chicken TREAT recipe

[BettyR]

Quote:
Thankfully the road is too far away from the house to be of any danger to the animals but I've lost a few to the wild animals. After my Dad passed and Mom came to live with us she had a little Miniature Doberman. I kept telling her not to let him go outside by himself to go to the bathroom... that someone needed to be with him or at least send one of the big dogs out with him but you know how stubborn old folks can get. She let him out one morning by himself to go potty and he came back torn up. We drove an hour to get him to a vet but he didn't make it. The vet said it was coyotes, which we had already guessed that. My two mastiffs keep the area right around the house coyote free. When one comes two close to the house the dogs will kill it and I hang it on the back fence until it rots. That is usually all it takes to keep them away from the house. I guess Dobie wandered out too far away from the house and got caught and he was just too little to protect himself. Poor little guy....

My cats are inside/outside cats and Momma Kitty (the one we lost) stayed out most of the time. I don't think she really liked staying in the house that much...the only time she came in was to eat and take a nap then she went right back out. She was wild and had a litter of kittens when DH found her.... we kept her in a cage and fed her for several months before we were able to touch her. She eventually decided that she lived with us and we were able to let her go. She was one of the best mouse/rat killers we have ever had. She is going to be sourly missed!!!!

 

[2DogsFarm]

Hijack!
We're turning this into a kitteh thread

I always had inside/outside cats until I moved to the farm.
I live right on a corner of what has become (thanks to subdivisions) a fairly busy road.

I still have one housecat who came with me from the city & we are both just too old for me to have to worry about her.
When she goes, I have thought about letting the barncat have in/out privileges, but I really need her in the barn.
Right now I have Potential Barncat #2 - a stray who moved in last Winter and has now become so comfy there she meows if I'm not quick enough filling her bowl. She still hisses if I get too close, but her Personal Space has become smaller the longer she stays - right now I can be about 2' from her.

See my thread about my chickens getting busted for....Crossing the Road

 

[BettyR]

Quote:

Yeah, my grandmother's cats were all barn cats and she and my grandpa really depended on them to keep the rats and mice out of the animal feed. There was a colony of them living in the barn, they were all totally wild and lived on the rodents they caught in the barn. I don't think anyone ever really knew how many were out there. The population would was controlled naturally by food supply and predators, it worked well for them.

 

[2DogsFarm]

My steady barncat is spoiled beyond belief.
But she keeps the barn pretty rodent-free.
I call her my Verminator

For a while I was hoodwinked into buying just the flavor canned food she preferred - housecat will eat anything - that has stopped.

But she gets vaccinated for rabies & pilled for tapeworms - my vet actually gives me a 10% "multiple pet" discount if she's included when he comes to see my horses.

She has a fleece house to sleep in when it gets really cold and I put those chemical handwarmer packets in there when it's subzero.

So "feral" does not begin to describe her...

I boarded at a place once that had jillions of barncats - literally hundreds.
It was kind of eerie to watch them all show up when the owner put out a 50# bag of kibble for them.
Cats appeared from everywhere!

 

[HereDucky]

One of my hens was pulling little feathers out and dropping them on the ground. The other hens stood around waiting - snatched them up and ate them!!! That's when I knew they needed a little snack: these chicken treat blocks I make from common stuff I have on hand, all available from any grocery store and feed store:

Recipe: In a large bowl mix 2 c scratch grains, 1 c layer feed, 1 c dry oatmeal, 1/2 c mixed birdseed with sunflower seeds, and 1/2 c of any combination of the following: wheat germ, ground flax seed, oat bran, or whole wheat flour. Add 1 tsp cinnamon & 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper. Mix thoroughly, then add 3 eggs, 1/2 c molasses, and 1/2 c melted coconut oil. I also add a chopped apple or a handful of raisins. Pat the mixture about 2 inches thick into oven safe baking dishes. I use muffin tins and mini loaf pans. Bake at 325 for about 30 minutes. Cool completely and remove from pans. These snack blocks keep really well in the fridge and freezer. They are inexpensive, nutritious, and my chickens love them.

 

[catchick247]

I used to have a cat, she was there before I was born. Just an old grey cat with white socks, you could feel her ribs. She was the BEST hunter ever. She hunted to please us, catching moles, mice, rats, birds, and an occasional squirrel. One time, I walked onto the porch and found her with two blue jays, side by side on the sidewalk. Beautiful birds, but the cover everything they see, if you know what I mean. And we never had to worry about getting rid if her catch, she did it herself. Leaving nothing but feathers and hearts. I lost her a couple years ago, she was 17 years old.