Illinois...

[Molpet]

put a wire apron around the run to discourage digging... foxes are food for coyotes so try some coyote urine.. unless they are around too, don't want them either.... trap

 

[cavemanrich]

A fox is smart and difficult to trap. They are also persistent since they know where a source of food is at. You may consider an electrified hot wire. Keep a careful watch.

 

[Faraday40]

For tonight I'm going to try a radio & one of those blinking lights (Nite guard). Both we have on hand & my dog can't stay outside all night. I never put up the blinking LED because this is the 1st time I've seen evidence of predator other than hawk. I may be ordering more.

I think I'm also going to let the dogs visit the chicken area to "mark it." I heard male urine may work & they are always up to the task.

 

[Molpet]

For tonight I'm going to try a radio & one of those blinking lights (Nite guard). Both we have on hand & my dog can't stay outside all night. I never put up the blinking LED because this is the 1st time I've seen evidence of predator other than hawk. I may be ordering more.

I think I'm also going to let the dogs visit the chicken area to "mark it." I heard male urine may work & they are always up to the task.

I put up some of the nite guard around the garden.. worked for a week or so.. then the coons figured it out... might work if you move them every couple of days..
Heard a ruckus 5 pm last night.. a young coyote was 5' from the bachelor pad, just looking he said.. he ran as soon as he seen me... seen a adult a couple Sundays ago 8 am.. the dog was tied up and I was feeding the birds, walked over to see what he was barking at...she ran as soon as she seen me

 

[Faraday40]

Last night my chickens got to listen to talk radio all night. I didn't see evidence of the fox this morning, but decided to keep the chickens in the run for a while. The same Coopers hawk was camped out in the neighbors yard in anticipation of the chicken door being opened. It has learned the schedule & makes its appearances at 8am & 7:30pm when the teen chickens walk to & from the tractors to the coop.

Brick went to his new home yesterday. It was sort of a rooster trade. They had a mean RIR cock who attacked their daughter, so I invited the RIR here for dinner. Brick is now their flock leader. He quickly found some scratch grains they threw down & clucked away. The pullets came out of their coop & gathered around the new handsome male specimen. He did his little rooster dance for them and seemed a little confused when none squatted. However being a true gentleman, he did not chase them or force his way. A few hours later he was laying in the shade in the middle of his new harem. What a happy boy! Later, they told me that Brick was standing at the coop ramp making an alarm call with all the girls inside. Such a good protector! Of course this was all scheduled on the day when all my predator issues began!

I processed the RIR & one of my mini Moose (& an older quail if that counts). They're in the freezer now. I'm down to Mr Dummy, Moose, & Moose's other son. I also have 2 silver laced orps. I can't eat any of them. Moose's remaining son is named "Mini Moose" as well as "Mr. Nice Guy." He has 2 names & many of the young ones have none. I need to quickly come up with some good chicken names for some of my birds before my kids name them. (You know by now how good my kids are at naming pets. LOL)

Orps in need of names:
a lav
a blk/lav split
Silver laced
Gold laced
blue laced
Silver laced roo (so far is being called "Pretty Boy")
and
a Penciled Rock

I still may not keep all of them, but at this point we know genders & they deserve names.

 

[DanJ702]

Looking for a Peahen to buy near Pontiac

 

[cavemanrich]

@Faraday40
Just ran across this and thought of your DD for a possible science project.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/a-drop-in-temperature-can-change-the-sex-of-chickens-1238516.html

 

[Faraday40]

@Faraday40
Just ran across this and thought of your DD for a possible science project.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/a-drop-in-temperature-can-change-the-sex-of-chickens-1238516.html

I read something similar, but I thought it had to do with chilling the eggs during storage before incubation. Interesting concept, though.

 

[Faraday40]

No fox visits last night; however a skunk dropped by. He said "Hello" to our dog. I used up my last qt of H2O2 and am running low on baking soda, so I better get to the store today. That dog just doesn't learn! Washing a skunked dog certainly wasn't how I wanted to spend my Sat night.

On sad news, Darth Layer isn't looking good. She's molting & has a pale comb. For the past few days I thought the molt & absence of Brick put her into her into depression, but now I fear it's more. She's holding her head low & seems a little lethargic, so I separated her. DL is the "heart" of our flock. She's sensitive & always gets depressed every time a chicken leaves the flock. Normally, she just stops laying for a while. Because of this, I wanted to get rid of DL a couple years ago, but DD would not hear of it. DL is DD's fav orp.

 

[Molpet]

No fox visits last night; however a skunk dropped by. He said "Hello" to our dog. I used up my last qt of H2O2 and am running low on baking soda, so I better get to the store today. That dog just doesn't learn! Washing a skunked dog certainly wasn't how I wanted to spend my Sat night.

On sad news, Darth Layer isn't looking good. She's molting & has a pale comb. For the past few days I thought the molt & absence of Brick put her into her into depression, but now I fear it's more. She's holding her head low & seems a little lethargic, so I separated her. DL is the "heart" of our flock. She's sensitive & always gets depressed every time a chicken leaves the flock. Normally, she just stops laying for a while. Because of this, I wanted to get rid of DL a couple years ago, but DD would not hear of it. DL is DD's fav orp.

Prayers she gets better.
my dog never learns either.. he killed one a couple of years ago and thinks they are great fun... I was surprised I could teach him to not play w/the chickens, but the shock collar and lots of daily training worked.. he pays no attention to them