Michigan

[Elliemae 77]

Ok, thank-you Olive, and Silly.

 

[NovaAman]

My A Frame is 15 square. Would have been 16, but I have a square foot cut for the ramp to go in. I wish I could work on it today.. Well if wishes were money... Then it would only rain between the hours of 12 am and 3 am. OR between 6 am and 8 am.... of course that would leave a crap commute in the morning... BUT it wouldn't rain on me while I work. HA. I have no idea how this makes any sense, but it is raining, so, senselessness is called for in order to mildly amuse myself. Yup. WELL ANYWAY back to the A-Frame... SO, I am putting 10 chickens in there... ONLY because 8 of those chickens are chicks, and by the end of the summer, 4 of them will be moved out and it will only be 6 silkies in there. I have enough wood that I could enclose the bottom of the A-Frame, under neath that is, to have it serve as more coop space if necessary... BUT I am hoping that it'll be spring before any of the other silkies hit broody maturity. BUT if not...

Roger was crowing up a storm today in the coop with Leila. Any time any of the other outsiders come near his little run with his little lady and their little chicks, he'd flare up and give a little charge at the wire and the offending chicken. LOL. It was very quiet in the garage this morning though with out him in there being a loud mouth at 6 am.

Its a cabbage roll and garlic bread night. Oh yummy.

Juise, glad your girls had a good time on the horses. Did you get some pics?

 

[taprock]

I sat and watched chickens this morning. I wanted to take in a fecal sample. Of course no one would poop with me waiting there! It took forever! Anyway I need help interpreting results. My vet is not an avian - knows nothing about birds but is willing to test for me. So she said the sample was negative for cocci but she found 4 Capillaria. She said that is a small enough number to do nothing, but then told me "I don't know birds so you may know better. " Anyone? I don't know what a Capillaria is even or if I should treat it or how.

The chick I took out of the shell this morning is doing great, no deformities. After he was dry I put him in with the other chicks. They are now 3 days old so they did peck at him a bit, not mean but more curious. I'll have to do pictures later.

This afternoon I caught my dog with an egg. He must have taken it out of the egg basket which was on the floor. He had cracked it and was licking it. I also found egg shell all over in the kitchen but no yolk or white so I'm not sure if he got another and just cleaned up after himself or what.

 

[NovaAman]

Well, at least he was cleaning the mess he made so you wouldn't have too... LOL

I think that is what the girl found who checked my Leila.

 

[Ferrret]

BF's oldest niece apparently wants chickens, so she can train them to walk on a leash and walk them around the neighborhood.

I almost encouraged it, almost commented that maybe we could build a little coop and help fence off a part of their yard, but I stopped myself. I don't know how committed she is to having chickens, so I'll stay quiet for now. If she does show more interest and wants to know more, I'll gladly help her out.

His sister has a neighbor off the back of their property who has chickens, turkeys, cows and even goats I think, so the noise will be nothing new. They have plenty of yard so a section could be devoted to semi- free ranging chickens, and she has a good work ethic so I know they birds will get cared for. They've all been over to see my chickens and they've played with them a bit, I didn't think any of the kids would want to have their own chickens though.

Who knows, perhaps over the summer there will be a new chicken owner in town.

I've joked about bringing a chicken (on a leash) to the family reunion, since a few of his cousins bring their small dogs. Knowing that others brings their dogs is what stops me, it's cute to joke about, but I don't want to risk an accident or stress the chicken out.

 

[Olive Hill]

Taprock - If I'm not mistaken those would commonly be known as roundworms, in which case you can treat with Wazine if you're uncomfortable with the current load.

 

[keyt1969]

For sale is a nice 4x4x4 chicken coop just finished. It's a walk-in for cleaning purposes or egg collecting (because most of our chickens don't lay eggs in laying boxes lol), but also has doors on the back of the laying boxes that open. It's sturdy which is not something you can say about coops you buy in farm stores. The roof is covered with metal for sturdiness. Asking $275. We are located 20 miles south of Lansing in Eaton Rapids. Call 517-663-8035 for information or to view.






6 laying boxes





Both sides open

 

[Stacykins]

TICKS ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! I wish I could use frontline or bronco spray on MYSELF and be done with ticks! The chickens have made absolutely no dent in the ticks this year (they did a great job last year). When I come in from being outside I always find a few ticks on me (none attached yet, thank goodness). Each creepy crawly feeling makes me have to check, and it seems more often than not, it is a tick!

The dogs and cat (indoor, but dragged in ticks may feast on her too) have been protected, and the goats too. But I can't use what I use on them!

 

[Olive Hill]

Stacykins, have you tried DEO Lotion? We don't have a big issue with ticks here, but it works just as well (I think better) than Bronco on everything else with the horses and dogs and is all natural so you can spray it on yourself.

ETA: I've never found it locally but you can buy it from most online tack retailers -- like SmartPak.

 

[chicken grandma]

Keyt -- is there ventilation in the coop?