California - Northern

[ronott1]

If it's the same story I'm thinking of, it was a mountain lion. And the jogger lady bent over to pet the mama mountain lion babies. Natural selection for taking out the stupid people.

There was a mountain lion that attacked a dog last year 2 miles from our house. The dog was lucky and survived. The "officials" treed it and killed it though.

The petting of the babies? The dead tell no tales.....

 

[Chickengirl1304]

The petting of the babies? The dead tell no tales.....

Oh my! That's bad news

 

[Chickengirl1304]

Has anyone talked to miss Molly? She hasn't been on in a long time!

 

[ronott1]

Originally Posted by ronott1

The petting of the babies? The dead tell no tales.....

Oh my! That's bad news

The point is that Bob cats and Mt. Lions and other "predators" are wild animals and we all need to be careful. My 25# Mane Coon Cat is scary enough when he gets snarly. I bet a Bob Cat attack would not be pleasant...even if they are too small to kill and adult.

For goodness sake carry a stick at least when they are around.

 

[MossyoakLane]

Well if a bobcat was stalking my chickens in the DAY time where my kids play, you better believe I wouldn't call and het a permit lol.

Bobcat attacks on humans are extremely rare, and then only if threatened.


Oh how I love watching a good working dog!

 

[Chickengirl1304]

The point is that Bob cats and Mt. Lions and other "predators" are wild animals and we all need to be careful. My 25# Mane Coon Cat is scary enough when he gets snarly. I bet a Bob Cat attack would not be pleasant...even if they are too small to kill and adult.

For goodness sake carry a stick at least when they are around. 

Yes that's what I was saying a heavy walking stick or something

 

[Flowers of Abba]

I sprout seeds for my flock and also give them fermented feed and occasionally fodder.  I made some sprouting containers out of old Parmesan cheese bottles by drilling small holes all over them.  I also purchased 2 special mason jar lids for sprouting and one Easysprout kit.  The Easysprout kit is new but one week into using it and I plan on getting more of them.  It works well and looks nicer than my Parmesan containers that are nestled inside other re-purposed plastic containers!  I sprout a multi-seed mix that includes BOSS and wheat that I purchased in a 50 lb bag at the feed store.  I soak the seeds with a dash of Oxine (soaking time depends on which seeds they are).  Then they are drained, rinsed twice a day, and usually fed to the chickens on day 3.  The fodder seems to work better for me in the fall, winter, and spring.  The seeds have a tendency to get mold on them when it is really hot outside.  We are energy frugal and only use the AC when we absolutely can't stand the heat.

BOSS?

I am using 1/2 gal mason jars with cheese cloth but am tempted by the stacking circular ones for about 16.00 ... Counter space is a commodity in a 1400 sq ft house with 6 people 4 cats a lab pup and any number of chickes in brooders lol. I've been happy with all the seeds so far but recently tried pinto beans and they're way slimy! I wonder if the fact they are old and non-organic has anything to do with it. Maybe I should throw the whole bag out. Not even for the chickens?

Anyhow I've been reading all the post on smoke and wondered when it would get here. Well it's here and it brought the ash with it. This morning my daughters asked " should I let the chickens out? " I figured if the ash gets too bad we would coop them. .. The rim trail fire is really socking it to us. We have to purchase mask for our employees! I am worried about those guys breathing it in all day. But we all have mortgages to pay and time stands still for no one...
I hope everyone is doing alright with all these fires !

 

[ronott1]

BOSS?

I am using 1/2 gal mason jars with cheese cloth but am tempted by the stacking circular ones for about 16.00 ... Counter space is a commodity in a 1400 sq ft house with 6 people 4 cats a lab pup and any number of chickes in brooders lol. I've been happy with all the seeds so far but recently tried pinto beans and they're way slimy! I wonder if the fact they are old and non-organic has anything to do with it. Maybe I should throw the whole bag out. Not even for the chickens?

Anyhow I've been reading all the post on smoke and wondered when it would get here. Well it's here and it brought the ash with it. This morning my daughters asked " should I let the chickens out? " I figured if the ash gets too bad we would coop them. .. The rim trail fire is really socking it to us. We have to purchase mask for our employees! I am worried about those guys breathing it in all day. But we all have mortgages to pay and time stands still for no one...
I hope everyone is doing alright with all these fires !

Black Oil Sunflower Seeds. I get them from Walmart in a 25#bag. TSC(Tractor Supply Center) has them too. They are good for giving them fiber and oil for laying eggs. It also helps the Australorps to be nice and Shiny Blue.

 

[chrissyr]

Love your pics!! Beautiful birds, beautiful shots!

Got a new lens today for my camera. The chickens were fun test subjects.

 

[capayvalleychick]

Looks like I'll have 8.26 acres in 30 days, as escrow opened today.

for you!

Sorry to not get an answer for you about frostbite on combs. I do not have to worry about that here in Woodland but I have read discussions about it. In places where it gets pretty cold, they think keeping humidity down helps. I bet the better coops this winter will be all you need for them to protect their combs.

Wet combs that freeze get frostbite more than dry combs in cold weather.

You can also put Vaseline on their combs to protect them.

Kim has the Boys so hopefully she will let us know how they compare to the Crele Penes that hatched with them.

The eggs get big fast though. Mine are laying eggs big enough for me to put into the for sale egg cartons already.

The Blue Eggers have a different shape than the CP, more length than upright, so it's hard to say. They look medium sized, remind me of young Sumatras. I don't think that they are finished growing, are they? I'm used to heritage LF. I moved the hen out to the mobile coop, so she gets to day range now. Her eggs are still small. Paul enjoys them. He is off fighting the Rim Fire, as of yesterday.

and given our recent discussions of wildlife, i thought folks might be interested in this article, about how some species are changing/evolving from the experience of living in urban areas:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/08/urban-animal-brain-behavior-evolution/all/

That reminds me of the saying, Nature Always Bats Last. Very true, I think.
What I wonder about, is if wildlife adapts or changes or knows how the people in their environment feel about living with wildlife. I know in your area and Morgan Hill, most people in rural areas feel like you do. They want to live in harmony with wild animals and won't harm them. In contrast, my area is also very rural with wildlands and lots of predators ie bears, mountain lions etc. The difference is that the people here will shoot to kill with no hesitation. I know people in Morgan Hill have mountain lions coming right into their rural yards during the day and you hear about bear troubles elsewhere. But here, no such thing. The animals are here but they stay out of sight and usually people do not have problems. I wonder if the animals know whether or not people will shoot, in different regions?

Great photos, I have got to take some kind of classes to learn how to use my camera, but the man at the camera shop quoted me $65.00 a lesson. I am still on automatic What lens did you buy?

X2 on all of this. Love the photos! I also cheat and use automatic but want to learn how to use the manual settings. My indoor shots, especially chicken show pics, are terrible.

Oh how I love watching a good working dog!

Me too!