2018 Newbie Chat!

[PNW_Peepers]

Question:

Do any of you track your chicks ages...maybe on a calendar?
Do any of you track your hens egg laying?
I write on our calendar my chicks ages in weeks until they start laying.
Then I track the egg weights, also on the calendar, for several months.
After that I track number of eggs laid each day with a mark for each.

So far I’ve only tracked eggs for my 4 older girls who are a year old this month.
Red, my gold sex link, has always laid jumbo sized eggs.
The Wyandottes lay smaller ones and not always every day.

I track ages on my calendar. I would love to track eggs but all my girls lay such similar ones I can’t tell them apart. I wish I would have at least tracked first egg for them all.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

That is frightening. Truly.
Animals that are invasive to your ecology can have devastating consequences.
I’m often disgusted by people’s inability to educate themselves and understand that you are responsible for animals that you keep.
I rarely visit zoos...but I know that they may be the only “home” for certain wildlife who no longer have homes.
As long as the native animals can handle the predation it may work out but raccoons are extremely smart and agile creatures.
I have latches on my coops that I lock with a carabiner.
It’s one of the few things raccoons can’t operate.
They can figure out those barrel locks.

You are right it is frightening and from what I've read the most definitely are a massive risk, they are classed as high risk invasive species and alongside being the destructive they are there is a strong high risk they will crowd out indigenous species - raccoons were amongst a list of banned animals/vegetation, it had been illegal to keep/breed/import/buy/sell but since leaving the EU that ban is no longer in force - hopefully our government will be quick at re-instating the ban. I don't know if you have heard of a raccoon-dog they are neither dog nor raccoon but they look like raccoons, people here keep them as pets but they also are an invasive species and a risk, it is currently legal to buy/sell these creatures but come Feb 2019 will be illegal to sell - takes too long to get bans enforced by which time the devastation non-indigenous species have caused is irreparable - just makes me so mad that it takes such a fight and so long to reach a ban status (if we even manage to) regardless of the known and potential damage to our ecosystem!

 

[CannedMonster]

I track ages on my calendar. I would love to track eggs but all my girls lay such similar ones I can’t tell them apart. I wish I would have at least tracked first egg for them all.

I’m sure that will start happening to me once my 11 chicks start laying.
I can’t really tell which of the 3 Wyandottes lays which egg but each of the eggs is a bit different.
I just put a mark on the calendar for each egg we collect each day.
So we might get all 4 one day and only 3 the next.
I’ve always wondered how people are supposed to know if a hen hasn’t been laying unless she has a distinctive egg.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

Hi Anna, I'm no expert but we got our girls last year and they were only a couple days old. We also had no other chickens. Not all of them are crazy about doing the dust bath. Two love it - they dig holes everywhere, more so when they free range - not in their run so much. The rest aren't as into it; a couple rarely, if ever, do. It may just be a matter of their likes and dislikes. I'm not sure how crucial it is to their health. I do know that I put a box with dirt in it for them when they were 6-8 months old - nothing! Nobody even set foot in it. They do tend to do it more when it is really hot - I'm thinking the dirt is cooler where they dig. Also, i noticed that when they dig, they tend to dig more alongside walls or 4x4 posts... good luck with yours. I'm sure they'll be fine.

You are so right! Both girls are dust bathing regularly every day alongside our back fence and one of the walls of our bungalow - love watching them - Ducks have cottoned on to there being juicy worms/bugs unearthed by the girls digging and bathing, so often half way through bathing the girls end up with a bunch of duck beaks under their butts!

 

[PNW_Peepers]

I’m sure that will start happening to me once my 11 chicks start laying.
I can’t really tell which of the 3 Wyandottes lays which egg but each of the eggs is a bit different.
I just put a mark on the calendar for each egg we collect each day.
So we might get all 4 one day and only 3 the next.
I’ve always wondered how people are supposed to know if a hen hasn’t been laying unless she has a distinctive egg.

I have only four birds out of fifteen laying that have distinctive eggs. The only real problem I’m facing with that is breeding later on. One of my EE lays an identical egg to all my Ameraucana. If I want pure heritage Ameraucana it’s going to be tricky. Plus I’m finding that I want to carry on certain traits from some birds but can’t fogure out which eggs are theirs!

 

[CannedMonster]

I have only four birds out of fifteen laying that have distinctive eggs. The only real problem I’m facing with that is breeding later on. One of my EE lays an identical egg to all my Ameraucana. If I want pure heritage Ameraucana it’s going to be tricky. Plus I’m finding that I want to carry on certain traits from some birds but can’t fogure out which eggs are theirs!

You may have to create breeding pens with nest boxes.

 

[PNW_Peepers]

You may have to create breeding pens with nest boxes.

I think DH is done with anything coop related for awhile. I plan on selling any EE that I accidentally hatch. Luckily my favorite Ameraucana Ash, lays a sky blue egg that stands out like a sore thumb. I could hatch only her eggs and know for certain they’re all Ameraucana.

 

[Geranium]

You know what I need as I sit outside watching for raccoons? I need to put something on the top of the fence that is slippery but doesn't smell and won't attract anything, just make them slip if they try climbing. Any ideas?

You need a coyote roller!

 

[llombardo]

You need a coyote roller!

I haven't gone that route because I do not want to put any holes in the fence--it's binyl and was quite expensive. I may be able to put them on the actual enclosure.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

I haven't gone that route because I do not want to put any holes in the fence--it's binyl and was quite expensive. I may be able to put them on the actual enclosure.

I just came across a video on YouTube about relocating raccoons, apparently if taken far enough they can't find their way back - given that you don't want to harm them, could this not be an option?