Ali's post about her SFH surprise made me think...next winter/spring if I get a broody or two would anyone be willing to swap a few of my mix bag eggs for a few of theirs? I don't want to spend a lot of money on eggs before I know a girl is tried and true and I think it would be fun to see what I got in a grab bag don't care if they are purebred or not. Have I mentioned I like variety???
Those are pretty! Much prettier than my color pattern, but what the heck. It was sort of fun not knowing what she was..... I kept trying to fit her in to the breeds I bought and it just wasn't working.....
Now that Deann told me what she is I went to look at her pics of the SFH on her website and there is one in there with that coloring.
Out of all the predators here in Tahoe the raccoons are the most NASTY!!!!!!! We have never had them do digging, but they can undo almost any latch and scale most surfaces. We also have never had them rip open chicken wire BUT if they can reach in and grab hold of a bird there gross little hands will rip it to pieces and drag it through the wire!!!! The bears go for the grain ( unless something is wrong with them and they are eating too much garbage ) and the coyotes take the
Birds out to the meadow... But those raccoons leave the bits ALL over and we cry the whole time we clean up!!!!! If we see tracks we will set out rat snap traps with bells attached ( cat food and chips in it) around the coop and on the roof when we close up for the night. Same for coyotes . In the morning I unlatch them ( we have littles) and put them out of reach. We keep the BB gun loaded with sharp pellets and the boys run to the upper deck when they get into the traps... Works for us.
Yes being a hot spot is BAD
Those are so great!!!!
Well based on what you have said and others here, it seems that I need to do some emergency "retro-fitting" on my new coop. The latch on the door I have been concerned about from day one, but I keep thinking it is up so high! But then again not from the top of the run it is pretty close.
What type of latch do those of you with Raccoon issues use?
I just called Placer County animal control and they apparently have traps and would come out and "euthanize" any Raccoons caught. Skunks as well. In the interim the nice lady on the phone said that they don't like CO2 Fire Extinguishers sprayed on them! LOL. BUT I would think that is a costly way to get rid of a Raccoon.
She also said that if you have the "skunk" smell in your house, you can boil the fake vanilla scent not real vanilla, and it helps dissipate the smell. Next time I will try that when the darn thing sprays under my house.
I haven't been on here in a while. We've had a lot going on. Lots of family stuff. Plus something was taking off with all our chicks. Everyday we would come out more babies were missing. Our one broody was down to 1 baby at one point. Hawks. DARN hawks. So now broodies and babies locked up until they babies are about 6 weeks old. We have had those ages out and still doand the hawks haven't been praying on them. Only the 1-3 week old chicks. Dang!
All I have left after hatching Speckled Sussex, Rhodebars, and CLs are 1 SS and 3 CLs (2 boys and 1 girl. actually wanted the boys). Not sure what happened but one of our 2 leghorns injured herself (leg) and after a few weeks of it just getting worse, then the others picking on her we had to cull this weekend. SO sad about that. We loved our leggies. When the next broody strikes- I am hatching up some more TJs leghorns and giving them to the broody. My bator has been silent for over a month now. Go me!
Anyway...I didn't think we had issues with predation here. Watch the skies!
To secure latches, I have used carabiners, not the snap type but the ones which utilize a screw closure. Racoon paws can manipulate the former but not the latter.
I also have NiteEyes solar powered anti-predator lights on the perimeter fence AND on the outside of the coop. I swear by those things.
Well based on what you have said and others here, it seems that I need to do some emergency "retro-fitting" on my new coop. The latch on the door I have been concerned about from day one, but I keep thinking it is up so high! But then again not from the top of the run it is pretty close.
What type of latch do those of you with Raccoon issues use?
I just called Placer County animal control and they apparently have traps and would come out and "euthanize" any Raccoons caught. Skunks as well. In the interim the nice lady on the phone said that they don't like CO2 Fire Extinguishers sprayed on them! LOL. BUT I would think that is a costly way to get rid of a Raccoon.
She also said that if you have the "skunk" smell in your house, you can boil the fake vanilla scent not real vanilla, and it helps dissipate the smell. Next time I will try that when the darn thing sprays under my house.
I use a bolt style, similar to this. I anchored it so one locks down and one locks up. So no critters can slide it, they have to lift and turn.
I have been told that if you use the county's trap and trap a skunk, they make you pay for the cost of the trap. (but they seem to charge more, like $350) I'm contemplating trapping the coons at my place too. Haven't had any more encounters with running them up a tree lately.
I haven't been on here in a while. We've had a lot going on. Lots of family stuff. Plus something was taking off with all our chicks. Everyday we would come out more babies were missing. Our one broody was down to 1 baby at one point. Hawks. DARN hawks. So now broodies and babies locked up until they babies are about 6 weeks old. We have had those ages out and still doand the hawks haven't been praying on them. Only the 1-3 week old chicks. Dang!
All I have left after hatching Speckled Sussex, Rhodebars, and CLs are 1 SS and 3 CLs (2 boys and 1 girl. actually wanted the boys). Not sure what happened but one of our 2 leghorns injured herself (leg) and after a few weeks of it just getting worse, then the others picking on her we had to cull this weekend. SO sad about that. We loved our leggies. When the next broody strikes- I am hatching up some more TJs leghorns and giving them to the broody. My bator has been silent for over a month now. Go me!
Anyway...I didn't think we had issues with predation here. Watch the skies!
