Russo's Roost :
Everything is pretty good in Morrisville at Russo's Roost. Me and my rooster are seeing eye to eye lately after he thought he was the better of the two of us. Here's what I have found. He becomes aggressive towards running shoes with night reflectors on them, even in the daytime, he goes bonkers. ALso, he has chosen a prefered hen and he has clawed out the feathers on the sholders and most of her back down by the base of her tail, she is wearing an apron now and I put bag balm on the bare skin twice a day. There hasn't been any canabalism in the flock yet, I am watching carefully though.
I had a mink visit my property and stream but he seems to have moved on, now I am watching for Raccoon's one got into the pen at night, chicks were locked away in the coop, and dug around a little bit. He burrowed under the shed and coop to get into the pen. I put down some Critter Ridder, (dehydrated coyote urine) and I set a trap near the area. It hasn't been back at all but now we have rain for the next couple of days so that will wash away the critter ridder.
We came across a bunch of old music CD's for $1.00 at a yard sale, kept the cases to re-use and strung the CD's over the pen to deter hawks and other flying prey, so far so good but then again, I didn't have a problem with that last year but I have seen more hawks patroling the area this year.
Does anyone have any experience with "Nite Guard" it is a solar powered red light that supposedly will keep every immaginable pest out of your pen and garden. It makes predators think they are being watched, I wonder how they know that, anyway, if you want to see what I am talking about go to www.niteguard.com in the meanwhile, I would love to hear any experience anyone has with this product.
I didn't add any birds to my flock yet this year. I told my local "Guy's farm and yard" store that if they have any RIR's left over to call me and I would consider adding a few, other then that I am good until next year. I wonder what my wife has in store for the birthday celebration as my 6 chicks turn 1 year old in early May.
I haven't had any luck selling fresh eggs, I put a sign at the end of the driveway that saye "Fresh Eggs for Sale Today" but I haevn't had any takers at all. Does anyone have any suggestions?
OK, I'll shut up now
We've had an uppity roo too! I think I'll send him to the stew pot as my 7 yr old son is terrified to do his outside chores now if I'm not around
I swear the rooster isn't that scary, but when you're 7 you see things quite differently! I'm glad you were able to show your roo who's boss. I'm pretty sure ours knows now also, but the psychological damage has already been done to the kids
Some of our hens backs are pretty bald as well. I couldn't quite be sure if it was the rooster (obvious in some girls) or other girls picking (obvious in other girls). So, saddles all around! One poor girl had skin/flesh picked from the base of her tail after I put a saddle on her, so she went into the hospital pen and then was joined later by a trio of red pyle old english game bantams.
Glad to hear the mink moved on; they're certainly not welcome guests here! We've had a fox get a pullet and a duck in the last couple of weeks so the traps are out, and the gun is at the ready and the chickens/ducks are under scheduled lock-downs until we get the fox! And I think I had a stray cat get a few of my chicks, so I'm on the look-out for him as well.
I have no personal experience with niteguard, but it does look interesting! I've toyed with the idea of a driveway alarm out near the coop after dark. Maybe a search in the predator section would shed some light on niteguard?
Right now almost all my egg sales are to co-workers. I need to find some new customers; I think there are a couple local shops that might be interested in eggs on a weekly basis. My husband has a friend that sells vegetables at a farmer's market and I may be supplying him with a few dozen on a weekly basis.
Good to hear from you!
Everything is pretty good in Morrisville at Russo's Roost. Me and my rooster are seeing eye to eye lately after he thought he was the better of the two of us. Here's what I have found. He becomes aggressive towards running shoes with night reflectors on them, even in the daytime, he goes bonkers. ALso, he has chosen a prefered hen and he has clawed out the feathers on the sholders and most of her back down by the base of her tail, she is wearing an apron now and I put bag balm on the bare skin twice a day. There hasn't been any canabalism in the flock yet, I am watching carefully though.
I had a mink visit my property and stream but he seems to have moved on, now I am watching for Raccoon's one got into the pen at night, chicks were locked away in the coop, and dug around a little bit. He burrowed under the shed and coop to get into the pen. I put down some Critter Ridder, (dehydrated coyote urine) and I set a trap near the area. It hasn't been back at all but now we have rain for the next couple of days so that will wash away the critter ridder.
We came across a bunch of old music CD's for $1.00 at a yard sale, kept the cases to re-use and strung the CD's over the pen to deter hawks and other flying prey, so far so good but then again, I didn't have a problem with that last year but I have seen more hawks patroling the area this year.
Does anyone have any experience with "Nite Guard" it is a solar powered red light that supposedly will keep every immaginable pest out of your pen and garden. It makes predators think they are being watched, I wonder how they know that, anyway, if you want to see what I am talking about go to www.niteguard.com in the meanwhile, I would love to hear any experience anyone has with this product.
I didn't add any birds to my flock yet this year. I told my local "Guy's farm and yard" store that if they have any RIR's left over to call me and I would consider adding a few, other then that I am good until next year. I wonder what my wife has in store for the birthday celebration as my 6 chicks turn 1 year old in early May.
I haven't had any luck selling fresh eggs, I put a sign at the end of the driveway that saye "Fresh Eggs for Sale Today" but I haevn't had any takers at all. Does anyone have any suggestions?
OK, I'll shut up now
We've had an uppity roo too! I think I'll send him to the stew pot as my 7 yr old son is terrified to do his outside chores now if I'm not around
Some of our hens backs are pretty bald as well. I couldn't quite be sure if it was the rooster (obvious in some girls) or other girls picking (obvious in other girls). So, saddles all around! One poor girl had skin/flesh picked from the base of her tail after I put a saddle on her, so she went into the hospital pen and then was joined later by a trio of red pyle old english game bantams.
Glad to hear the mink moved on; they're certainly not welcome guests here! We've had a fox get a pullet and a duck in the last couple of weeks so the traps are out, and the gun is at the ready and the chickens/ducks are under scheduled lock-downs until we get the fox! And I think I had a stray cat get a few of my chicks, so I'm on the look-out for him as well.
I have no personal experience with niteguard, but it does look interesting! I've toyed with the idea of a driveway alarm out near the coop after dark. Maybe a search in the predator section would shed some light on niteguard?
Right now almost all my egg sales are to co-workers. I need to find some new customers; I think there are a couple local shops that might be interested in eggs on a weekly basis. My husband has a friend that sells vegetables at a farmer's market and I may be supplying him with a few dozen on a weekly basis.
Good to hear from you!
