Consolidated Kansas

[Hawkeye95]

have you seen this skunk during the day? That would be a bad deal, since if they have rabies, they get confused and will come out during the day. A couple months back, I saw a skunk down the road from me crossing a field in the middle of the day and he was lurching and walking from side to side and stopping and then going again. If he were on my property, I would have gone out and shot him for sure before he got ahold of my horses or any other animal. I think it's just as well that they are going to shoot him.

 

[Ivywoods]

Sharol-Good luck catching that skunk. I've always just dispatched them with a .22, trapped or not. Same thing with raccoons, except the one time I heard a ruckus out in the pen (back when we lived at Solomon and before we had our great pyrenees.) The closest gun I could find was my 22-250. That was just a little more than needed for a batch of raccoons. The noise was so loud I think I scared all the feathers off the chickens, plus had some pretty mangled raccoons to carry off.

Hawkeye-Your coop is looking great! I think you will be surprised how much stronger your nest box is once you get the siding on it. That really does make things more solid. Looking at where your 2x4's are in relation to each other, I'm not sure what I would recommend for bracing from the top, but I would at least put one from the bottom in the middle to prevent sagging there. That would probably be enough, but it is up to you. What kind of top are you going to put on that box? Be sure to plan for your lid while you are doing this, and remember that you want it waterproof once you get that siding on there.

Danz-That is exactly what I would have suggested she do to get those brace angles right, but you beat me to it! Also, I would have never guessed that you had been a police officer! Pretty cool, lady!

Chooks- I've heard of people putting baby monitors in their coop. My problem is I am not here most of the night to hear stuff like that. For the most part I think a very secure coop is the best protection, but right now with my dogs on guard I don't even lock the coop up at night, and haven't for over a year. We've had no losses until recently when a hawk swooped down in the front yard and nailed my one older guinea hen in the middle of the day. It was one of those 100+degree days, and my dogs were hot and tired from working all night and were sleeping someplace cool. They were taking their well deserved break.

 

[sharol]

No, it has only been around at dusk or later. I think she(he) is healthy, just unsure of the rules. It is a pretty little thing, almost all black with a couple of thin white lines down its back. I feel bad about dispatching it, but we really don't have much choice.

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[chicken danz]

Yeah, I moved to Oklahoma City and got a job as a police officer. (I had worked for the Sheriff's office in Emporia,KS prior to that.) I worked as a police officer in OKC for about 10 years before moving back to Kansas. Then I went to work at Wolf Creek where I stayed for 24 years. I loved loved loved my police officer job. It was the only job I ever had when I got up and thought, "I get to go to work today!" Every day was different, never boring. It definitely had it's bad points, but the good out weighed the bad 10 fold. I always said I would write a book about all the funny things that I witnessed but just never sat down and did it.

 

[cherwill]

Wow, that coop is looking great! It's amazing how much you did in all that heat. It just made me want to melt.

We live in town and there are lots of dogs around us, so I don't expect critters to be too much of a problem for us. However, we do occasionally find possums in our neighborhood, so I still make sure to lock up the coop at night. I know of several people around here who've lost quite a few chickens to predators this summer; seems like it's a bigger problem than usual. Luckily our only experience with a skunk involved the neighbor's dog and not one of ours!

I'm really enjoying this break in the weather. I don't dread going out to the community garden so much now.

 

[Ivywoods]

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I'll bet a lot of officers could write books... several books, humor, drama, mystery and some real gut-wrenchers. I guess it's easier to put things on videos and TV like the show "Cops" and show some of the stupid and sad things people do.

 

[Hawkeye95]

IvyWoods- I went back and cut more braces to put above the box so that I can tie in the braces to those- I have screwed them in yet- waiting to see where I want the braces. But at least the wood is all cut and ready to go. You noticed I didn't have enough wood in between and I have fixed that. I saw that as a problem too. I've been going back and adding in more pieces today. ALso been working on framing in the little compartment area- nearly done! I got to work all day today! It's been so nice!!
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Thanks! But I didn't actually work in the heat of the day- the first two or three hours in the morning and then again in the evening is all I was working. You'd be surprised what you can get done in that short amount of time when you put your mind to it!

I'm really tired of having my turkey in my garage in the evenings- so I'm highly motivated! LOL! But even at that, admittedly those mornings were REALLy hot and I sweat my bootie off and had to take a lot of water breaks. It's not been fun working in this heat, for sure. And even more frustrating sitting inside looking at it not being able to do anything when it's 110 outside.

Well, I think I have nearly come to the end where I can do everything by myself. Tonight I'm going to have my husband help me put the plywood on it. But I can't LIFT that stuff!! It's so big and heavy- it's a two person job for sure. The downside is that he is leaving tomorrow to go to Philly for work for the rest of the week. Bleah. So my coop will probably come to a screeching halt unless I can convince my neighbor to come over...

 

[ByN8ureHomstead]

Quote:
Thanks! But I didn't actually work in the heat of the day- the first two or three hours in the morning and then again in the evening is all I was working. You'd be surprised what you can get done in that short amount of time when you put your mind to it!

I'm really tired of having my turkey in my garage in the evenings- so I'm highly motivated! LOL! But even at that, admittedly those mornings were REALLy hot and I sweat my bootie off and had to take a lot of water breaks. It's not been fun working in this heat, for sure. And even more frustrating sitting inside looking at it not being able to do anything when it's 110 outside.

Well, I think I have nearly come to the end where I can do everything by myself. Tonight I'm going to have my husband help me put the plywood on it. But I can't LIFT that stuff!! It's so big and heavy- it's a two person job for sure. The downside is that he is leaving tomorrow to go to Philly for work for the rest of the week. Bleah. So my coop will probably come to a screeching halt unless I can convince my neighbor to come over...

Bribe with Chocolate Chip Cookies. If I was closer it would work for me.

 

[Ivywoods]

Quote:
Thanks! But I didn't actually work in the heat of the day- the first two or three hours in the morning and then again in the evening is all I was working. You'd be surprised what you can get done in that short amount of time when you put your mind to it!

I'm really tired of having my turkey in my garage in the evenings- so I'm highly motivated! LOL! But even at that, admittedly those mornings were REALLy hot and I sweat my bootie off and had to take a lot of water breaks. It's not been fun working in this heat, for sure. And even more frustrating sitting inside looking at it not being able to do anything when it's 110 outside.

Well, I think I have nearly come to the end where I can do everything by myself. Tonight I'm going to have my husband help me put the plywood on it. But I can't LIFT that stuff!! It's so big and heavy- it's a two person job for sure. The downside is that he is leaving tomorrow to go to Philly for work for the rest of the week. Bleah. So my coop will probably come to a screeching halt unless I can convince my neighbor to come over...

Bribe with Chocolate Chip Cookies. If I was closer it would work for me.

HEY! You are closer to me, and I need a barn built! I'll bake cookies, fudge, cake, ice cream, buy the beer or whatever it takes! But seriously, I'm still in the "material aquisition" phase, so it's going to be a while.

 

[OzawkieBantams]

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hey I got railroaded by a few of you for mentioning that word, but I guess its ok now?