Consolidated Kansas

[maidenwolfx80]

Thank you Maidenwolf. That is very sweet of you to understand.
I have an entire infrastructure of extension cords running every where. I really want to put in underground wiring but it is very expensive and after studying the gauge I need for all my buildings I would need to win the lottery to run it. That is one reason why I am rethinking my entire plan about where and how to house all the birds. We do have some extension cords run in a pathway inside about a 1 1/4 " piece of PVC pipe on top of the ground where we walk all the time. Both ends of this are open however. When you have a sheathed wire and enclose it, it can dangerously build up too much heat and short out and or catch fire. I ran some wire between two hen houses and simply used normal 12-2 electrical wire but took the outer plastic sheathing off and put it inside of conduit under ground.
Okay I am sounding like a know it all again. I did go to school and learned electrical principles for my career , plus my brother is a an electrical engineer, so if I have questions I consult. I don't use it enough to remember everything but at least I try to remember basic code. I have what would be considered a very poor setup because there are cords and plugs out in the open. I did try to cover the outlets once with plastic but soon discovered that was much more dangerous than having them in the weather. It is better to just to set them off the ground and or cover them with a loose top than entirely enclose them. I have ground fault outlets installed from the house so if there is a problem we have a backup for safety.

I appreciate that you do know what you are talking about cause I know nothing about electrical stuff. So maybe use the pvc but keep the ends open....

 

[Trish44]

I'm trying to figure out how to get electric out to my new breeder coop, I guess I will have to use a really long extension cord & put it in some pvc pipe. We don't have a breaker box out in the garage, they did the electric wiring really dumb in this house & awhile back we had an electrician come to see if we could add a breaker in the attic & he left shaking his head. He never got back to us about price, I guess he didn't want to deal with it. They ran wire from the garage to this pole & then to the house & the wire is actually encased with a garden hose split & hooked onto the front of where the old garage was originally. The electrician loved that one too. Some day we're going to have to deal with all of it because if we try to sell we're probably going to have a problem. I can't even believe the things the people that built this house got away with on inspection when my DH bought this house. I'm sure we won't be that lucky.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Danz, It's OK, we all get a little emotional around here at times. Our experiences in life make us who we are, however eccentric that may be, speaking of myself of course. I really don't think any of us mean to be hurtful, sometimes things just come out the wrong way or are perceived in a different way than they were meant. I think we have a great group here & we need to remember that. I don't know what I would do without you all either, you have become good friends & I get some good laughs from reading your posts & learn things all the time.

So well said, Trish44. I couldn't have said it better myself. I appreciate all of you and everything I've learned from you guys and greatly appreciate your overlooking my idiosyncrasies. We are a wonderful group of Chicken Ladies and Poultry Guys! Group hug!

 

[chicken danz]

Thanks Trish. Love ya girl! I used to blame every thing on PMS until one of my male coworkers said one day. "You know , you are the first woman I ever met who claims to have PMS 365 days a year."

Point taken!!! Now I just have to man up and admit I am far from right!
OH I am so shaky. I am the original arachnophobia kid!! I just had spider crawl across my desk. I tried to swat it and it crawled into my key board. I used the vacuum cleaner to try to suck it out but have no idea where it went or if I got it. I am scared to touch my keyboard. I swear my hands are shaking between letters.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Thanks Trish. Love ya girl! I used to blame every thing on PMS until one of my male coworkers said one day. "You know , you are the first woman I ever met who claims to have PMS 365 days a year."

Point taken!!! Now I just have to man up and admit I am far from right!
OH I am so shaky. I am the original arachnophobia kid!! I just had spider crawl across my desk. I tried to swat it and it crawled into my key board. I used the vacuum cleaner to try to suck it out but have no idea where it went or if I got it. I am scared to touch my keyboard. I swear my hands are shaking between letters.

Oh no thats terrible.. What a horrible situation. Did you turnit over and shake?

 

[chicken danz]

I shook it and everything. I even ran a metal ruler along the keys while I vacuumed.
So I went outside just in case he managed to stay in there and collected my mouse traps. I nearly reached half my goal. I caught 49 mice! I had two traps that had nothing in them at all. Obviously I placed them in the wrong spot. I had one trap where there is tons of activity that only caught one mouse and it was my fault. I shoved it under a low building and got dirt in the mechanism so it wouldn't keep them in. Every ounce of the bait was gone so I guess the mice think I was providing treats. I'll move the two undisturbed traps to a higher traffic area tonight,and reset the ones that caught a lot in the same place.
Here's a lesson I learned on these. You don't want them where dirt will get in them easily. The trap I set by the lady Amhurst pen was the fullest. The guineas are extremely happy now with very full tummies. They normally fight over a mouse and they all had plenty this time!! What a treat for them!

 

[HEChicken]

Danz, I haven't noticed anything either! I think we all benefit from and value your wealth of knowledge.

49 mice....[shakes head]. My stupid mousetrap arrived on Tuesday and as of yet has not killed a single mouse. I'm going to be ordering a couple of those Victor traps like you have. If you have a couple spare, I would buy them from you but if not, let me know and I'll just go ahead and order them.

Speaking of electrical hazards....on Tuesday I went out my backdoor and was walking to the coop when I saw a plume of thick black smoke. I would have figured it was someone burning off except right then I heard sirens. It looked REALLY close, so I got in my car and drove toward it and one of my neighbor's houses was completely engulfed in flames. I don't know what started the fire but it certainly is my worst nightmare.

 

[chicken danz]

I can sell you two traps. I have three I didn't use and I sold one of those to my sister. I was thinking I should have ordered 2 cases in reality because there are so many areas here I could use them. But that is only because I want to catch all the darned mice at once! It does take some time to bait them and then clean them up for the next night and re-bait them. Patience has never been one of my virtues. If I could invent a trap that would draw them all in and catch them all at once I would have it out there. I guess I could leave them for a few days but I want to have fresh bait so I can catch as many as possible. The mice do eat the bait after they are trapped.
I am just totally amazed how many mice are around. I wonder how many pounds of feed they have consumed altogether. I'd be upset if I knew. I guess as long as I can make this go full circle and feed the mice back to my guineas or whatever then I am happy.
Yeah Josie said I was obsessed and I think she is right. They just gross me out. I have a couple of cars a neighbor was thinking about buying for projects. I opened the hood on one and there was a rats nest in it. Made me realize the rats can't get in these traps so I'll still have to find another way to eliminate what the traps can't. Mice, rats, and predators are the worst aspect of living in the country. Nothing can be perfect for sure.
Heather, I have always lived in fear of fire. I often day dream about what I would grab if I was there when it broke out. Would you take things of value or sentimental things? I've even considered the difference of what I would grab if I were in one part of the house as opposed to the other. I can't begin to imagine how awful a fire would be, even if you weren't at home. It would be like the ultimate loss. I am far too attached to some of my possessions. Pictures of my kids, my dear mother. It would be awful.

 

[chicken danz]

Chickies, Duckies, etc can't post for some reason and she asked me to include this link to an ebay auction.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130771548717
I have seen these and would love to have some. But then what bird would I not want to own?

 

[mommahen10]

BYC doesn't like me and I'm continually losing my posts and I'm gonna cry.

We have cords everywhere.

danz, love you and don't stop sharing your knowledge. Nothing to forgive, you didn't do anything wrong.

HEChicken, fire is scary. We about got caught in a wild fire not too long ago and it did make me think of what I would or wouldn't take if in that position. It's an aweful thing to see.

We are researching building a heated chicken watering system, probably going to use nipple waterers to save time and energy.

sunflowerparrot, how did you do the fly trap? Do you have to disassemble the chick pen to clean?

We aren't having mice, we store all feed in a non-working deep freeze, just got a second one to accomodate more feed. Sometimes I leave the extra in the back of my van until it fits. We haven't had trouble with mice getting into it in years. Usually we get 2 in the house during the cold months and that's it.

I'm not gonna type my book for the 3rd time, I take it I'm not supposed to write it as I've been sitting here writing the same thing over and over for the page to freak out and it's gone.

I gotta get busy.