Hello from New Mexico.

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When I had my last 3 dogs no coyote came around after they killed a couple. Including the alpha pair. Now with my goofy pup the coyotes have started coming around again. I usually shoot them with a predator pellet rifle and it scares the crud out of them lol. I had 1 coyote jump 6ft in the air and run off from me shooting it in the butt. I try my hardest to keep coyotes off my land so my family pets and the wildlife have a safe place to be. I also shoot any venomous snakes that come over here. I really don't want them around my 2 babies. Too dangerous. I work hard to keep my place safe. So my chicks should be pretty safe thanks to my houdini dog I had before lol. We put 2ft of concrete then attached chicken wire under our back fence to prevent him from taking apart the bottom of the fence lol. He was a very smart dog lol. I would love to be able to raise gambles but I can't afford a license, and everything it would entail. Think I'll just stick with my chickies lol.
 
I don't bother killing the coyotes, at least no yet. LOL But venomous snakes, yes. We have Rock Rattlers up here. They are incredibly invisible!! LOL I nearly stepped on one in the quail aviary a few years ago. Wow, had the quail not be circling this thing, I would have stepped right on the darn thing. Snakes gotta go. LOL Not too many Rattlers up here, I see maybe one a year up here.
 
See that's what the cats are for well and rodent control lol. I haven't had a problem with rattlers thanks to these little boogers. Also they do help keep the rodents down. So far they've brought up a couple of baby rattlers, and a lot of mice. I just need to train them not to bother the chickens. My indoor/outdoor old man isn't bothered by them. He sniffed them then went on his way. He's pretty laid back though, now the 2 young indoor/outdoor little sh ehumm brats are another story. They want to play with them. I've sprayed them with water, popped their butts and they still try to play with them. Just wait until these 6 weigh over 10lbs each. Then the cats will learn hehehehe. Yes I'm a mean momma. I really don't try to shoot to kill the coyotes. I just want to scare them away from the house. Between my young children that think anything dog shaped is a sweetheart like our pup, the cats, an 11 month old lab pup that thinks anything and everyone wants to love and play with him, and the chicks I'd prefer to keep the coyotes away from the house. I lost a couple chickens to them when I first got them and didn't know a darn thing about keeping the little boogers. So a pointed pellet to the butt usually scares them off. Then they tell their friends and family and they stay away and everyone is safe. I like the wildlife around me. I just don't want the wildlife trying to kill and eat my domesticated wild things lol. Well today is the day I finish tearing down my old crummy coop/run, and really start building the new coop, and securing it, and the back yard. That means I get to load up on my meds to keep my crps from flaring up. Oh lucky me, but it's gotta get done. Oh and I changed my mind on the A frame style. Decided it would be too hard to keep clean so going to try and building an open shed style.
 
Well I finally got out there and am almost done building my new coop. I'm building it on a concrete slab that has a roof already on it. It's the original fenced area the previous owners of our land did for their dog. My chicks have pretty much outgrown every place I can safely put them. My smallest chick is finally almost feathered in and it's time for them to have a bigger area. I have shade cloth on most of the uncovered run area, and I'm going to add hardware cloth to the other section. Then they will have the coop, a shaded area and a sunny area untill they're big enough to be let loose in the yard also. I'm going to add hardware cloth to the top of the walls so there will be plenty of ventilation, and use buckets for egg boxes when they get old enough. I'm going to use shavings for the bedding inside, and good old New Mexico dirt everywhere else. I'm using 2x4s as roosts, and I will have a door I can get in and clean, collect eggs, and look around in general. I'm also going to have a smaller door for the chickens to walk through. I just need to do the front wall, and door with a pop door, bedding and the hardware cloth and I am done. All of them have names and my oldest said we can only eat Mr. Meany lol. I ended up with 2 boys and 4 girls. The other little boy is named Zuma, then you have Madea, Chickoletta, Sweetie, and Little Bit. I only got to name Madea because she's the biggest girl and doesn't let Mr Meany pick on the others lol. Dang I love my boys and their imaginations. Both of my boys are enthralled with these baby chicks.
 
Thanks guys. Now to take my oldest to preschool, and jail my youngest and finish this darn coop lol. What's the best way to get my chicks to want to stay around the coop besides showing them where their food and water is? I'm going to start using my big feeder and waterers when I put them out there because these small ones just aren't cuttin it. I'm filling the waterer 3 times a day. It's been in the upper 70s and lowerer 80s here lately. I'm filling the feeder 2 times a day thanks to growth spurt. They all finally have feathers. Little Bit is almost completely feathered in finally. S/he is still the smallest but makes up in being goofy lol. Mr. Meanie still tries to rule. Madea still tells him off too. Zuma is the calmest little boy. That's why he gets to stay. Chickoletta, and Sweetie follow Madea's lead. I've started putting a little ACV in their water to help with the heat, and to help with electrolytes. Little Boogers are lovin the weeds I've been putting in their "jail". I can't wait to put them in their "new/reclaimed"" coop. Every piece of this coop I'm building is either used pallets, or reused wood, and stuff I've had here on our land. The only thing I'll have to buy is a door latch. Even the hinges are reused. Screws and nails I had from previous projects, oh and the sun shade is new. So I'm estimating I'll spend about $50 in all. I'm going to pull some of the hardware cloth off the old coop to reuse on this one.
 
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My first ever baby duck! Too bad it is the only egg out of 12 that survived. Can't wait to get home from work to see it all fluffy!
 

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