Coronavirus, Covid 19 Discussion and How It Has Affected Your Daily Life Chat Thread

[MROO]

My first predator loss (unless you count the neighbor's dog & a weasel way back when I was a kid) was to a hawk that hit while my back was turned ... literally feet away! It was so quick and silent that I didn't notice until I went to put my new Nankin flock back in from their first-ever free-ranging adventure. Instead of finding ten little red birds, I found nine ... and a tiny pile of pretty orange feathers. Apparently, the hawk only took her to the other side of the coop for his/her take-out meal. The next day, I found the other youngsters playing keep-away with poor little Rue's skull. THAT's when I cried!

Our current issue is an insidious predator on its own, and I don't know how to combat it. One of my smaller runs, which is now incorporated into my larger bachelor run, has a recurring issue with coccidiosis. No matter what we do to that run, whenever we have a long stretch of damp weather, we make really good friends with the Corid bottle. I can't move the run and the boys really need that space. I'm afraid to keep dosing them with Corid, for fear of the vitamin B deficiency it causes. Does anyone have any other brilliant ideas for saving The Boys from the nastiness hanging over their heads ... or rather, lurking under their feet?

 

[SnapdragonQ]

So sorry for all the losses!!

It’s been similar here. Never had any issues but then all of a sudden the last few months I’ve lost tons.

We did have a hawk take one a few years ago and have had it try again as well as had raccoon and fox try to get in the pen, but no successes until the last few months. And we also lost a bird to I think old age or sickness or both last summer. Just dropped dead.

But that was it in 4 years. Now 4 1/2. Even with free ranging. Although I did stop free ranging for a while after the first hawk attack but still. Only one predator loss.

But then now I’ve lost 6 chickens in just a few months as well as two betta fish, which I know sounds stupid but I was really attached to them, particularly one.

I lost two chicks to two different predators a few months ago and then I just had to put a chicken down a few weeks ago due to illness and now of course the three losses yesterday.

It’s just a lot at once.

It's a harsh thing to say, but is true-
If you are going to have livestock, you are going to have deadstock.

It's a part of farming on any scale that you just cannot escape.

And I know it's been a rough few months. If it helps...last year I lost my 2 bettas that I was also attached to. One was a very flashy oriental looking one with fancy fins and the other was a smart and beautiful indigo boy. Sushi, the orange and white one, struggled for a few hours and just went belly up. A few months later Blu, unbeknownst to me, was snitching the cory's zucchini wafers off the bottom and gave himself bloat even though I was in the habit of feeding tidbits of frozen peas weekly. Nothing I tried could save the little glutton. Now I just have moss balls in the tank.
Last summer I lost my female donkey to old age and just two weeks later my old man parakeet. He was my first parakeet and a rescue. He was 8. Last year was a rough one here.
Not trying to make light of your losses at all, just relating. It's always tough to lose a pet. Doesn't matter if it's fins, feathers, or fur.

 

[BullChick]

Lay down some plywood? Add a big pile of rocks and gravel.

 

[SnapdragonQ]

My first predator loss (unless you count the neighbor's dog & a weasel way back when I was a kid) was to a hawk that hit while my back was turned ... literally feet away! It was so quick and silent that I didn't notice until I went to put my new Nankin flock back in from their first-ever free-ranging adventure. Instead of finding ten little red birds, I found nine ... and a tiny pile of pretty orange feathers. Apparently, the hawk only took her to the other side of the coop for his/her take-out meal. The next day, I found the other youngsters playing keep-away with poor little Rue's skull. THAT's when I cried!

Our current issue is an insidious predator on its own, and I don't know how to combat it. One of my smaller runs, which is now incorporated into my larger bachelor run, has a recurring issue with coccidiosis. No matter what we do to that run, whenever we have a long stretch of damp weather, we make really good friends with the Corid bottle. I can't move the run and the boys really need that space. I'm afraid to keep dosing them with Corid, for fear of the vitamin B deficiency it causes. Does anyone have any other brilliant ideas for saving The Boys from the nastiness hanging over their heads ... or rather, lurking under their feet?

Would putting down really deep litter or mulch help?

 

[FortCluck]

It's a harsh thing to say, but is true-
If you are going to have livestock, you are going to have deadstock.

It's a part of farming on any scale that you just cannot escape.

And I know it's been a rough few months. If it helps...last year I lost my 2 bettas that I was also attached to. One was a very flashy oriental looking one with fancy fins and the other was a smart and beautiful indigo boy. Sushi, the orange and white one, struggled for a few hours and just went belly up. A few months later Blu, unbeknownst to me, was snitching the cory's zucchini wafers off the bottom and gave himself bloat even though I was in the habit of feeding tidbits of frozen peas weekly. Nothing I tried could save the little glutton. Now I just have moss balls in the tank.
Last summer I lost my female donkey to old age and just two weeks later my old man parakeet. He was my first parakeet and a rescue. He was 8. Last year was a rough one here.
Not trying to make light of your losses at all, just relating. It's always tough to lose a pet. Doesn't matter if it's fins, feathers, or fur.

The one thing I’ve learned about owning any animal is to be prepared for the losses you will encounter. It’s rough and heartbreaking.

 

[MROO]

Lay down some plywood? Add a big pile of rocks and gravel.

I thought about putting a piece of plywood over it. It's an old sandbox fort (my coop and run is a renovated wooden playset) so it would be easy to lay a wooden floor over the edges. My concern with that is creating a haven for the friendly (NOT) neighborhood groundhog - or worse, rats! We're going to try gravel, next, I think. Sand wasn't enough and mulch brought in a nasty mold that cost me three of my beautiful boys - never again!
What kind of gravel? Nothing sharp, for fear of bumblefoot. I can get pea gravel fairly inexpensively, but how small? And what about crusher-run, like we use for driveways? Would that have anything toxic in it? I also had an idea of using natural wood discs - crosscuts from firewood. We have a fairly large downed tree that would make rounds about 8-12 inches. I thought about putting down a layer of those & filling in with sand or oyster shell - like pavers. It's a lot of work ... but until everything opens up again and the second wave runs through, I really don't have anywhere pressing to be ....

 

[ShrekDawg]

It's a harsh thing to say, but is true-
If you are going to have livestock, you are going to have deadstock.

It's a part of farming on any scale that you just cannot escape.

And I know it's been a rough few months. If it helps...last year I lost my 2 bettas that I was also attached to. One was a very flashy oriental looking one with fancy fins and the other was a smart and beautiful indigo boy. Sushi, the orange and white one, struggled for a few hours and just went belly up. A few months later Blu, unbeknownst to me, was snitching the cory's zucchini wafers off the bottom and gave himself bloat even though I was in the habit of feeding tidbits of frozen peas weekly. Nothing I tried could save the little glutton. Now I just have moss balls in the tank.
Last summer I lost my female donkey to old age and just two weeks later my old man parakeet. He was my first parakeet and a rescue. He was 8. Last year was a rough one here.
Not trying to make light of your losses at all, just relating. It's always tough to lose a pet. Doesn't matter if it's fins, feathers, or fur.

Nah I don’t think that’s harsh or making light of it at all. You are right!!! And especially free ranging is going to result in losses. I have a hard time knowing what to do because they absolutely love it and it makes them so happy, plus makes the eggs taste way better, but of course they are at a huge risk free ranging so idk. I kept them in today and probably will for a few more days or week or whatever until the coyotes move on.

Yesterday I also saw an absolutely MASSIVE bird of prey but it didn’t seem interested in the birds at all. Just flew right by. And it had a tether on its leg so I think it was one of those falconer type ones especially since I’ve never seen that kind around here before. Assuming it’s well fed.

Anyway, so sorry for your losses!!! mine was a Dragonscale and so pretty. Mostly blue with some read on fins and scales and a tad bit of green. Think he got dropsy or bloated somehow but I’m not really sure. Draco was soooo personable, smart, and entertaining. The other one I lost, Flame, was just a regular red veil tail but he was cool too. But Draco was the best. always swam over to visit me.

 

[ShrekDawg]

The one thing I’ve learned about owning any animal is to be prepared for the losses you will encounter. It’s rough and heartbreaking.

It’s definitely sad. and especially the more animals you have, the more likely there are to be deaths. Sad but true.

 

[MROO]

Would putting down really deep litter or mulch help?

Litter works, but it breaks down pretty quickly in there & has to be dug out. It's a great source of compost, but also creates a lot of muck. I was using pine bark nuggets and mulch with some success for the past year or two, but the last load brought in a yellow mold, and I lost Herman the House Rooster and two of my Nankin cockerels. I REALLY don't want to go that route again!

 

[FortCluck]

It’s definitely sad. and especially the more animals you have, the more likely there are to be deaths. Sad but true.

That definitely is true. I have lost a few pets the past few months and thats not including my meat birds (those are food not friends)