Recent content by spauld

Yep, I removed the feed and am now feeding the chickens further out in the yard, on top of my picnic table....then taking the feed back into the house (and leaving no scraps behind!). Haven's seen a rat since doing that, but I'm still planning to set out my electronic trap, which should arrive...

Great article! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the info. LOTS of great detail in your posts!

Well, I did buy an air rifle yesterday and I saw the Gammo unit there in the store. I tried to set up the scope on mine last night (bought the cheaper Ruger product). But since it is a break barrel, I had to remove it from my vice table each time I shot it. Kind of hard to dial in the scope...

I have developed a rat problem around my chicken pen and from what I've read, I need to jump on this issue NOW, in order to have any chance of rectifying the problem. I don't want to use poison for a variety of reasons and have purchased an electronic trap (should be here by week's end). I saw...

Wow...good info here! Wish I knew about this last spring when one of my Orpingtons suddenly fell ill and died within the hour. My guess was that she found and ate something poisonous. I had been removing an old yard barn and I wondered if she found a single pellet of rat poison in the rubble...

Thanks Chooks4life... My wife seems to think some of the color has left her face too, so perhaps it is a toxicity thing. We'll keep an eye on her. I suppose that's all we can do.

Is this behavior a sign of anything serious I should address/be concerned about? My 1 1/2 year old Orpington hen has become far less friendly (doesn't seem to know who I am any more) and has stopped laying too. She does not follow the other hens into the coop when I call them. Just stands out...

One of our 1 year old Orpington hens suddenly took ill yesterday afternoon. She appeared just fine, scratching, foraging and dust bathing with the other two. Then suddenly she sat down and started panting and when she tried to move about 20 minutes later, she fell down leaning to one side. Her...

Alaskan - Here in the Denver area, our winters can run the gamut between downright cold (single digits for a few days) to rather mild. I guess I'm mostly concerned about the 'transition period' that's coming up here in the next 10 days or so. That's when our new chicks will be 5 weeks old and...

Shirl68, did you ever use the Hound Heater for your coop? I purchased one for use in my little pre-fab coop...but did not consider the 'dust fire' issue. I was not planning to use pine shavings in my coop but chickens seem to be able to generate dust just by merely existing! Did you end up...