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We have seven ladies of various breeds, ages range from just over a year to one that is around four years old. We had been getting 3-4 eggs a day for some time, then suddenly nothing other than one hen seems to be laying every 3 days. They get layer pellets, scratch grains and meal worms in the...

Local saw mills will often have cull stock that’s really cheap. I filled my truck with what the mill called “shim stock”, 4” to 12” wide, mostly 12’ long for less than $100, all red oak. Stuff gets in this pile due to being too thick or too thin, or having a gross defect. Had to take the whole...

Getting pallets apart can be a real pain, especially when they used the twisty nails, even worse if it’s gotten wet and the nails have rusted. For rough work (like the coop) I use a reciprocating saw with a bi-metal blade to cut the nails, leaves the wood full of metal so use a carbide blade on...

Many dead raptors are found with lethal levels of rodent poison in their bodies, so it’s a real problem. The most popular poisons are anticoagulants, which inhibit blood clotting. They work because they are slow acting, that way the rodent doesn’t associate the bait with health issues and...

What did you use to bait the trap for foxes? We have a havaheart trap, tried dog food, no luck.

Poison will ultimately give you more rats. Predators like hawks and owls eat a lot of rodents, when they eat poisoned rats it ends up killing them, which causes the rat population to increase.

I have been putting a scoop of Rural King scratch grains in the run every morning, gives the ladies something to pick at since I a fox problem has forced me to stop free ranging. The latest bag seemed to be mostly cracked corn (very few oats, no milo), and the ladies were leaving a lot on the...

What are they?

Cute with the little sideburns! Really friendly, follow me around like puppies, got to watch my feet! Person I got him from is going to swap for a cuckoo moran- more variety!

We have a fairly large coop (about 25’ x 10’) so I built a partition across the end, screened with wire with a door. Partitioned area is set up with its own feeder / waterer & roost. We put the new members in the closed area, and let them see / interact with the others. If the birds are much...

Here are photos of the two, is the larger comb and upright tail the marks of a rooster?

Will take the phone in the AM.

Still new to this chicken thing. Thanks to the efforts of a fox and a very large gray rat snake, our flock had dwindled to three hens, two senior citizen barred rocks and a two year old black australorp. We purchased four hens from a lady who buys chicks and raises them, two rhode island reds...

We seemed to be plagued by snakes, usually it’s grey rat snakes getting after the eggs. I have taken to leaving golf balls in the nesting boxes, when the balls start disappearing time to watch for snakes. Had a barred rock that had gone really broody, one afternoon I found her dead in the coop...

Living in a rural area with minimal services is quite different than the city / suburban experience. Where we are there is no animal control, no licensing, no shelter. When someone decides to get rid of an animal they often drive out on a back road and dump it. At that point the animal - Might...

I vote for snakes. We are plagued with them, when egg production drops off and the ladies seem edgy I start looking for snakes. I have lost track of how many I have removed, found a brown rat snake last year that was nearly 6’ long, had four bulges when I evicted it from the coop. Eggs disappear...

Trapping a fox is not necessarily illegal, each state is different, in this regard. Additionally, many states will issue a depredation permit to allow one to deal with a troublesome predator. If you elect to try trapping, make sure the trap is large enough and read up on concealing and baiting...

Walked into the kitchen at 8:00AM - full daylight. There was a red fox mauling the last of out production reds right outside the kitchen window. By the time I got outside it was chasing a australop across the yard, ran in front of the dog kennel, which set the dogs off. Fox broke off the chase...

Honey locust might be an option, grows in your area, shouldn't spread like blackberry brambles, nasty thorns

Hello out there: Wife and I have retired and relocated from Califorina to a farm in Mid-state Tennessee near the Kentucky border. Been here a year now and recently got the chicken coop cleaned up and ready for business. Acquired a pair of what were termed "rock island red / production red" hens...