Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Opa]

One of the most joyous sounds I know of is the sound of my children laughing, and that laughter made this weekend truly glorious. One Saturday my oldest son Joe, who lives in southwest Missouri, was giving a presentation in Shipsiwana, IN. He flew into Detroit on Friday, spent the night with us, gave his speech yesterday, spent last night here, and left about 1230pm to fly home. Last night my second son David, and his wife Amy, joined us for supper and came this morning for breakfast. My sons reminiscing and laughter as we sat around the table made my heart feel gladder than it has in a long time. The only thing that would have made the weekend brighter would have been if my third son could have been with us.

 

[tntchix]

nothing better than laughter, nothing.

 

[taprock]

Ok. I apologize for bringing up the weather forecast. And, I forgot...last year we settled on "powdered sugar".

Last year I was very much in denial about it. I will be booed, but the last week I have been saying that I wish it would just snow once and get it over with. Not to stay! My allergies have been horrible with the rain/mold this fall. Nothing has been dry in the past month even on the couple sunny days. I go outside for 10 minutes and my nose/throat starts. The two nights of below 30 degrees has helped but I want the mold to die. However!!! I am only halfway to having the critters ready for winter. We still have our two turkey's around that need to be butchered. DH wouldn't let me take them he said we would do it, but hasn't really shown any motivation at this point to get it done. The perfect time for the first snowfall, in my opinion, is opening day next month.

Right now the thunder is rumbling and yet more rain is on the way.

 

[ladyrsanti]

We just processed our two large turkeys late last night. Both female, both over 22 lbs. They're still on ice at the moment but I want to cut them up quick before freezing - this morning. There's no way we could eat a whole roast bird of this size. I probably should have asked this before we slaughtered but better late than never, right? So what do you guys do when cutting up a bird for freezing? How do you package the pieces? Does a foodsaver work for bone-in cuts? Do you grind some? Which parts?

Next year I'd like to get some heritage breeds. Like I learned with the cornish cross, we simply don't need that much meat all at once and I don't know about the broad breasted turkey breeds but the CX were not as tasty as our cockerels. I'd rather have a smaller bird anyhow. But I did really like the turkeys and already miss them coming to yip at me in the morning. They were thoroughly enjoyable, never chased, never nipped, curious, followed me everywhere and very friendly birds. HUGE, but friendly.

 

[preciouskitty]

@ladyrsanti
Don't know about packaging turkey pieces but I packaged our chicken pieces, bone in, with my FoodSaver. Sealed great, no holes...

@taprock
Speaking of Opening day....DH got a doe last night,,.so the current score is: DH 3; PK 0 ....

 

[Zvacman]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/content/type/61/id/6613852/width/350/height/700[.

Is this a Leghorn? I had a Leghorn rooster that had to go to freezer camp, but he was easily 3 times the size of this girl. I know roosters are bigger but I didn't think triple. This girl is an egg laying machine, one everyday like clockwork. She has only taken one day off since she started laying. Sorry for the picture quality, she doesn't like to stand still for long.

 

[Zvacman]

 

[Brennigan]

Hi, everyone! Wedding season is winding down, so I'm excited to have my Saturdays back...and my free time to keep checking in on here! If you remember, husband and I got our first chickens this past February: three hens -- wyandotte, buff orp, and welsummer. They free-range a bit and have a nice 100 square foot pen to roam around in too. We live on the lake (West Side), but have had some nice weather recently.

Shut the girls in the coop last night, and they were all nestled and fine. This morning at 8AM (a little after light), I let the girls out and only the buff and welsummer came out right away. Our wyandotte stayed in by the door. Four hours later when I went to give them treats, the wyandotte was under our coop, face-down, and dead (from the rigamortis, I would say she's been dead long enough to get stiff!). SO WEIRD.

Husband buried her, I cleaned the coop (all the shavings taken out, the base and roost cleaned with white vinegar and water) and the food/water dishes emptied. I'm worried the other girls might die too.

I wanted to check for any sign of outward attack, but saw none. Checked around her bum and found this yellow discharge, but coming from around feathers. Didn't know if it was bodily fluid being expelled or something that might suggest death?



She was my biggest layer, and I just wanted to check with any seasoned chicken owners that I'm taking the right protocols. Also, how far back do I go with throwing eggs away? And do the other chickens notice? We only have the two now, and the welsummer won't be quiet! It was her nighttime snuggle buddy. And how soon after can I add more chickens? I don't want the two getting lonely...

Thank you in advance!

 

[tntchix]

I really don't want to take these two to freezer camp. They are turning out to be really good boys; but 3 boys & only 14 girls just isn't working out. Some of the poor girls are really getting beat up; & it's not all from molting

They were hatched by Maia on Mother's Day & are both BCM (mama) x EE....both are really pretty...and free to a good home....

Red

Travis

Good news for @preciouskitty ! I took both of them today and they are settling in nicely in their huge 2xl dog crate in the pole barnduring their quarantine period.

They are crowing like crazy and the girls can hear them;
they just haven't seen them. The dog is keeping them company, sitting next to cage. They are actually communicating, which my dog rarely does. Usually just barks and walks away. LOL

They are such good looking boys, thanks Kat for the wonderful opportunity to add them to our flock.

 

[Peep-Chicken]

Are the earlobe a white? He seems like a leghorn