Michigan

[RaZ]

Every now and again, people will come through and encourage you to fight the good fight.
Some folks have done that for me in the past few days.
I am truly grateful for the support that they have shown me.

You know who you are and I am happy and honoured to call you friend.
Thank you.

 

[Opa]

The sun is still east of the horizon and we have about 45 minute to wait before it makes its appearance. When it does it not going to take long to go from warm to warmer. I'm going to spend a few moments giving thanks to Willi Haviland Carrier. With temperatures once again approaching the 100 degree mark I sure am thankful for his invention. Another portion of my time will be spent reminding myself that by January we will be wishing for a little of this heat.

This unusual weather sure play havoc with everything. Lake water levels are down and the water temperatures are making the fish culethargic. We went fishing Friday evening and again of Saturday and while finding fish wasn't difficult getting them to bite was. On Saturday we even trapped some small minnows thinking that using the local bait fish might do the trick. Wrong.

One day before long I want to go with David to the lower reaches of the Huron River. I want to survey the river using my GPS to mark the locations of the holes and runs while the water levels are down making their discovery easier. Once water levels return to normal they will be more difficult to find and having a GPS map will allow me to reposition the boat before getting on top of them. While I travel from spot to spot with the boat's bow headed downstream it must be pointing upstream in advance of the run. The lures are worked slowly thru the holes in an attempt to trigger a strike. Prior knowledge will make this process much easier.

 

[RaZ]

I'll check with my GIS friends from school to see if they have a bathymetric map of the Huron River.

 

[RaZ]

http://now.msn.com/man-yodels-at-chickens

 

[snowflake]

A lot of ways sad yes but a lot of other ways it is for the best. Although I love her like she is my own she was an abuser of my 2 grandsons from my sons first marriage. They have had them since they were little and the biological mom has nothing to do with them, my DIL was so mean to them. Everyday she would tell them she hates them and that they shouldn't have been born. I talked to her on several occasions about this but apparently it did no good. It's just a tough situation is all. I wish they could work things out and make things right is all.

Make sure, if at all possible, get them to A GOOD counselor, They need to know it is not their fault, kids tend to blame them selves ,,think if they had been better their "mom's" wouldn't hate them.....counseling helped m grand daughter see how controlling and verbally abusive her Father was. he gave her tools to use so it didn't ruin her life, Grandson would not go, he is now 24, took him 2yrs living with us after he turned 18 to start relaxing but I think he still carries around a lot of anger

 

[snowflake]

Happy Birthday!!

 

[mrshaggie810]

Boy! You guys weren't kidding! You do keep it hoppin in here! Duckies are doing well, pallets are all almost broken down, but we are picking up more today, so I get to start construction today...that's if I can decide on my plans. LOL! I'm glad they are in the house with as hot as it's been...hoping they will be ok outside next week though because I will be camping and I don't think hubby will be wanting to clean out the brooder they are in right now. How old should they be before I put them outside? And I have never had any poultry/fowl/whatever in my entire life...they sound almost like little yippy dogs...and sometimes songbirds when they "cheep" it's super cute, but is that weird for a duckling? lol!

if SS= Speckled Sussex then no it's not. Speckled sussex have white on thier chest/face and then as they molt out thier baby fluff into thier adult feathers they lose the white chest/face and get the speckles. I agree with Robin on the breed.

ehhhhhh....I don't care for little goats (but yes, they are cute!) lol I did have a mini angora once and she was a real sweety. I don't do little dogs either, had one once and hated it, its the only dog I've ever gotten rid of and not kept until it died of old age.

We don't do little dog's either! lol! We have our second Great Dane (Brutus) and he is our furbaby...our first brindle boy died of heart failure...I am pretty sure they lied about his age when we adopted him, which makes me really upset because I still would have adopted him, but it was such a shock to have a loveable, seemingly healthy boy who was only supposed to be 4 and then the next day have to rush him to doggy ER because he couldn't stand on his home. Part of me still wishes we would have got pain meds and just brought him home with us to pass on his own...saying good bye to him, and seeing the look in his eyes still makes me ball just to think of it. He was in so much pain though, and they said even with a week hospital stay with the specialist at MSU and the $1000+ or more surgery and meds that he would need he *might* get another 6 months...and even that wouldn't have been a good 6 months, and that he might not even make it through the week if the meds didn't do their job. But, anyways...we love our big black boy that we have now. He is the best dog I've ever had....only down side to Dane's is their life expectancy.

this is one of my young Speckled Sussex cockerels. He'll lose most of the white on the front in the next month and get more speckling through his body. BTW....I have 5 of these I need to find homes for. Nice heavy young birds...yum yum in a month or so lol.

Where are you located? You are SOO tempting me! i need to get my coop done first though! lol!

I like my house cows

speaking of which he's snoring at my feet. I need to go steal the sheep sheers from the guy down the road so he can have a haircut.

I like my house cows (or as we call them, horses) too! lol! See my top reply!

Hey...I just watched this new show tonight and it's about the hard working barge men of the Great Lakes! I love seeing one of these shows about guys from Michigan!

We're huge fans of Ice Road Truckers. Those guys are insane, but so are these guys! I highly recommend it!!

http://www.history.com/shows/great-lake-warriors

sounds awesome! Hubby and I will have to check it out!

I'm probably too far from you (in Richmond, about a half hour south of Port Huron), but I've got just what you're looking for: Muskovy ducklings about 2 weeks old and I have lots of guinea keets (pearls AND lavendar) that range from a week old to about 2 1/2 months old.

I wonder if you are very far from me...tell me a little about guinea's. I've read a little about them in my chicken research but there are only so many hours in the day for reading! lol!

What a Great morning. I wish that we'd known earlier that Hope didn't have to babysit today as I would have gone fishing. I think we will go later this evening.

Got Granny up early yesterday and took her for a MRI. After sitting there for 1 1/2 hours they informed us that the couldn't get the machine to boot up so we had to reschedule for next Thursday. Her condition isn't critical so all the delay will mean is a couple of week delay in starting the treatment of the nerves causing the pain in her arm and shoulder.

David and I were looking at my garden last night and he is wondering how I am going to be able to pick my tomatoes. I placed the plants in rows over 4' apart but they have grown so much that there is no longer any spacing. All of them are over 4' tall but the amazing thing is how wide they have gotten. One plant is over 10' wide and I'm using 5 tomato cages to support it.

Any tips for geting my garden to produce better? This is my first decent garden, (had two crappy ones at my old house) and I have a lot of baby tomatoes, but the tallest plant is only about 3.5' high...I got a few beans, but production has slowed WAY down...we just got a decent amount of rain, but it almost seems to have beat up my plants rather than help them. :/ I am hoping to fertilize soon...been super busy...have weeding to finish too...and my broccoli was fine, but now it is getting the leaves all eaten up...any idea what could be doing it (bug) and what I can do about it? Sorry for all the questions...I have a black thumb it seems and I have been working my butt off so I really want it to be somewhat successful and actually supplement our food like I was hoping. Thanks!

Well after a brief BYC search it appears a hair cut is in order for Polo. Really never thought I'd be trimming a chicken in this way.

That's hilarious...my first day here I read a thread about duck penises (peni? lol) I never saw that one coming!

The whole garden situation has been strange this year. The cherry tomato that I have in a pot is about 2 feet tall and I just plucked 2 ripe ones that were very sweet. The full size plants that I have in the ground are less that 18 inches tall and don't have any blossoms.
The peas, squash and egg plant are just starting to look like they have life in them. Still, they are way small for this time of year. All of my melons look like seedlings still.

I bought some sweet corn and cantaloupe at Birch Run yesterday and it was all delicious.

My plants are growing ok, but they aren't growing much, even though I had a lots of blossoms and plenty of bees...maybe I'm just impatient though.

Oh and Raz...in regards to the "are chickens pets" question. These pictures say it all. Feel free to print it out if you need to. My middle son...he is almost 11 and this is his chicken Cuddles.

Adorable! I hope my kids are like this with our birdies!

The ordinance officer was just here again.
Today's complaints were;
1) Tall flowers out front that need to be cut down;
2) Garage needs to be power-washed and painted or sided;
3) Firewood needs to be 18 inches off the ground;
4) Porch needs to be rebuilt because it is missing several bricks. Bricks that the neighbors took and did not pay for. Bricks that caused me to file a law suit against them for theft.

Then the other neighbor came out to itch and got upset because I pointed out the violations in his yard.
Funny thing is that nothing was mentioned about chickens.

It's going to be a long hot summer here folks. Stay tuned to the comedy antics here in Garden City.
"Garden" "City", is that an oxymoron?

The upside is that I didn't get another ticket, but I have until next Friday to comply or face the consequences.

Power-washing might be a problem since there is a water ban in effect for the entire city. How does one wash a garage and not use water? Am I being obtuse here?

That is BS! I just freecycled a window from a very sweet woman not too far from me who lives in Mayfield Township...she was planning to use it on her own chicken tractor until she found out it is agains the township ordinance for her to have chickens....even though she has 13 ACRES!!!!!! If she want's them she has to pay $700 to get re-zoned.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/179455/splayed-leg-in-turkey-poult-12-weeks-old
http://www.poultryhelp.com/spraddle.html
Could be a tendon...

Poor baby!

Nova - I keep Frontline on my dogs April through December and never have flea problems.

Ditto

Olive eggers lay green eggs (a mix between a blue egg layer and a brown egg layer). We could save up a dozen for you if you would like. We have about 3 hens that lay green eggs.

Would someone PLEASE tell me what the difference between EE, OE, Auracauna's, and Ameracauna's is? They aren't the same with just easier to pronounce names? lol I am still super green to all this.

Taking break from watering. Catching up on posts. Lordly you people need to go outside and play!! Dang it has taking me 4 days to catch up!

Agreed! And maybe I need to water my garden more...so worried about overwatering it though like i have in the past. :/

Just for poos and giggles!
Nugget and Noodle
They are getting soooo big! Almost as big as the SGs!
They are sleeping in the garage tonight.

6 chickens on a roost... sounds like the beginning to a bad joke!
Marsala, Cajun, Pattie's rear, Quesadilla
Is Quesadilla a roo?

Angry Marsala face... she was NOT ready for her close up!

Cajun... Handsome roo but a jerk sometimes.
I think he will taste wonderful!

Quesadilla

Teriyaki in the nesting box

Hunan and Parmesana
Are Teriyaki and Parmesana roos?
The world may never know...
Saw one crow... I think it was Teriyaki. It is really hard to tell them apart unless you are close.

Hunan. Look at that handsome BLUE ear! Love this roo!

Pattie... She is, well... lets say special...

Not a thought in her pretty little head.

It is time for another episode of Showgirl Corner

Are you guys SURE you don't need a BLACK SHOWGIRL ROO W/ BOWTIE... Very sweet! Very handsome!!!

Oh My! This is the first I have ever seen or heard of showgirl chickens! I LOVE the white one's!

they have japanese beetle traps at menards,lowes maybe meijers I found one at my grocers.

Don't buy one! Make one! Sooo easy and cheap! Look on Pinterest! (But be forwarned you will be their your ENTIRE day if you've never been there before!) Follow me if you go, and if they are still requiring an invite to join, I'll send you one, just ask (I don't think they are though.)

Ok, now that I'm caught up I am going to do my bible reading, have more coffee, clean out the ducky brooder and let them play in the tub and have a treat and then work in the garden and on duck house plans a little more!

My ducks are a Rouen/Runner cross...please tell me all hope isn't lost on them being somewhat friendly. I was never a bird person growing up, but I have always wanted them as an adult, and I am trying to socialize them and not show them my fear of being bit, even though the one time I was it didn't hurt at all so I don't know why I am being a baby...anyways...any tips or tricks? Any other duck people that have good advice?
Thanks so much! And I'm off....

 

[uchytil]

Hey all. Been busier than a bee the last few weeks. Must say this is a great year for the garden, corn crop, and berries! The blackberries are so abundant I can't keep up with picking. Ramping up for the upcoming salmon runs too. Kings will be starting in August but the best, IMO, Coho will be alter when the weather cools down. Ok, way off course here -

I have 4 RIR roos left, 3 1/2 months old. If anyone wants some fryers they are yours. PM only because I'm probably only checking the board every few days and I can't read backwards

Been pretty quiet in here, eh? I hope Mom has her ears on - How's Clover?

See ya, John

 

[snowflake]

Right! A fox in my hen house.
Like I don't have enough vermin in the neighborhood.

Just thought of something else. When we had fleas in the house we would put a small light, like a desk lamp or one of those push on push off circle lights by the bed or couch (or in as many places as we could) and put a 13 x 9 pan or bowl with water in and a couple of drops of dish soap next to the light. The fleas are attracted to the light during the night and drown as they sink from no surface tension on the water because of the dish soap. It is amazing how many you will catch! Hope this helps.

lot of good advice ! love the things you can learn here,,,

any one having problems with pool turning green? filter is working,, shocked, think I will try vinager

I'm in W. Michigan

Welcome toa laa the new guys and gals, seem to have missed a few, Fancy too

I got my first egg today

from my 18 week old production red that DH named "Red" lol. It's 52 grams, beautiful for a first egg.



Congrats on the pretty egg

Someone tell me if this bahavior is normal; I went to check on the chickens this afternoon and found Red in the nest box and our cockerel the same age was also bedded down in the next box over. He was clucking to her, then he'd get up walk in front of her, then go in the box on the far side of her and get comfy. He stayed in there with her the whole time, getting up and "checking" on her every few minutes. At one point he stood in front of her box for 5 minutes. She is his favorite pullet but I thought this was pretty odd, is it?

Welcome asans!!!

 

[BackyardFarmMom]

Boy! You guys weren't kidding! You do keep it hoppin in here! Duckies are doing well, pallets are all almost broken down, but we are picking up more today, so I get to start construction today...that's if I can decide on my plans. LOL! We don't do little dog's either! lol! We have our second Great Dane (Brutus) and he is our furbaby... But, anyways...we love our big black boy that we have now. He is the best dog I've ever had....only down side to Dane's is their life expectancy.
I like my house cows (or as we call them, horses) too! lol! See my top reply!

Would someone PLEASE tell me what the difference between EE, OE, Auracauna's, and Ameracauna's is? They aren't the same with just easier to pronounce names? lol I am still super green to all this.

I have a dane/dobe mix... he is my baby. My son (3) has asked on several occasions if he can ride him!

If I had not seen and read about Turkens before, I would have thought naked necks of any kind were abused!

I was surprised how warm/hot their naked skin is!

EE- easter egger... lays pink, blue, blue/green eggs
OE- olive egger... lays green egg (mix between a brown layer and blue)

FROM BYC BREEDS

Easter Eggers

The Easter Egger is not really a breed. They are relationed to the breeds Ameraucanas and Araucanas, then bred with many different breeds so they no longer fit either breed's standards. They usually have muffs & pea combs, but come in nearly every variety and color, some even have ear tufts or are rumpless. Each EE is different, but overall they are usually a smaller bird that lays pink, green, or blue eggs. They are normally friendly and calm, and their colorful eggs make them a popular choice in backyard flocks.

Ameraucana

The Ameraucana was developed in the 70's by a few people who were trying to standardize the Araucana breed. The Ameraucana is easier to breed as there are no complications due to lethal genes. A very detailed history of the Ameraucana can be read at the Ameraucana Breeders Club website. Besides the above color requirements the following are some of the traits Ameraucanas should possess:

{eyes - bay (reddish brown)}
{shanks & feet - slate (blue grey) black accepted on black birds, bottoms of feet white}
{ear lobes - red, pale on females (no white)}
{comb - pea}
{wattles - very small, absent}
{skin - white}
{toes - four}
{muffs & beard - forming three separate lobes, absence is a DQ}
{egg color - blue, minty green}
{cock weight - 6.5 lbs/cockerel - 5.5 lbs}
{hen weight - 5.5 lbs/pullet - 4.5 lbs}
{full breast, medium back, and tail carried at 45 degrees above horizontal}
{the bird must breed true to color}

Araucana

Araucana is a very rare breed with much controversy and numerous challenges. Hatcheries add to these challenges by misrepresenting their mongrel Easter Eggers as Araucana and Ameraucana chickens. Araucana and Ameraucana chickens are breeds, which are recognized by the American Poultry Association (APA). Easter Eggers are not a recognized breed because they are a cross of different breeds to produce various plumage colors and eggshell colors. Easter eggers are a novelty for backyard folks who enjoy pretty chickens that lay various colored eggs. Enthusiasts typically breed Araucana and Ameraucana to a standard of perfection to preserve their historical value.

The origin of the Araucana is still up for debate, however many believe they came to America from South America, sometime during the 1920’s or 1930’s. The primary reason for breeding Araucana was because of their ability to lay blue eggs. They are often considered dual-purpose fowl and make good table fare. For a smaller standard size breed, hens typically lay nice medium sized eggs.

The Araucana have two distinguishing characteristics that set them apart from the other breeds. They are rumpless (have no tail and the complete absence of a tail bone) and they have tufts (often called “earrings”), which grow from a protuberance (or fingerlike appendage)called a peduncle around the ear lobes or neck area. Tufts can be bilateral, unilateral and even trilateral.

The tufted trait is a lethal gene on Araucana, which makes it difficult to breed. Two copies of the tuft gene are fatal and results in chicks dead in the shell, typically around days 18-21 in incubation. Even a single copy has been known to reduce hatchability, making this breed very difficult to propagate.

The rumpless trait has produced challenges for breeders as well. This includes backs that get very short, from excessive rumpless to rumpless breeding, which results in future generations being unable to breed naturally. Rumplessness does not occur consistently in breeding Araucana, which results in chicks hatching with partial tails and even full tails. This can make for a lot of culling and very few selections to choose from for the show ring.

Good luck building your coop... remember... Its just for chickens (They don't care if you make it a little crooked

- I had to keep telling myself that)