen so much of her here since the Big Changeover of BYC. And I should know, since I'm stalking her. Oh, wait, should I stop doing that? I have seen that some people who are uncomfortable with the changes advocate not signing in except during the time needed to write a post--just being a "guest" the rest of the time. That way you are not spending as much time all nekkid in the spy window.. . Personallly, I get warm fuzzies seeing which of my BIFF's (best imaginary friends forever, stole that from another thread, shamelessly) are hanging out with me. Anyway, just a wild guess, ChicWB is busy and will be back soon?? Please???

 

[taprock]

Care to tell us why the path meanders so much?

Head down walking into the blowing snow in the general direction of the coop while wading snow - I'm puny the wind blows me around.