Granny's gone and done it again

[pertnear09]

I know what the one in the middle was made for.

Looks like something you'd wop somebody over the head with and say "giddapp".

 

[microchick]

Just hope Brer Rat doesn't have a Sis, Mum, Pop and cousins to! If I get a visitor they usually send a party alert via social media

I suspect there was a pair as I was seeing waaaay too much tunneling for just one to be guilty. My coop is an old shed that we resided and put metal siding on the inside partially also. It is sitting on a concrete pad that is cracked and buckled and the whole shed has been knocked off the foundation on one corner before we took possession. It's solid just a bit verschimmelt as my father would have said, God rest his soul. Recently it has started leaking shingles but as I told my husband, it just ain't worth putting a new roof on. I'm just hoping the danged thing will outlive my chickens but I'm having my doubts.

Anyway. After stuffing bait down tunnels and blocking them off I saw a decrease in new tunnels so I'm hoping one of them has moved on to that place where vermin go after they leave this realm of existence leaving it's mate for me to deal with.

I read somewhere that mice wont stay where there is a rat around. IDK if its true

Oh that's just mean, making me choose between mice and rats. I have been at war with a mouse invasion for almost a year. Danged things were so bad they were coming out at night and chewing the tail feathers off my roosters to take back into the walls and make nests. I finally had to put out bait and the mouse die off was astounding. I couldn't keep up with them in order to keep the dead bodies picked up and inevitably my hens were getting ahold of them. I think they were eating enough small ones that I lost a lot of hens that simply keeled over without any symptoms. Either that or the mice gave them some infection. But since the deaths only occurred in hens I'm suspecting the poisoned mice did them in.

I bought Tin Cat mouse traps where mice go in and don't come out, put bait in them, and early on in my 'war' it wasn't unusual to find 25 to 30 mice crammed in a trap.

Then a miracle happened. About July I saw the unmistakable south end of a northbound blue racer snake disappear down one of the mouse tunnels that had been dug under the aging concrete pad. Okay, so I was torn, remove the snake or let him or her do it's thing under the coop. It never made a move towards the bantams so I was inclined to leave it be. I had seen a blue racer in the run at one point and it was a good 2 foot plus long. The mouse problem had disappeared and I didn't know why until I saw the snake. I still see a mouse or two running around but have the Tin Cat traps set inside and bait outside in holders that I pick up every morning and check for leakage or dead mouse bodies but I suspect my living rent free for services rendered border has decided to sleep off the mouse gluttony for the winter under the concrete floor or I wouldn't be seeing the field rats trying to set up housekeeping now.

So do rats keep mice away? Saw one tonight in the bachelor coop when I locked up and one yesterday in the spare coop so maybe the ones that are left aren't afraid of rats?

 

[troyer]

I've never tasted pork rinds but I would assume I couldn't chew them.
Well Robert ate a ton of the meat and made sure the rest went in the fridge and Tom ate everything including the green beans! I thought the meat was a little dry myself.

I can only imagine . . . .

 

[pertnear09]

Went to my grandson's first birthday party today. The year sure went by fast. He's never let me hold him once but today he walked up to me and held his arms up for me to pick him up, twice. That was surprising and of course his mom was there to get a pic.

 

[lovesfarms]

Went to my grandson's first birthday party today. The year sure went by fast. He's never let me hold him once but today he walked up to me and held his arms up for me to pick him up, twice. That was surprising and of course his mom was there to get a pic.

Have to frame that one!

 

[microchick]

Went to my grandson's first birthday party today. The year sure went by fast. He's never let me hold him once but today he walked up to me and held his arms up for me to pick him up, twice. That was surprising and of course his mom was there to get a pic.

Looks like Gram-paw got the best birthday present of all and it wasn't even his birthday!

Kiddo is a real cutie, Pert.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

I suspect there was a pair as I was seeing waaaay too much tunneling for just one to be guilty. My coop is an old shed that we resided and put metal siding on the inside partially also. It is sitting on a concrete pad that is cracked and buckled and the whole shed has been knocked off the foundation on one corner before we took possession. It's solid just a bit verschimmelt as my father would have said, God rest his soul. Recently it has started leaking shingles but as I told my husband, it just ain't worth putting a new roof on. I'm just hoping the danged thing will outlive my chickens but I'm having my doubts.

Anyway. After stuffing bait down tunnels and blocking them off I saw a decrease in new tunnels so I'm hoping one of them has moved on to that place where vermin go after they leave this realm of existence leaving it's mate for me to deal with.

Oh that's just mean, making me choose between mice and rats. I have been at war with a mouse invasion for almost a year. Danged things were so bad they were coming out at night and chewing the tail feathers off my roosters to take back into the walls and make nests. I finally had to put out bait and the mouse die off was astounding. I couldn't keep up with them in order to keep the dead bodies picked up and inevitably my hens were getting ahold of them. I think they were eating enough small ones that I lost a lot of hens that simply keeled over without any symptoms. Either that or the mice gave them some infection. But since the deaths only occurred in hens I'm suspecting the poisoned mice did them in.

I bought Tin Cat mouse traps where mice go in and don't come out, put bait in them, and early on in my 'war' it wasn't unusual to find 25 to 30 mice crammed in a trap.

Then a miracle happened. About July I saw the unmistakable south end of a northbound blue racer snake disappear down one of the mouse tunnels that had been dug under the aging concrete pad. Okay, so I was torn, remove the snake or let him or her do it's thing under the coop. It never made a move towards the bantams so I was inclined to leave it be. I had seen a blue racer in the run at one point and it was a good 2 foot plus long. The mouse problem had disappeared and I didn't know why until I saw the snake. I still see a mouse or two running around but have the Tin Cat traps set inside and bait outside in holders that I pick up every morning and check for leakage or dead mouse bodies but I suspect my living rent free for services rendered border has decided to sleep off the mouse gluttony for the winter under the concrete floor or I wouldn't be seeing the field rats trying to set up housekeeping now.

So do rats keep mice away? Saw one tonight in the bachelor coop when I locked up and one yesterday in the spare coop so maybe the ones that are left aren't afraid of rats?

You need the "bucket of blood".

Went to my grandson's first birthday party today. The year sure went by fast. He's never let me hold him once but today he walked up to me and held his arms up for me to pick him up, twice. That was surprising and of course his mom was there to get a pic.

Aww... I'm gonna just start calling you Kris. haha He is a little cutie and GP ain't too bad either!

 

[Granny Hatchet]

 

[pertnear09]

Looks like Gram-paw got the best birthday present of all and it wasn't even his birthday!

Kiddo is a real cutie, Pert.

Yea, I was surprised for sure and what a day for it to happen.

 

[pertnear09]

View attachment 3979205

Lunch?