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    • mishellez
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  3. mishellez

    Caught my egg thief on my game cam

    I'm of the opinion that you need to tighten your security. If I leave an egg (or any potential food item) lying out in the open like that it wouldn't last an hour, day or night. Unfortunately this fox has now learned where to find an easy meal and will be in the habit of checking that wide-open...
  4. mishellez

    Sparrows!!!!!!

    I am fighting a sparrow war, too. Over the summer they not only figured out how to get into the run, but they were entering the coop a dozen at a time and gobbling up all the food inside and staying overnight. Nothing like opening the people-door in the morning and getting a faceful of panicked...
  5. mishellez

    Ticks

    I've heard of chickens picking up ticks but I have deer in my backyard practically every night and I haven't had a problem with ticks. I bet if the chickens see them, they're food, and if they manage to get on a bird where she can't pick it off, the others will peck it off. Not an expert in this...
  6. mishellez

    T. Vultures/Hawks in neighborhood. How long to keep chickens inside??

    Turkey vultures won't bother your birds except for maybe offering an alarming silhouette overhead. Not sure where you live, but here I have black vultures that come to roadkill/carcasses, too. Are you positive about your ID of hawks or maybe were you seeing two different types of vulture? My...
  7. mishellez

    Predator scare and free ranging

    When we first got chickens, we intended to just let them free-range all day and got a secure coop for night time. Come fall the hawks schooled us big-time. One chicken killed in the front yard...shortly after, one chicken killed in the backyard. We put them on lockdown in their fenced...
  8. mishellez

    Sick and tired of being sick and tired

    So sorry to hear about such tremendous losses! Unfortunately when you kill a predator you just open up a territory for a new one to move in and set up shop so it's a never-ending cycle. I'm not sure about your setup of coop/run, etc. Do you have an area fenced off for your birds? Rats are...
  9. mishellez

    Fox

    Funny you should post this...this morning was the second time ever I've had a red fox outside my chicken run in broad daylight. First time (a week or two ago) I think he or she was hunting chipmunks but my stupid birds stood there in full view alarming at him, making sure he knew they were...
  10. mishellez

    Food stealing sparrows

    Is it possible that you can put up netting over their pens? I have the same problem here; we had strung fishing line over the top of the pen to deter hawks but the sparrows, starlings, grackles and grey squirrels pop right through it and go through feed like crazy. I told DH that we need to get...
  11. mishellez

    Bear visit - I am worried sick - electric fence ideas?

    No problem! I sort of straddle the line between the Save the Bears people and the people who want to see them exterminated. I think everything has a right to live, including us, our pets and our livestock. While we humans are responsible for taking sensible measures to protect ourselves and our...
  12. mishellez

    Bear visit - I am worried sick - electric fence ideas?

    Quote: Black bears are territorial, not migratory. They establish home ranges with loose boundaries of several miles, and a male's territory will overlap several females'. Yearlings who are kicked out by mom when she has new cubs are pushed along until they find a territory that hasn't been...
  13. mishellez

    Bear visit - I am worried sick - electric fence ideas?

    Wow...well my sight-unseen armchair-quarterback assessment of that situation makes me think that there's something there that's attracting them. I've been here in New Jersey pre-during-and-post bear hunt seasons (huge controversy here) and I have noticed that they definitely are more respectful...
  14. mishellez

    frustrated with free-ranging

    We leave ours in their run for most of the day, letting them out to free-range in the early evening. That tends to reduce the wandering of the younger ones and the conjoined efforts of the older to destroy everything within a fifty-foot radius of our back door, since that's where they like to...
  15. mishellez

    Two raccoons braver than one. Is it possible to 'scare' them away?

    If your coop can be pulled apart by a raccoon, it's for sure not predator-proof. Reinforce it. Raccoons are a non-issue if your birds are securely contained at night. And don't worry about them attacking you, unless they're rabid or something, which I doubt from your description. In their silly...
  16. mishellez

    Tips on Scaring Away a Racoon

    Honestly, a secure enclosed coop that you close up at sundown works wonders. I have a slew of coons here and never had a problem except in the way-distant-past when I first forgot to close the girls up at the end of the day. Coons and possums come through at night, checking for any bread scraps...
  17. mishellez

    Bear visit - I am worried sick - electric fence ideas?

    Visiting my backyard is the largest record bear caught by NJ Fish & Game...weighed in at 726 pounds 2 years ago in May. They estimated he would go to 800-1,000 lbs winter weight....before moving here I had NO IDEA a black bear could get that large. We call him 'Mongo' and he's literally the size...
  18. mishellez

    Bear visit - I am worried sick - electric fence ideas?

    I live in Northern NJ, black bear central. We have bear in our yard all the time, either on their way to or from the center of town where the ShopRite, McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, etc dumpsters are. They've even come through when we free range in the early evening and the chickens are all over the...
  19. mishellez

    35 dead chickens. Coons, maybe weasels : Update Post #45

    So sorry to hear about your ongoing battle! I have one suggestion to add (if someone else hasn't already suggested it): maybe add a baby monitor inside where you keep the chickens? That way at night if there's any commotion going on out there you can hear it, wake up, and get out there or send...
  20. mishellez

    Are there any "chicken sitters" in the West Milford, NJ area?

    My husband needs to go on a 4-country trip for business and we're debating whether I can go with him. Biggest problem are five 2 year old hens and six 13-week olds. I have someone who offered to stay in my house and family who live within a half hour but none of them are chicken people. I was...
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