Surviving Minnesota!

[holm25]

Ralph that is tough. Mink amd fisher kind of leap when walking so you would have tracks like this. I downloaded the pics off the internet.

Do u have ponds or streams near you??

 

[KlopKlop]

Ok a long boring post.

I went out all my other birds are fine.

I took pictures so here they are. I did lighten them one notch just to show the details a tad.


The one below gives a little perspective with my size 13 in it.





I put a 5 gallon bucket in this one.





Here is the kill site, as you can see there is a wing mark, looks like an owl leaving, but could be the rooster flailing.







I am actually wondering if I had to predators here. The owl that did the kill and may have been scared off by me looking for the rooster, and a second critter that came by as an opportunistic feeder on the carcass. Maybe I even scared that one off. There were some feathers in the track or along the trail going south.

Two predators could be true. i was wondering the same thing for my recently deceased barred rock hen. an owl first and an opportunity feeder second

 

[duluthralphie]

Ralph that is tough. Mink amd fisher kind of leap when walking so you would have tracks like this. I downloaded the pics off the internet.



Do u have ponds or streams near you??

That is there, but I think the snow was too deep and the belly dragged. If you look close you may see that. The feet are too far apart and big for a weasel.

I live on a peninsula that juts out into a swamp. There are many small open spaces of water and creeks. It is not good mink country, but if I had Pine Martin around here it would be perfect for them. Again I think I am too far south for a fisher, but who knows.

 

[holm25]

I think you have a mink on your hands.

 

[memphis]

Hello my frozen friends! Ralphie directed the Turkey Thread folks over to inspect the kill site photos & to venture an opinion. I have none...it's a mystery to me. Just hoping whatever it was either moved on or froze to death. After reading what your morning temperatures are, I'm feeling like a whimp! It's going down to 20 here tonight and tomorrow won't get warmer than the high 30's. I was feeling sorry for myself until I hopped over here.

What is a sun dog?

 

[duluthralphie]

I think you have a mink on your hands.

I am thinking a mink and a owl.

The owl I think did the kill, then I scared it off and the mink stumbled on it.



The people came to get the roosters.

A tad on the pushy side. They liked the toads, were impressed with their size. When they got them they looked for more roosters! I told them no more roosters the rest I need. They did not seem to want to understand,

They wanted to know if I had any "red" birds. I said no.

Then they asked if I had any white birds, I said " sure, but none for sale."

They wanted to see them. I showed them Bert Jr and his girls, they tried to buy Bert. Geeesch! I told them no, I said he is my bird Daddy.

They wanted to know when I would have more, I said May-June. They said "10 dollars" I had to tell them my extra junk birds are 10 bucks, not my premium Toads!


Then they asked for eggs, when I said I had 6 dozen right now, they asked how much. 3 bucks was too much and they started talking abut me in a foreign language!

Oh well, now I just hope Bert lives! If not I will be hunting across the country for a huge CX or CX cross rooster.

 

[duluthralphie]

Hello my frozen friends! Ralphie directed the Turkey Thread folks over to inspect the kill site photos & to venture an opinion. I have none...it's a mystery to me. Just hoping whatever it was either moved on or froze to death. After reading what your morning temperatures are, I'm feeling like a whimp! It's going down to 20 here tonight and tomorrow won't get warmer than the high 30's. I was feeling sorry for myself until I hopped over here.

What is a sun dog?

A sun dog is those "rainbowish" circles you see around the sun. They are like Moon dogs but on the sun...rofl

 

[Cluckies]

Cold.

 

[Cluckies]

Very cold.

 

[Cluckies]

Just looked at the Hencam, couldn't find my hens in the Run. Then I saw a head poke up every once in a while. They are all directly under the camera, all of them! Little stinkers!