Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[User395221]

About the mouse/s, it's just a dilemma because I don't know how to deal with it with chickens there. I can't use poison, the chickies might eat it. I could put poison in a bait container, but what if the chickens pecked at a dead one? I can't set traps, the chookies might walk on them.... sigh. and I'm too sooky to murder any that I trapped alive.

 

[Fancychooklady]

About the mouse/s, it's just a dilemma because I don't know how to deal with it with chickens there.  I can't use poison, the chickies might eat it.  I could put poison in a bait container, but what if the chickens pecked at a dead one?  I can't set traps, the chookies might walk on them.... sigh.  and I'm too sooky to murder any that I trapped alive.  

If the mouse shows up during the day the chickens will make short work of it. Mine love mouse.

 

[Anniebee]

What a beautiful day in the Huon , sun shining and many visitors to the garden.








Saddened by the loss of yet another young equestrian. Rip Caitlyn Fischer. Ride high.

Again - wonderful photographs here Fancy .... hope you can take some photos of rain very soon too !!

And it is so very sad to hear of another equestrian fatality. It can be a dangerous sport - especially cross-country .... but thankfully most survive the trials.

They can be brutal ( depending upon who sets them up and where ). Olympic standard is awesome and also very worrying ( to me ) so I don't watch cross-country too much.

Show jumping and dressage is more my thing ... ....

Nothing helps the poor family who are mourning the loss of their daughter / sister / grand-daughter though. An awful tragedy.

Cheers.

 

[Fancychooklady]

...

Again - wonderful photographs here Fancy .... hope you can take some photos of rain very soon too !!  

And it is so very sad to hear of another equestrian fatality.   It can be a dangerous sport - especially cross-country .... but thankfully most survive the trials.   

They can be brutal ( depending upon who sets them up and where ).   Olympic standard is awesome and also very worrying ( to me ) so I don't watch cross-country too much. 

Show jumping and dressage is more my thing ...  ....

Nothing helps the poor family who are mourning the loss of their daughter / sister / grand-daughter though.    An awful tragedy.  

Cheers.    
[/quote

Annie our girls stopped eventing 2 years ago . The problem with the jumps out on cross country is that they don't ' give ' like show jumps.
It is a very dangerous sport and when you have a 600 kg horse land on you , your chances are slim. That being said these girls love their horses and their sport and with all the ups and downs in competition , they would have it no other way.
We did get a spot of rain . The pics were taken by our daughter, the arty one. i just provided the back drop.

 

[User395221]

If the mouse shows up during the day the chickens will make short work of it. Mine love mouse.

My chickens are too busy marauding all around somewhere else, they only go in their house at night-time.

Interestingly, one of my cats has been hanging around in the yard, but she hasn't caught them, they are in underneath, they've dug a hole in under there. I thought she was stalking the chickens, but I think she's huntin' mousies.

 

[Anniebee]

About the mouse/s, it's just a dilemma because I don't know how to deal with it with chickens there. I can't use poison, the chickies might eat it. I could put poison in a bait container, but what if the chickens pecked at a dead one? I can't set traps, the chookies might walk on them.... sigh. and I'm too sooky to murder any that I trapped alive.

potato chip ...

You have raised the question I want to try to answer.

To all who have made comment about preferring to find a dead rat / mouse than a live one :

If you find a dead mouse or rat, it is most likely because it has eaten rat / mouse bait somewhere and is therefore poisonous to anything that wants to have a go at it.

e.g. chooks, dogs, cats - other birds.

Years back I had to make my golden retriever Murphy, vomit to bring up a dead rat she had munched on. I believe I saved her life. ( used Lectric Soda - a teaspoonful or a little more depending on size of dog ) ... froths up in the stomach and brings everything up - veterinarian approved.

We had a massive hole gouged out under the big girls coop by a multitude of rats. They are feisty and very strong little beggars, and could push out of the way, any impediment to them gaining access to the chook layer pellets which they seem to love.

A lot of hair tearing out went on for me ... while I figured out how to stop this nonsense. They'd come out of their massive holes during the day, run around into the coop and have a little feast, and then run back again before the girls saw them - ' cunning as rats ' is not just an old saying . ......
The chooks could have cared less. !!

I tried rolls of steel wool jammed into holes ( for night time rat feeding ) .... and paved everything I could, in the coops. They shoved the steel wool out into the run, with much delight I would imagine !!!

So I was left picking up steel wool bits, before the hens could investigate them.

Mother Nature fixed the lot. A massive downpour of continual rain filled the huge warren under the coop ( it was massive ) - along with next doors getting rid of their chickens ( ? interesting !! ) .... and the problem was gone.

However, it is not as simple as that. While it was full on, we had to set kill traps for the poor little ( and big ) blighters. And retrieve the traps before letting the girls out. I tried peppermint tea bags to ward them off, and jammed up every hole they had chewed their way through ( wood - they chew on doors etc. ) .... Today - we have no rats - but that's not to say they will not return someday. Whatever I put down there, I made sure the girls could not access it. ( e.g. peppermint tea bags, lavender or eucalyptus soaked cotton wool, sage which I have growing ) .... I approached mental breakdown over all that business. Spent a fortune on remedies.

As for mice - the chickens love mice to catch ( turn away when they do it ) .... and if they are field mice, would probably do no harm. At least they haven't to my chickens.

Haven't seen any of them either since I blocked up all the holes to their warrens that I could find in and around the garden. Their tunnels stretch far and wide. Remarkable little creatures, but may carry nasties for any other animal. .... had a field mouse mother give birth to her young, in our previously owned budgie cage. The budgies took no notice, the mother removed them to the tunnels asap, and I cleaned thoroughly the area she'd given birth in.

The only way to stop rodents is to block every entry point they have ( i.e. under fences, through wood, under coops, over doors ( they climb and chew at the wood ) and if you stick to tin and aluminium for your coops, with paved flooring - they have little chance, especially overnight which is when they are most prevalent. Some cheeky rats will seek the food during the day, as mentioned above, so ...... pouring dozens of gallons of water into their nest warrens, will have them move to more appealing apartments ( preferably many blocks away ). But we were lucky that Mother Nature came to the rescue.

Other than that, I can offer no further advice.

Cheers ..........

 

[LuckysMum]

Fancy Though photos are something special. A very talented photographer. Glad you got some rain.

My heart goes out to the family and friends of the young girl who died.
It must be very hard watching (or not watching for that matter) your child participate in any sport were there is danger.

We found 5 dead mice today. Then I just sent out to make sure all were in bed and a little mouse stuck its head out from behind Lucky's coop. The ISA's will make short work of a mouse but the others don't seem interested. We were in the coop a few years ago and we were lifting the slabs and there was a nest of babies before I could move the slab the chooks were on them not nice to see. ISA's are not slow when it comes to food.

I hope everyone gets some rain this weekend.

 

[LuckysMum]

potato chip ...

You have raised the question I want to try to answer.

To all who have made comment about preferring to find a dead rat / mouse than a live one :

If you find a dead mouse or rat, it is most likely because it has eaten rat / mouse bait and is therefore poisonous to anything that wants to have a go at it.

e.g. chooks, dogs, cats - other birds.

Years back I had to make my golden retriever Murphy, vomit to bring up a dead rat she had munched on. I believe I saved her life. ( used Lectric Soda - a teaspoonful or a little more depending on size of dog ) ... froths up in the stomach and brings everything up - veterinarian approved.

We check the yard before letting the chooks out to free range the main coop were most of the chooks are is fairly mouse proof. Luckily I've only seen one rat I think it came from the neighbours. They have big palm trees and that's were the rats live. Everyone I know who has big palm trees have or had a rat problem . Not saying everyone who has palm trees has rats.

 

[Anniebee]

Fancy quoted :

Annie our girls stopped eventing 2 years ago . The problem with the jumps out on cross country is that they don't ' give ' like show jumps.
It is a very dangerous sport and when you have a 600 kg horse land on you , your chances are slim. That being said these girls love their horses and their sport and with all the ups and downs in competition , they would have it no other way.

We did get a spot of rain . The pics were taken by our daughter, the arty one. i just provided the back drop.

___________________________________

I so understand both sides of the coin. Never did eventing myself, but did some show jumping. I did enjoy that, but not high profile stuff.

I seriously think it is time that the powers-that-be, consider some 'softer' jumps for cross-country ... some of them are very hard and very difficult, and as you said ' don't give' like many jumps do.. ( but they should ).

A horse slightly out of balance or off their correct approach gait can make a mess of it ( not only for the rider but for the horse - horrors on both counts ). And one cannot always blame the horse ( unless he/she is a bit of a rogue - in which case they should not compete ). Understand also the love of horses and competing. There is nothing quite to equal it.

The last ever ride I had, ( because I have arthritis in both hips now ) .... I cried my eyes out, knowing it had to be my last ride. My hips ( and leg / knee strength ) no longer existed for safe and proper riding, especially for my horse.

Cheers .......... .

 

[User395221]

If you find a dead mouse or rat, it is most likely because it has eaten rat / mouse bait somewhere and is therefore poisonous to anything that wants to have a go at it.

I had baits put in my house by an exterminator and they said it wasn't a worry about my dogs and cats. They used warfarin-type baits and it wouldn't have hurt them if they'd found a dead one and had a nibble. They also said they didn't usually die out in the open, but in their hidey-holes. I wasn't too bothered because my animals are spoilt, they do not need to eat carrion and probably wouldn't be interested anyway. Also, as it's dose-related, they'd have to gobble down lots and lots and lots of dead critters to get in any way enough "stuff' in them to hurt them. From memory, they had different things to use where there were animals and where there weren't. Arsenic or strychnine or anything like that would be more of a worry.

With the chickens, they are so little, it wouldn't take much for them to be affected by anything compared to my dog who has a bit of meat on her bones. And they are complete gutses. If there as a dead anything, they'd eat it, for sure.....