Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[saysfaa]

Holy Progeny!!!

Only five kids and they are all close together but the oldest went to college full time her senior year of high school via the dual enrollment program. The youngest took a year off between his bachelor's degree and starting grad school to earn money but the second youngest took six years to graduate with his bacchelor's so he was still going full time while the youngest wasn't going. The year there were six of us, I went full time too.

Edit: no, that isn't right. The second youngest graduated the same year as the youngest. It was the second oldest who was going full time in that gap year. He took a year off between his sophomore and junior years to work and because he couldn't decide what to major in. Then took an extra year because his prereqs from frreshman and sophmore years didn't line up with what he ended up doing. And another semester off to recover from a car accident.

 

[Sally PB]

Thanks for the apple scrap vinegar info!

 

[RaZ]

Just had a thunderstorm, and some rain. Hope for more rain and less wind...
Love the tree frogs! We have so few this year, nearly no toads, and few other frogs, fewer turtles, and nearly no snakes. Not good at all!!!
Mary

With so many areas experiencing dry weather the numbers of insects have declined. In turn, the critters that feed upon insects have also declined. I have some nice native habitats for all types of flying, creeping, crawling, and hopping wildlife. I see a nice variety of bugs every day but not as many as years past.

 

[RaZ]

Hmmm. Haven't been getting notifications from BYC about activity on the thread. That has happened before. Must be a glitch. Anyway............

I'm way behind on gathering firewood for the winter. Haven't done the fall coop clean out yet. I do have all of the new bedding and floor covering materials for when I strip the coop and deep clean.

It looks like my chickens are starting to moult. Feathers are everywhere in the yard and egg output has dropped.

Hens are getting old and it might be time to think about getting some replacement chicks. I might have to check out TSC tomorrow and see what they have.

Where did the summer go? Sunday is the Labour Day car show and tractor pulls. I've been going for the past 5 years. Then the next 3 Saturdays are car shows here in the Thumb area. Always fun to attend but a reminder that winter is coming and time to put the car away.

 

[Dreamzchaser]

Well, moving along with the duck run. Just doors needed to be hardwareclothed,lol what a word!
Peeps are as big as Lil'Mama and definitely one is trying to crow shamelessly, lol they go everywhere.
Even my furniture, lol

Well, went from jlo to gandolf in a day,lol

 

[picklestheduck]

Figured I’d share it here, looking to rehome two silkie roosters out of the Saginaw Bay area, my thread for it is here.

Still have those roosters? How far are you willing to drive?

 

[Dreamzchaser]

Hi gorgeous people! Hope everyone is having a good labor day weekend. Me, laboring like any other day. Well, the hub is.
Duckies house is at its final touches. However, hub put a plastic rv cover on the floor to make it easier for me to clean. Well, he opened the house doors and for mice inside under the plastic. Got brave enough and with a piece of 2x4 smashed every rising part of it. Killed a mice with 2 babies. Chickens did not care for the mouse but peeps galloped the 2 babies. So, cover came out. There is no food at all in all this area, so kind of confused unless it was for birthing babys.
Will get some oil base paint for the floor to protect the wood panels a bit. It is all we can do for now. Hopefully the quackies will sleep inside house tonight. Just need ramps on both side of entrance and one to the house. So far quackies have not been inside the run but the chickens think it is theirs,lol

Still need to figure out where and how do their food and water in the run. Would prefer it to be outside so the sun dries it up faster.
Any ideas not too expensive will appreciate.

 

[Sarahmacc1]

Do any of you feed fermented feed? With rising costs I’m thinking of starting to with the hopes of saving a bit of $$$ in exchange for time. Plus seems to be best for the chickens health.

Looking for suggestions on what to feed it in? I got 4 1/2 gallon glass jars for it to ferment but need to get something safe to serve it in. Heard a few stories of chickens dying under bowls so guessing I need to be careful?

 

[1muttsfan]

Fermented feed is not necessarily better, nor more cost effective. There are significant possible downsides, and cost effectiveness depends on how well you manage the fermentation. It has to be done right, or it gets sour or moldy. It also is a lot of work, and harder to manage in freezing temperatures. And fermented food has the most benefit and least downside when fed up to 30% of their diet, and not more.

Keeping equipment scrupulously clean and using only high quality ingredients improves the outcome.

https://cluckin.net/fermented-chicken-feed-should-you-and-is-it-worth-it.html#mcetoc_1eos850tl4

 

[Dreamzchaser]

@1muttsfan that is so on point. Too much work for barely any savings. I free range my babies as much as I possibly can with my supervision and a shot gun nearby. So far I have 13 birds and 12 duckies. I buy Kalmbach dual purpose feed and go through a 50lbs pound bag in 10 days. I think is ok due to some waste on floors but they also get it from the floor.


The moment we have been waiting for:


Finally after almost two months, the quackies are in their own house, no chickens to mess with them. Tonight will be their first night there. All secure but still have a few things to do here and there. Tomorrow will set up cameras. Hope the blinks work out there. Put some solar lights on the outside on one side and the one in the garden, turned it towards the run. They should be OK. Will see Tomorrow. Also Tomorrow will install the automatic door. They just have to get used to it. Left them in for a few hours while gone to HD to get the paint for their floor and came home, let them out and when I tried to get them in, they went into their own run and fussed a bit towards the house. Like I said, still a few things left to do and some will depend on their needs to make it easier on them.

However, it has been quite the day. The pre-fabricated coop [$499] that I thought of using it as a henspital and used it temporarily as a tool holder, has finally collapsed completely,lol
The worse was that while moving the shot gun, hub grabbed it in the wrong place and slipped from his hand,releasing the manual lock,and falling and shooting a hole in the wall. I told him to make sure to sign under it,lol He was so mad and I am not. It was a stupid accident and the blessing that it fell towards the wall and not him was more important and not have to spend labor day night at the ER. Material things are just that, material. We thought of redoing the walls inside, so we can start in the guestroom. The bad part is that the lamp also shattered. Glass everywhere, so he will have to sleep in my bed until I get all cleaned out tomorrow. Hope he doesn't snore a lot tonight,lol I know that seems like I think it was funny and it was not. However, I refuse to let this ruin my peace and raise my blood pressure. Besides, I know that God is in control


Well,that is it for labor day weekend. I treated him to dinner at OG.