Cochin Thread!!!

[mjgigax]

I have a couple "tin cat" traps but is seems the mice are ignoring them lately. I will try peanut butter in them. My bantams ignore the mice but my LF eat them. In fact my big Buff hen team hunts with my dog. When he starts digging at a hole in the dirt she stakes out the nearest exit.

 

[NanaKat]

Nice set up and looks like a lot of room for you purposes. Since the pens are inside on a wood floor...might consider linoleum floor covering to help with clean up. I buy feed ten 50 pound bags at a time and stack them on a pallet. Mice pellets in packets underneath the pallet.

I would worry about the mouse poison... a friend lost a number of birds last summer when her neighbor started putting out mouse bait and her SFH ate some of the poisoned mice... I'd settle for traps, but not bait. you can get a multi-use live trap and put the bait in that maybe... mice can get in but not out. but I find peanut butter seems to catch them faster. then I just dunk the whole thing in the water barrel to kill and feed them out to the chickens. LOL don't know about bantam cochins, but LF birds of all types have no problems swallowing mice whole. ok hubby just pointed out a quick and easy multi-use trap... it's a 5 gallon bucket with water in the bottom so trapped mice can't jump out (not so effective in the winter). a dowel rod fixed across the bucket with a toilet paper tube in the middle, smeared with peanut butter. looks like it'd work pretty well. there are a number of variations, if you take a peek on youtube for 'bucket mouse trap' but the idea's pretty much all the same. tho he's a but more practical than I am... he suggested using antifreeze instead of water. it'd kill them quicker I guess, but I'd want something to keep pets/chickens out of it. maybe a wire cover that rodents can get thru easily.

I've had no trouble with cats on mice eatting pellets. but antifreeze can kill cats. It is sweet tasting and cats and dogs who lick it up, die. FIL used to bait coyotes in the back pasture with antifreeze and sponges. They eat it and it blocks their intestines. I find it better to shoot a coyote instead of letting it suffer. Now, back to heritage birds...I'm going to set up Wyandotte pens early as my hens and pullets have really picked up on laying even without lights. I have two indoor pens that are 5 x 6.5. I'm going to set up two trios...a pen of two young hens with my seasoned cock. and a pen of older hens with an 11 month old cockerel. They will teach him courting manners too.

 

[ki4got]

Quote: I've had no trouble with cats on mice eatting pellets. but antifreeze can kill cats. It is sweet tasting and cats and dogs who lick it up, die. FIL used to bait coyotes in the back pasture with antifreeze and sponges. They eat it and it blocks their intestines. I find it better to shoot a coyote instead of letting it suffer.
yup. that's why I suggested a cage around the bucket if you put antifreeze in it. so pets and chickens can't get into it.

tho there is a 'safe' antifreeze alternative that uses propylene glycol instead of ethylene glycol (the toxic stuff). then the worry about pets isn't an issue.

either way the water in the bucket wouldn't freeze and the mice would still drown, rather than jumping out. but they're likely to drown before they die from the antifreeze... in the winter hypothermia will set in long before anything else.

the point of catching mice, IMO is to kill them. releasing them just prolongs the problem or relocates it to someone else's home.

and re: the coyotes, poison may be more effective, since I have never been able to get one in my sights, tho we've got a large pack in this area...

 

[TeaChick]

@ ki4got:
Thanks for the mouse trap video!!! I've been wondering about trapping mice and not having to use the snap traps and glue traps.

 

[TeaChick]

You could just add vodka or some other alcohol to keep it from freezing. Rubbing alcohol wouldn't be a good idea b/c it's not edible.

 

[ShysCreations]

The shed and run are outfitted for the birds. Love the roominess and ease of cleaning

 

[TeaChick]

The shed and run are outfitted for the birds. Love the roominess and ease of cleaning

I like this!!!
I like reusing stuff to make things for the chickens (or children

)
{plus, DH hates spending money, so resourcefulness is a definite plus!}

 

[NanaKat]

Now, back to heritage birds...I'm going to set up Wyandotte pens early as my hens and pullets have really picked up on laying even without lights. I have two indoor pens that are 5 x 6.5. I'm going to set up two trios...a pen of two young hens with my seasoned cock. and a pen of older hens with an 11 month old cockerel. They will teach him courting manners too.

Big oops here...should have talked about Cochins. Two of the LF Blue hens are laying and the Black pullet is now laying too. I will be able to set the two pens for the Cochins early as well.

 

[chippysmom327]

Hi

I bought a sick banty cochin at a swap and had to cull her unfortunately, but I really want one in my flock.

This may be a dumb question, but is one color more broody than the other? I want a color that will be REALLY broody and will hatch me lots of babies! From what I have observed, blue seem to be the most broody. But I could be asking a really dumb question, and all of them are the same amount of broody. I'm also trying to stay away from light colors because I free range and have a LOT of HUMONGOUS hawks out here. I have all "camouflage" chickens (brown with black markings, golden laced, black) and they blend in pretty well. So I don't want white or silver-laced.

Just thought I'd come to the cochin experts! Thanks!

 

[Jharper]

Hi

I bought a sick banty cochin at a swap and had to cull her unfortunately, but I really want one in my flock.

This may be a dumb question, but is one color more broody than the other? I want a color that will be REALLY broody and will hatch me lots of babies! From what I have observed, blue seem to be the most broody. But I could be asking a really dumb question, and all of them are the same amount of broody. I'm also trying to stay away from light colors because I free range and have a LOT of HUMONGOUS hawks out here. I have all "camouflage" chickens (brown with black markings, golden laced, black) and they blend in pretty well. So I don't want white or silver-laced.

Just thought I'd come to the cochin experts! Thanks!

Any Cochin will go broody if it decides to. The Cochin breed is known to be very broody. I found that out myself with my hen. Any partridge color will be very well blended in with its surroundings if you have fallen leaves and bushes.