D'uccle Thread

[mstricer]

Yeah we do that. It generally happens when I am feeding in the morning. Not fully awake and in a hurry for work. We'll get it. I'm calling around for puppy classes today. We tried to put her in her kennel out side, big house and 10x10x6 fence, she climb it in less the 3 jumps.

 

[Lorilyn Farms]

I too lost multiple chickens last year to coons. Probably around 20 or so - I lost count. I finally chased them down over the course of several nights with my coon hound (seriously, how awesome is that?). Now that they are gone, I haven't lost any more, but I also now keep my hound in with the birds to keep them safe. It's working out well so far - she's been living with them since early Spring this year.

I used to like racoons.

Now, not so much.

It's amazing how small of a hole those big raccoon bodies can fit past. So far, no coons this year but I am building a new cope and I'm tempted to put a line or two of hotwire. Has anyone tried that before? Does it work? I won't be able to completely enclose the top, so I want to discourage the varmints at the bottom.

 

[ctbagley]

It's amazing how small of a hole those big raccoon bodies can fit past. So far, no coons this year but I am building a new cope and I'm tempted to put a line or two of hotwire. Has anyone tried that before? Does it work? I won't be able to completely enclose the top, so I want to discourage the varmints at the bottom.

After losing dozens of chickens to coons we added two hot wires. One is 6 inches off the ground, the higher one is about 6 or 7 inches above that. We have electricity near our coop so we bought an inexpensive charger at Tractor Supply. (Solar chargers are more expensive). Since we did this we have had no losses to predators. BUT we also did the following: buried hardware cloth at the bottom of the pen down into the dirt about 12 inches, bent it and covered with gravel and dirt (no more digging under), We bought a roll of bird netting and twisted it and zip-tied every 4 feet and wrapped that on the outside between the pen and the electric lines. We have caught several black snakes in this netting. Once they start in, the get tangled up and can't back out. This has saved us at least a hundred eggs and several serama hens. We also took the plunge and bought one of those metal carports to use as the "bones" for our pen and it really works great. Cost about $800 but keeps the pen cleaner, no mud and no hawks. Our pen also has one layer of livestock wire on the bottom (4 foot tall wire) and then my husband wrapped the whole kit and kaboodle with poultry wire. Can you tell that I became obsessed with keeping my chickens alive...yeah I may be a little nuts

but after losing my favorite rooster to a raccoon, my hubby decided it was better to be in debt than to see me cry for weeks. He is the best!

 

[hdowden]

Yeah we do that. It generally happens when I am feeding in the morning. Not fully awake and in a hurry for work. We'll get it. I'm calling around for puppy classes today. We tried to put her in her kennel out side, big house and 10x10x6 fence, she climb it in less the 3 jumps.

i hate the climbers i have 2 and nothing keeps them in and they even dig

 

[Lorilyn Farms]

Way to go, CTBagley!!!!!!

 

[ctbagley]

I don't know if I can embed a link to a youtube video that shows cintronnen d'uccle. It is a foreign language posted video but I have never seen anything like these birds. Has anyone in the US been breeding anything like these?

Well I tried and couldn't get it to work, but look up FederfuBiges Zwerghuhn posted by HenDaisy on youtube. They look like creamy yellow butter!

 

[ctbagley]

I don't know if I can embed a link to a youtube video that shows cintronnen d'uccle. It is a foreign language posted video but I have never seen anything like these birds. Has anyone in the US been breeding anything like these?

Well I tried and couldn't get it to work, but look up FederfuBiges Zwerghuhn posted by HenDaisy on youtube. They look like creamy yellow butter!

I posted it to my facebook page under Terri Bagley...don't know much how to use it either but hope you can see it. It is really cool!

 

[Lazarus718]

I don't know if I can embed a link to a youtube video that shows cintronnen d'uccle. It is a foreign language posted video but I have never seen anything like these birds. Has anyone in the US been breeding anything like these?

Well I tried and couldn't get it to work, but look up FederfuBiges Zwerghuhn posted by HenDaisy on youtube. They look like creamy yellow butter!

I've been trying to find someone stateside that has been working with them for 6 mo. now but haven't had any luck. There is one local guy who has been breeding d'uccles (mille fleurs) but it doesn't seem like he has any ties to the "Citroen" d'uccles either. That's how you spell the name and it means "lemon". It would be awesome to get some info on them though, I plan on focusing on this breed when I move to some land next year. Here's a pic:

 

[coffeekittie]

Nice video! This is the color that I'm planning for a project - the citreon. It's a shame we don't have it in the US. Well, maybe it is, but who the heck has it? So beautiful!

 

[coffeekittie]

It's amazing how small of a hole those big raccoon bodies can fit past. So far, no coons this year but I am building a new cope and I'm tempted to put a line or two of hotwire. Has anyone tried that before? Does it work? I won't be able to completely enclose the top, so I want to discourage the varmints at the bottom.

I've seen pictures of hot lines around coops, and the owners say they work. I'd try itl