Consolidated Kansas

[Dani4Hedgies]

HeChicken,
Sadly there is no way to get rid of him in the city as long as he isn't rabid or attacking anything the city won't do anything and can't shot off guns in the city your neighbors complain to the city and police and yea. Just watching him and hoping he will move on.

 

[chicken danz]

HeChicken,
Sadly there is no way to get rid of him in the city as long as he isn't rabid or attacking anything the city won't do anything and can't shot off guns in the city your neighbors complain to the city and police and yea. Just watching him and hoping he will move on.

Set a live trap. Sometimes animal control will come set one for you and relocate animals to a different area. If not, borrow one and do your own disposing. I agree with HEChicken. You need to get rid of him.

 

[Dani4Hedgies]

Didn't think of the live trap will reach out to animal control and see if I can get one.

 

[Trish44]

Wow that is scary Trish. I've been that close to them as well but with a fence between us. Hopefully the GPs scared it off. I wonder if you need more LGDs since the coyotes are able to get that close right under their noses. I've always heard that a pair is the minimum but in areas of high predator load, more is better and it sounds like you might have a high predator load there.

Not much new here. We continue to treat the cow every 3 hours around the clock which means I'm still setting alarms to get up in the middle of the night. It is nice having a partner to alternate but it still means we each have to do 3-4 treatments each day. The udder remains tight and full, very swollen with a lot of edema. But otherwise, you would never know how close to death she was just a few days ago. She is eating, drinking and caring for her calf as though nothing were ever wrong. The calf, Hallie, is super friendly since she had so much handling in her first few days of life. She bounds up to us and loves to be scratched - quite different than our previous dam-raised calves that were quite skittish at this age.

Yeah we do have a heavy predator load here but I just don't think my DH will go for getting another big dog. These two do the best they can, but they can't be everywhere at once. I have noticed that they have been super vigilant even during the day lately so I know the predators are moving around a lot.

I have read before that if a cow gets an infection like that the tissue will die off & the teat will not be usable any more. That's a shame for that to happen to that beautiful animal. It's too bad you don't know what caused it so you could prevent it from happening again. I'm really glad she is doing so much better. I hope you're getting some much needed rest.

I've noticed the predator load is really heavy this fall. Thank heavens Yeti has started to work now. He will be a year old in about 3 weeks. I also think the electric fence is having an impact. What worries me though is I've seen the ducks walk under it and the wire touch their backs but I guess they are insulated enough it doesn't make ground. Who would have thought? I haven't however seen the chickens even go near it. The animals seem to sense the electric current without touching it....except the ducks. I guess they think they are special!
I know you'll be glad when you no longer have to get up around the clock to work on your cow. You and your partner should be congratulated for staying in there and saving her life.
I made it past the "bewitching hour" without my hand getting worse so I am feeling optimistic. I can't say that it has gotten substantially better, but at least it isn't worse at this point. Maybe I will heal yet. I do have a lot more movement in my fingers, but unfortunately not without pain.

I hope your hand gets better soon, I know it's been an ordeal for you. I think my ducks would probably do the same thing & my chickens too. They're used to going where they want so if I put up something like that I think they would just ignore it.

Didn't think of the live trap will reach out to animal control and see if I can get one.

I have a friend who lives in Wichita who lives close to a park & creek & has had big problems with raccoons. She called someone out to trap them for her. She has had a whole family of them & lost almost all of her chickens.

 

[HEChicken]

I have read before that if a cow gets an infection like that the tissue will die off & the teat will not be usable any more. That's a shame for that to happen to that beautiful animal. It's too bad you don't know what caused it so you could prevent it from happening again. I'm really glad she is doing so much better. I hope you're getting some much needed rest.

I know everyone hears "mastitis" and thinks "infection" but in this case there was never an infection. She has Toxic Mastitis so in other words, rather than dealing with a bacterial infection, we are dealing with toxins in her udder. That is why she never ran a fever and why she didn't respond quickly to antibiotics. With this type of mastitis it is certainly possible for some or all of the skin to die and slough off and I've heard of cows that ended up with only 2-3 functional quarters. However the way to know is if the skin feels cool or cold to the touch, it is dying or dead. Amazingly, though our cow's udder looks awful - there is a huge area of purple/black flesh - it is now warm to the touch and very tender which indicates it is very much alive still. We are not out of the woods yet and it could still die but at least at this point there is still hope that it won't. The really good news is that though some of the flesh of the udder is black, the nipple itself is a very healthy pink color, and we are still able to express fluids through it so we are starting to think we won't lose the quarter. The other three quarters are still healthy and producing milk. I think it will be a long healing process on this fourth quarter and I doubt she will have milk in it at all during this lactation but if she doesn't lose the quarter, there is a good chance it will work normally if she needs it to in the future.

 

[spree56]

Orscheln's has heated dog bowls on sale for $14.99 ($5 off) through the 13th.

 

[Plinky]

Hello all, just reading the predator tales.
We are on the edge of town, near a creek and bottom land. I can hear coyotes sometimes not that far away.
An owl has a nest in a neighbor's back yard tree and another had a chicken taken by an eagle, no less.
Here's a strange story that happened last year:
Before we had chickens there was a racoon in the driveway when I came home from walking my Beagle. I noticed the racoon was walking strangely. I put the dog in the house and called animal control. It was evening and I was told there was no animal control at night. Next thing, a police car comes driving up. There is a police lady who said she used to work at a wildlife refuge. She asked me for a box to capture him in and take him away. I informed her that he looked really sick, like rabid, maybe. I asked what she should officially do if the thing had some serious problem and she said "shoot him". Asked if it would then be examined so that officials would know the rabies situation, etc. She said no, they don't do that. She did not want to shoot him (bringing to mind all sorts of possible sarcastic comments about police violence which I refrained from saying, of course), I said, "hey, what if it bites a person or pet, loan me your gun and I'll shoot it!". Naturally, she didn't do that but called her base. In the end they told her to shoot the thing. By that time it had wandered over beside a neighbors house. She asked me for a plastic bag, shot the racoon (VERY LOUD and not even one neigbor came outside to see what was going on!) and carried it away. Suburban wildlife.

 

[Dani4Hedgies]

Ok so a couple of my hens appear to be molting and Im unsure if they need feather fixture and if they do how do I make sure just them get it or does it matter if everyone eats it? I use Flock Raiser and put chick starter in my chicks access cage. Or do I even realty need it? My chickens get a fresh surplies of veggies of all kinds (the Hen House Grocery Store I live behind gives me bruised produce every other day).

 

[chicken danz]

@HEChicken you are getting a real education these days in vetting. I am clinging to every thing you write so I can store it in my brain in case something ever happens to my heifer. Thanks so much for sharing.
@Dani4Hedgies any additional treats you can give your chickens will help, but it's not necessary for them to complete molt. They need protein, amino acids, carbs from the grains, and some fats. Since it is cooler I would give them a little corn for added fat or simply add some veggie oil to their feed. Black sunflower seeds are a great treat because they are high in protein. Kitchen scraps will also be beneficial.
We got our first frost last night and it wasn't supposed to get cold until tonight. I need to check my garden etc today and see what is still alive. Just one more thing I haven't gotten done.

 

[Dani4Hedgies]

Danz thank you that helps a lot lol I will pick up some more BOSS today and yep they get plenty of leftovers today it was two huge pieces of bacon wrapped meatloaf and half a dozen baked potatos skin on (hubby forgot to put up dinner last night lol)