Michigan

[taprock]

Oh Farmerboy, I'm sorry. It makes me sad and mad. You have gone out of your way to be responsible and take care of your birds and now this again. I am so upset when I lose a single bird I can't imagine. Were you given any idea why it would have come back?

 

[Mom 2em All]

Well..
I took your advice and I put my sizzle inside a dog crate in the coop...holy moly did she throw a fit! You would have thought that there was a coon INSIDE the coop...she must have hit her head a hundred times on the top, and threw herself all over the place trying to get out. Finally finally finally she settled down.

I will check her this afternoon and give her some water. It will be dark out when I go to work, so I cant do it before then. She has (had) a dish of food in there before she went ballistic.

I wish I could have sealed off the broody in the rabbit hutch..but, when I built the lean-to I didnt want to worry about the hutch closing and trapping them in- it was meant to give them shelter, not hold them. So, the door is permanently open, and well,,,,rather stuck behind a support leg for the lean to. SO, I need to somehow nail hardware cloth on the front of it.

I think my Frizzle is the reason. She was smushed in next to the Silkie again. I think she wants to be broody and those two are the only ones with eggs. Id give her her own eggs if she would set herself somewhere else.

Farmerboy, I am so sorry about the results. That is absolutely devastating.

 

[RaZ]

It has been a very strange night. A fellow I know posted on my Facebook a very strange message.
First I answered the post in my usual snarky fashion.

Then he called me, which I found strange. After a few minutes of talking, it dawned on me that he was suicidal. While we were talking on the cell phone, I was able to use my FAX phone to call 911 for them to check up on him. Local 911 was able to link with out of state 911 and check on the situation.

I was still on the phone with him when the police hit his house and neutralized the situation.
My friend is now in protective custody and under observation. His wife and twin daughters who were born last fall are safe.

I'm shaking like a leaf.

 

[Farmerboy16]

Wow RaZ! Great for you to fingering out the situation!

 

[Farmerboy16]

I am going to try again, and wait a bit longer this time. But KathyinMo is being very helpful, providing info about Denagard, and how it will make the bird clean of the disease. I am studying about it, and may try it, then have the birds tested again before culling.

 

[Mom 2em All]

Wow Raz,,,good job!!! Im sure his wife will be forever grateful, and so will he once he gets help.

Good thing that you had his address!

My night was crazy- I was in mid-post using my cellphone,,answering Opas post about separating the broody when my neighbor burst through my door screaming to call 911...I ran out of the house to see three people running down the street, and her husband lying in the road.
I must say I was very truly upset about the response time of my city police. Long story short- my neighbor owes someone money, Im sure for marijuana- his wife doesnt do drugs, and they are both in their fifties. Well, these guys decided to come take their teevee over fifty dollars. She was asleep, woke to them taking her television- and told them to get out of her house. One of the men assaulted her, threw her across the room, When she got up he did it again.
I dont know how it got to be in the street. I do know that the response time was very slow for the police. They kept asking me "what were they wearing"...I had already told them, its dark on my street- I couldnt even tell if it was three or four men. I had to repeat the direction they were headed about four times. And I had to spell my street, and repeat the story twice. After my teeth started chattering, I told the officer that I had no reception in my house, and I was outside barefoot with no coat.

Well, the car of men came back. They pulled right up out front, and looked on the ground for something. Picked up something small. We were all standing right out there when they did it. The police still were not there. I live on a dead-end. Would have been nice if they would have shown up at that point. My neighbor yelled, Get their license plate!" However, I was not willing to step behind their car to see it. My husband yelled at me, "They have guns, they are the real deal"...well< i sure as heck wasnt saying anything to them.

When the police finally showed up, I asked them if I could please give my statement and go inside my own house- I was so frozen..yeah,he said...then he walked up to their house. I didnt follow, and I never gave my statement. I went inside my own house.

I spent the rest of the night worrying about my daughters- their bedroom is the room closest to my neighbors house...by the width of a driveway, and drive-by shootings is something you hear about every day. Sure dont want it in my neighborhood.

 

[RaZ]

I am going to try again, and wait a bit longer this time. But KathyinMo is being very helpful, providing info about Denagard, and how it will make the bird clean of the disease. I am studying about it, and may try it, then have the birds tested again before culling.

A second opinion might prove to be a valid option.

 

[Opa]

b737drvvr, I wouldn't bother with lifting your coop up on blocks. It wouldn't be cooled enough to make that worth the effort. Unless a coop is high enough to allow you to get under it, you would need to install some type of barrier to prevent critters from taking up residence. Skunks, rats and a host of others love living under buildings. Should a bird die under the building you would have difficulty getting it out. I did build my coop on blocks and had to install wire around it to deny access.

Temperature in your coop isn't really an issue. Ventilation is the biggest concern. Without it ammonia builds up creating serious respiratory problems. Heat during Michigan's summer is a problem as long as the birds have adequate water. However, your birds will be more comfortable if they have shade. Rather than going the expense of trying to roof your run I would suggest building a covered roost. I have one in mine and the birds love it. The ground under it stays drier and they use it for a dusting area as well as shade. Summer temperatures aren't going to affect your eggs.

RIRJen,
I think you might have more success getting advice on using hops.

Daron, I would try the Denegard before you destroy your flock. Could be the answer.

 

[NovaAman]

Oh, so depressing, and distressing. I was thinking about you off and on all morning... Can't you just close your flock? Treat them, cull s needed and mot hatch out or sell eggs for hatching. And once those are gone, clean up, dis-infect give a winter freeze over and then start again with POL pullets...? Oh, I would just agonize over it. I don't think I would have made it to work.. You are in my prayers Daron.

 

[RaZ]

Yikes.M2M.
I know your local PD and they would never come to your rescue if there was any danger to them selves. It was that way when I lived there years ago.
Sadly, you are on your own.
Be prepared.