Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[saysfaa]

Remember the swans on the little lake to the south of Pierce Road at CL? We used to see them every time we went through. Then we moved and didn't go through there for years. I hope they are still there but haven't seen them lately.

 

[Chickin Fairy]

Remember the swans on the little lake to the south of Pierce Road at CL? We used to see them every time we went through. Then we moved and didn't go through there for years. I hope they are still there but haven't seen them lately.

They are still there! They go someplace else during the winter, but usually pop up again in the spring.

 

[fuzzi]

How are you all doing?

https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/power-out-continues-damage-michigan-ice-storm/

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

I'm on the other side of the state but we lost power last night. I took some heat packs out to put in the brooder with the chicks. An hour later we went out and put the chicks in a cat carrier and brought them to the house. We put them in the bathtub downstairs and closed the door so the dogs and cats wouldn't bother them. The wood stove is downstairs so it was plenty warm for the time being. Hubby said as we were bringing them to the house that once we get them in , the power would be back on. I said no, it'll probably come one once we get settled back in bed. We got in bed and comfy, then the power came back on.
I hope everyone else is doing ok.

 

[1muttsfan]

Still in cleanup mode, but everything is up and running in town. The National Guard has been helping the city clean up downed limbs and trees, thanks forever for that! I'm waiting until the snow melts before I get in behind the house and clean up the downed trees, but thanks to the tractor the driveway is clear.

Mackinac Island is a big mess. They don't have wide shoulders on their roads, and there are many miles of trails that wind through the State Park land through the woods. Lots and lots to be done there.

Still, we are better off than the counties to our south, they have trees and power poles down.

 

[Sammster]

Woke to snow, this morning. It's gone, but very cold, still. I'm so ready for warm days. I've got my Gertie inside in my downstairs tub. This will be her 4th night. She's suffering from sour crop, again. She had it in September. Im wondering why its back. This bout is harder for her. But I am seeing a bit of improvement. Last time around, she remained with the flock during treatment.

 

[Chickin Fairy]

I was amazed at how many trees were down Gaylord-north last weekend. We saw lots of crews along the highway (127) gathering fallen tree-tops and chipping them into the woods. Most of the rest areas were closed, but we stopped at one and I got this picture of the damage. Barely any traffic last Saturday.

I'm in SWMI, so other than the massive wind storms/tornados, we didn't have any real weather. But I'm with @Sammster, I woke up to snow yesterday and then frost this morning and UGH, I'm over it. Next week we'll be in the 60's.

I hope everyone is doing alright that has lost power. @Hillbilly Hen I hope you got a recording of your husband saying "you were right"

 

[Chickin Fairy]

Long, rambling post ahead...

Just an update on the new birds. They are wild. I'm treating Scaley Leg by soaking them in an Epsom bath for 10 minutes and then vegetable oil for 10 minutes. Everything told me that the time to catch wild-ish birds was when they were relaxed on the roost. So, I bought a headlamp, prepped all my stuff in my work area last night about 8 pm and waited for dark.

I headed to the coop for my first vict- I mean bird around 9:30. It was Natasha. I discovered quickly that she was appropriately named. We originally had named her after Black Widow from the MCU, but depending on your generation, she could also be the wife of Borris from the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. She was calm, I put her legs in the nice, warm, calming bath and then... How dare I?! I offered her a mealworm treat. I guess that was the last straw, she had about 2 minutes of soaking left and she lost her ever-loving mind. She dumped my tub of oil and splashed around everywhere, completely soaking me and her and everything else on my prep-station. So, she got a little extra treatment: blow drying. Loved it. She'll definitely be back of her own free will.

Next up was Loki, a beautiful rooster. He was quite the gentleman compared to Natasha's outburst. He didn't try to bite me at all and we were in and out without incident.

Then, Clint. He tried to do the flailing thing in the tub but I managed to pull him out before he could get too soaked. He bit up my hand pretty good, but that's okay. I DID interrupt their sleep time and I would be perturbed, too. He really did not like the Vaseline I smeared all over his comb, but I had to do it. The whole time I'm talking to him in this super calm tone, playing spa music on my phone and he's just GRUMPY.

Finally, Domino. She is lowest on the pecking order between the four and has some massive damage to her head from pecking. I sprayed the wound out with Vermctyn and put Vaseline on her comb as well. She was actually kinda sweet, though. She kept looking right at me (maybe to memorize the face of her torturer) but also was looking around the room and different things on the shelves. She was the best behaved of the bunch. Barely any flapping.

Did I mention the squawking? Lord, every time I pulled a new bird from the coop, they just cried so loud. Not even a towel over their head stopped them. I'm waiting for a neighbor to text me and ask if everything's okay. We live in the country, but it was late and boy, it was LOUD.

So, I have to keep doing this treatment for 2 weeks at least. I'm just taking the net out there to catch them during the day. All told, I was out cleaning up (Natasha's mess) until 1:00 am. I'm so tired this morning.

Oh, and I managed to get one picture of Loki's comb. The scabs are likely from pecking order, but could be favus. The comb looks dry and slightly ashier than I think it should be. I have a call-in to Barn Sanctuary who may be able to take 3 of the 4 birds, which would greatly reduce everyone's stress level. I do want to keep Loki. I wanted a rooster who wouldn't try to kill me and he is just the prettiest boy. I know that with the others gone, he'll take up the main rooster role and may turn to biting, but that I can handle. Neither of these roosters have spurs. Does anyone know, do they grow spurs when they take on the alpha role or do some roosters just never get spurs? It's hard to tell by their legs if someone de-spurred them, but I sure hope not.

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

Woke to snow, this morning. It's gone, but very cold, still. I'm so ready for warm days. I've got my Gertie inside in my downstairs tub. This will be her 4th night. She's suffering from sour crop, again. She had it in September. Im wondering why its back. This bout is harder for her. But I am seeing a bit of improvement. Last time around, she remained with the flock during treatment.

I was amazed at how many trees were down Gaylord-north last weekend. We saw lots of crews along the highway (127) gathering fallen tree-tops and chipping them into the woods. Most of the rest areas were closed, but we stopped at one and I got this picture of the damage. Barely any traffic last Saturday.

I'm in SWMI, so other than the massive wind storms/tornados, we didn't have any real weather. But I'm with @Sammster, I woke up to snow yesterday and then frost this morning and UGH, I'm over it. Next week we'll be in the 60's.

I hope everyone is doing alright that has lost power. @Hillbilly Hen I hope you got a recording of your husband saying "you were right"

Lol, he never said I was right, it's not part of his vocabulary We just both burst out laughing.
And thank you for going to all the effort to care for those birds. They got lucky

 

[Sammster]

My Gertie is gone. She was the matriarch of the flock. Top hen, but never aggressive. A very good girl. ♡ I didn't think she was going to pull through, to be honest. But my heart couldn't cull her. I hope she felt loved in her final days. I did what I could to pamper her.