Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RoyalChick]

Good to know!

Did it kill rats?

I got one rat and a lot of mice. I didn’t have a rat’s nest just a pesky rat who followed the mice in through a gap (which I have since filled in). Sadly I also got one mole.

 

[Ponypoor]

I got one rat and a lot of mice. I didn’t have a rat’s nest just a pesky rat who followed the mice in through a gap (which I have since filled in). Sadly I also got one mole.

Oh dear … unusual for moles to be above ground.

I will see what I get tonight - hoping to get the blighter - it’s causing mayhem here for me!

 

[ValarieF]

Poor Nellie is looking like a beard less Aracauna...with patchy bits of Nekkid Bird mixed inView attachment 3271623View attachment 3271624Whether she's going to go full on nekkid before the pins on her bum and neck and head, and side grow in or just shift the patches around......

I'm almost wondering if a tribe can control their moults to a degree so they aren't all in the same phase at the same time.....so there's someone who isn't miserable able to keep watch and the demand on the same type of nutrients is more spread out.

Oh my .......poor things.

 

[bgmathteach]

I have used those. I put dry cat kibble (just a couple of pieces) in as bait - works well and is less messy than peanut butter.

I never caught one with mine. Seems like they sensed the electricity or something. Later, in the same spot, caught a couple with the snap trap. However, can't catch any now - they have learned how to foil every trap type I have tried. Snap traps? Sprung every morning, bait gone, nothing in them. Glue traps? They have learned to scratch sand/dirt on them.(BTW: I hate killing ones caught in glue traps. i feel like a horrible meanie) Different kind of snap trap? Caught 1, then never sprung again, but bait gone every time. I give up.

 

[Ponypoor]

I never caught one with mine. Seems like they sensed the electricity or something. Later, in the same spot, caught a couple with the snap trap. However, can't catch any now - they have learned how to foil every trap type I have tried. Snap traps? Sprung every morning, bait gone, nothing in them. Glue traps? They have learned to scratch sand/dirt on them.(BTW: I hate killing ones caught in glue traps. i feel like a horrible meanie) Different kind of snap trap? Caught 1, then never sprung again, but bait gone every time. I give up.

Which is why I prefer poison, but this rat is outside the the feed room so can’t put any out.

Hopefully this works

 

[bgmathteach]

Which is why I prefer poison, but this rat is outside the the feed room so can’t put any out.

Hopefully this works

I can't poison them,as they could well die in the chicken run. They have tunneled under the decrepit barn. Chicken run uses 1 wall of barn as 1 wall of outdoor run. I was going to try @BY Bob 's method of dry Ice, but I don't think I can possibly cover all the access holes. Maybe I will just cover as much as possible, and the dry ice may kill off some & lessen the #? It is hard to explain, but it is a pole barn with board & batten on outside, but part was horse stalls for draft horses, and on the inside there are 2x8x 10s, and there is a gap between inside & outside the diameter of telephone poles (the 'poles' in the pole barn) that the rats can access, but I can't.

I did get the 'mother & father', but won't be long before the others are reproducing...and there are lots of them (?maybe more than one reproducing pair in a colony, so only got 1 set??)

dirty little buggars!!

 

[knoturavggrl]

While working on the run today we decided to let the tweens decide if they wanted to come out the pop door and supervise the work. Turns out they sure did want to. Unfazed by the hammering and the air tools they explored and munched bugs. The only thing that spooked them really was the air compressor coming on. They high tailed it back into the coop when that came on.

Biscotti and Cinnamon pointing out the clear OSHA missed bottlecap violation. They take their supervisory duties seriously!

Pecans fluffy butt strut

Pecan Flour and Ginger keeping eyes on our work.

 

[knoturavggrl]

Well here is Maggie today (first picture) to compare View attachment 3271340View attachment 3271343with almost exactly two years ago (Sept 29, 2020).
She was molting then too.
Another similarity with this year is that she had laid a lash egg not long before (Sept 18, 2020 and Aug 12, 2022).
She had big earlobes and wattles two years ago too. But I think they are longer today.
WDYT?

Beautiful red feathered girl!

 

[knoturavggrl]

Chikees will play while momma cleans brooder.
View attachment 3271201View attachment 3271203View attachment 3271204View attachment 3271205View attachment 3271206View attachment 3271207View attachment 3271208View attachment 3271209View attachment 3271210View attachment 3271211View attachment 3271212

Awlll sweet babies are growing up fast!

 

[ValarieF]

While working on the run today we decided to let the tweens decide if they wanted to come out the pop door and supervise the work. Turns out they sure did want to. Unfazed by the hammering and the air tools they explored and munched bugs. The only thing that spooked them really was the air compressor coming on. They high tailed it back into the coop when that came on.

Biscotti and Cinnamon pointing out the clear OSHA missed bottlecap violation. They take their supervisory duties seriously!
View attachment 3271804
Pecans fluffy butt strut
View attachment 3271806
Pecan Flour and Ginger keeping eyes on our work.
View attachment 3271805

OMG they are so cute!