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

[appps]

So, fancychooklady, there's no real way to protect birds if you get "carriers" of something, or they catch something off vermin or wild birds?  I was thinking that if new birds have a quarantine period, all was good, but what's happened to myhaven suggests that you might still be unlucky?  Sometimes reading the forum makes me paranoid. 

I'm curious though. @MyHaven how long did you quarantine them? The full six weeks?

 

[Teila]

potato chip I have a similar quandary .. if you guys remember back when we had the old coop and run, I mentioned a mouse that was collecting corn from the run during the night and going into the coop to eat it? I never caught him and then we built the new coop and I forgot all amount him.

Well, I am sitting outside, with the girls and a little grey rat comes out from behind the middle pond and tries to help himself to their feed which I have moved from the run to the garden while they are free ranging. I have seen him a couple of times now in the afternoon and it looks like he is living behind the pond somewhere.

The girls are not going to help me, they are scared of him

So, he has been named [first mistake

] Algernon and he is kind of cute but he can not stay for obvious reasons:

He could be a she and inevitably one rat will become many.
He could be a he but find a she, play house and two rats will become many.
(S)he is not good to have around on all sorts of levels.

So, humanely catch and release? PETA advises that catch and release is not humane, unless you are going to release him less than 100 metres away, as the chances are he will die in the new location. So, unless I live trap him and then keep him in a cage, he is going to have to be eliminated; something I am not going to enjoy at all; poor little fella, I wish I could just convince him to move

 

[Fancychooklady]

She must be nearer to the coast cause she certainly would not need them out here.

She said it has finally stopped. Mooloola valley ?

 

[satay]

She said it has finally stopped. Mooloola valley ?

I am guessing that's slightly inland from moolooba and if that is that case yes very coastal. If she would like to make a 2 hour or so detour i'd be happy to let her practice here if she brings rain She's probably never rode on pure dirt before

 

[Fancychooklady]

I am guessing that's slightly inland from moolooba and if that is that case yes very coastal. If she would like to make a 2 hour or so detour i'd be happy to let her practice here if she brings rain She's probably never rode on pure dirt before

Yep, I spelt it wrong mooloolah valley. We are finally getting light showers at night. Hay is nearly $30 a bale, so we desperately need the grass to grow.

 

[Fancychooklady]

The alarm sounded this morning, every roo here was honking and chiming. I went out to find our friend the sea eagle perched above the pens.

 

[User395221]

Not an expert and haven't had chooks very long but could you put out humane traps out so as to catch the mouse and not hurt it or the chooks? I was actually thinking of putting a few out just incase and have them in places the girls can't really get to. Where there is one there are many. Best of LUCK

Yes I could trap them, but then what? Where am I supposed to put them? I could take them up to the bush strip up the end of the road but I'm not sure of the legalities of that. They are considered vermin, so I don't think we are meant to be "rehoming" them on public land. I think they need to be baited. The last thing I want is my place being a nursery for critters that move next door.....

Leads to the next question about feeders. Has anybody used one of those treadle feeders? Do they help with not getting little dinner guests?

Also, I bought some bucket feeders (you know, plumbing bend in the sides where they poke their heads in to eat. They've kicked a whole heap of dirt into the holes. I scoop it out, but has anyone got any ideas how to stop this? Does it matter? They eat scattered food, so they can pick out bits from the dirt, my concern is that they'll "forget" the food is in there if they've kicked a lot of dirt in there. Has anybody had this issue?

 

[appps]

potato chip I have a similar quandary .. if you guys remember back when we had the old coop and run, I mentioned a mouse that was collecting corn from the run during the night and going into the coop to eat it?  I never caught him and then we built the new coop and I forgot all amount him.

Well, I am sitting outside, with the girls and a little grey rat comes out from behind the middle pond and tries to help himself to their feed which I have moved from the run to the garden while they are free ranging.  I have seen him a couple of times now in the afternoon and it looks like he is living behind the pond somewhere.

The girls are not going to help me, they are scared of him 

So, he has been named [first mistake ] Algernon and he is kind of cute but he can not stay for obvious reasons:

He could be a she and inevitably one rat will become many.
He could be a he but find a she, play house and two rats will become many.
(S)he is not good to have around on all sorts of levels.

So, humanely catch and release?  PETA advises that catch and release is not humane, unless you are going to release him less than 100 metres away, as the chances are he will die in the new location.  So, unless I live trap him and then keep him in a cage, he is going to have to be eliminated; something I am not going to enjoy at all; poor little fella, I wish I could just convince him to move   

I wouldn't have thought rats were that delicate, see them more as a take over the world when we are gone cause nothing phases them kinda animal lol

Is it an icky rat or a native rat? The native rats are cute and clean but a Pia to catch if they get in your house cause they aren't fussed about eating much other than seed and grain.

 

[appps]

Yes I could trap them, but then what?  Where am I supposed to put them? I could take them up to the bush strip up the end of the road but I'm not sure of the legalities of that.  They are considered vermin, so I don't think we are meant to be "rehoming" them on public land.  I think they need to be baited. The last thing I want is my place being a nursery for critters that move next door.....

Leads to the next question about feeders.  Has anybody used one of those treadle feeders?  Do they help with not getting little dinner guests?  

Also, I bought some bucket feeders (you know, plumbing bend in the sides where they poke their heads in to eat.  They've kicked a whole heap of dirt into the holes.  I scoop it out, but has anyone got any ideas how to stop this?  Does it matter?  They eat scattered food, so they can pick out bits from the dirt, my concern is that they'll "forget" the food is in there if they've kicked a lot of dirt in there.  Has anybody had this issue? 

How high off the ground are they? Sounds like you have it too low, I don't get any dirt in mine.

 

[LuckysMum]

Yes I could trap them, but then what? Where am I supposed to put them? I could take them up to the bush strip up the end of the road but I'm not sure of the legalities of that. They are considered vermin, so I don't think we are meant to be "rehoming" them on public land. I think they need to be baited. The last thing I want is my place being a nursery for critters that move next door.....

Leads to the next question about feeders. Has anybody used one of those treadle feeders? Do they help with not getting little dinner guests?

Also, I bought some bucket feeders (you know, plumbing bend in the sides where they poke their heads in to eat. They've kicked a whole heap of dirt into the holes. I scoop it out, but has anyone got any ideas how to stop this? Does it matter? They eat scattered food, so they can pick out bits from the dirt, my concern is that they'll "forget" the food is in there if they've kicked a lot of dirt in there. Has anybody had this issue?

Can you show us a photo. I have a plumbing tube Paul cut holes in it. Mine can't get dirt in it. I was thinking the same as appps it might not be high enough.