Michigan

[ladyfeather]

Your chickens sound like kids or cats- always under foot and doing something sure to cause mischief one way or another. LOL

I've seen treats like meal worms for them and I was thinking earthworms might also be good (When we buy bait we never use it all so I thought it was a great way to use it up). And I'll stay away from the lambs quarter then

 

[sarah92480]

WHY DOES IT FEEL LIKE 86 DEGREES OUTSIDE?! I'M DYING HERE!
Seriously, I can't handle heat. I like it cool and cold. It is super windy too, but it isn't a refreshing breeze, but turns the heat into a blast furnace. And I'm sunburnt because I forgot to put on sunblock

<---this is not me angry, just on fire, which I feel like.

Good thing you live in the UP!! I lived up there for about 6 years and it wasn't warm enough for me, hehe

 

[Olive Hill]

Worms are great. You can even grow your own meal worms in a bin. Any kind of meat is good, too. We save organ meats even when we don't plan to eat them ourselves and feed them to the chickens -- example: liver; we're not big fans, but they are. Lard is a good treat, too. What I don't render for cooking, I throw to the chickens a little bit at a time.

If you're trying to create a pretty garden you could grow Amaranth for them. It's both ornamental and functional.

 

[babigyrl22]

Ahhhh I'm not home yet and my husband sent me a picture with a comment " new layer"

One of my FBCM laid an egg today :: cheers ::

 

[Juise]

Oh, Olive!

You crack me up. Ours free range, too, so maybe that's why I don't know, but I always hear other people talking about chickens announcing special finds or bringing over their best buddy to share it. I can't remember what any of those "special finds" were, though.

Lol on the lambs quarter.

I do have a bit growing around, and I always yank it and throw it at the chickens. They do seem to like it, I know it was a favourite treat of our bunnies when I was little.

Our chickens get under my feet more often even than the cats, they haven't tripped me on my face yet, so I still just think it's funny. Except for when they try to taste my toes. Ours don't go out in the road, thankfully, but we're a bit back from it and they have plenty of other space to expand in so maybe it's just not too tempting, or simply out of their natural "range".

They haven't touched our straw bales, and they keep their craters to the woods, where they are all over the place! It looks like the moon out there. Sometimes they make them under the big hosta leaves, but other than that they haven't dug up the lawn or any of my beds too much. And they lay all their eggs in the coop, even the stray ones that get laid late in the day. Your chickens are just inconsiderate!

You better have a talk with them.

Oh, they do also swarm the vehicles, holy cow. If I am not quick about strapping the kids in, I am chucking chickens over my shoulder out of the van every 2 seconds.

Anyway, they do get lots of veggies and things out of the garden, and lots of kitchen scraps, but that is fenced in and are things I give them. I was thinking maybe I would plant a patch for them to forage themselves. I wonder if chickens like catnip?

 

[Olive Hill]

LOL! Ours used to be REALLY GOOD about laying in the right spot and all the young ones are, but last summer we moved the coop (with the chickens in it, they LOVED that

) and a few of the older ones who went through that said NO THANK YOU! and not only do they not lay in there any more there are five or six who don't even sleep in there anymore. Tempermental old biddies anyway.

 

[1muttsfan]

Does anyone have plants they put in the garden just for their chickens? I saw a book on amazon http://www.amazon.com/Free-Range-Chicken-Gardens-Beautiful-Chicken-Friendly/dp/1604692375

All about giving them forage and relying less on bagged feed. We'll have .64 acres and I want it to be landscaped well enough to give them plenty of natural food (bugs, worms, seeds). There are tons of hawks here (I really love them so don't hate me. As soon as the kids are older I'm taking my apprenticeship exam for my own red tail.) and I usually spot their hunting grounds quickly.

I'm trying to get a good plan for a coop 3-7 chickens and a run for them while I am away from the house.

Sandhill Preservation sells a mix of seeds called brooder greens, I seed in my small pen with it each spring so that the young birds have something to nibble when they first go out.

Ahhhh I'm not home yet and my husband sent me a picture with a comment " new layer"
One of my FBCM laid an egg today :: cheers ::

Yay!

 

[taprock]

There's a fox hole in the side of a sandy hill half way up my driveway (1/4 long driveway). Last year it seemed abandoned, even my dogs took one sniff and ignored it. Drove to town this morning, DH pointed and said "see what the fox has been doing?" there is a huge mound of fresh sand out in front of that hole. Yeah, I think some predators may be prolific this year.

Send some guys out to pee on their den. I sent my son out last year and after about a week they decided to move on. We would rake the dirt everyday to check for tracks.

Quote:

Lol, we have that, too. What I was thinking was of planting something specifically of some of their favourite treats, like jerusalem artichokes,

do they like them?

 

[chickflick]

chickflick -- Could you shave her down in the summer? Would probably look funny, but might be more comfortable.

Dakota would look like a lamb. He has a really wooly undercoat. Groomers tell me that it's not "advisable" to shave him.

 

[uchytil]

I can not cut strait.
Not many people can!

I am woman enough to admit that.
Obviously not understood by most men - this statement that is.

I bought hinges that suck. However, I am smart enough to keep my receipts. Yeah me.
Smart girl.

I feel like I pulled a muscle half way between my bicep and tricep... I say half way, because where it is, I don't know if its considered the bi or the tri. But... ouch.
I think bone lies between tri and bi.

I did not set the fire after all. I should before it rains... It supposed to be cooler tomorrow, and no rain, so maybe I will get it done tomorrow. At this rate though, the ducks will never get their pond. LOL
Smart girl.

Someday, when I'm visiting my son in Holland, I'll have to see your Duck set-up. Maybe I can offer some skill sets.