Illinois...

[Justso]

I also had a rough week with some losses. Our dear, sweet, blind Digger (silver duckwing OEG) had to be put down. When she developed cataracts in the spring I thought for sure she'd pass due to inability to eat & drink. However, she solved the problem by not abandoning her last chick. Her seeing-eye chick stayed by her side & helped her navigate the world. Digger gained her weight back and even resumed laying eggs. Her bantam group accepted her (& her giant orp daughter acted like a personal body guard if they didn't.)

Over the last week I noticed some bullying of Digger during the evening transition. Her orp baby is starting to grow up (finally) and showing interest in sleeping with the big girls at night. Digger usually slept in a corner by the nest boxes but the broody hens are currently sleeping in there, so Digger got displaced. My guess is either in the morning some one picked a fight with Digger, or perhaps she was sleeping in an area where rodents could have nibbled on her during the night. She was already disabled, so that put a target on her back, & blood can cause other birds to peck/attack. For chickens, any weakness can & will attract predators, so to protect the flock, birds must remove the weakness. Thursday morning, I found my poor, bloody Digger hiding behind the feeder. She was shaking & cold & probably in shock. She couldn't see well enough to avoid attacks. I thought about how difficult the upcoming winter would be on her, and how we already had to carry her around and make sure to not change the arrangement of things. I decided that the wounds were pretty bad and I didn't want to drag things out. I held her for a while and cried before getting up the courage to put her down. Although the logical choice, these decisions are hardest part of owning chickens. The only good news is that her cataracts were just that. I saw no signs of tumors or liver spots or any irreg organs.

Our dear little Digger:View attachment 1943921 View attachment 1943922 View attachment 1943924 View attachment 1943925 View attachment 1943926 View attachment 1943928



To make matters worse, the hawks have been terrible this week. After multiple attacks, I am missing my Cream Crested Legbar today. Yes, I complained about her hideous photos and evil-eyed glares, but I still wanted her. I spent 5 months growing her up and never even got an egg. Her comb all of sudden grew bigger & darker, so there was a chance she was about to lay. We searched this evening when I noticed her missing but had to give up when it got dark. She's pretty good at hoping fences, so there's a small possibility she's just lost. We have a lot of owls this year - on top of the other 4-legged, nighttime predators. I can't say I'm optimistic about finding her in the morning.
View attachment 1943930

So, we lost 2 birds in 2 days. I'm feeling very low right now.

My good news: (Trying to remind myself that life's not always sad.)
The kids did well on their report cards and Parent/teacher conferences went smoothly. DD's play is tomorrow and the last football game (for the band members) is tonight, so my driving schedule should calm down a little.

Also Coge's eggs may hatch at any time this weekend. That will at least cheer DS up.
View attachment 1943934

Gosh, what the heck is going on! Very sorry to hear about this, you did a great job with that blind hen. Your chickens are lucky to have you.

 

[Faraday40]

My heart skipped a beat this afternoon when I spotted a long black critter in the yard - standing over & eating something. As I got closer I realized it was just the black squirrel that's been plaguing our yard. (1st time I saw one was last year at my niece's house in West Chicago. I guess they're moving into our area too.) They look a little creepy to me & seem faster than the reg squirrels.

Chickens are safe!

But, Does anyone else have them in their yard?



Not chicken related:
Do you remember my son's Halloween costume?
the apple tree

Well DD decided that she's going to wear a flannel shirt, boots, braided hair, and carry an axe. ..... She's going to be a lumberjack just to mess with her little brother.

 

[homeschoolin momma]

She's going to be a lumberjack just to mess with her little brother.

HA HA HAAAAA!

 

[NotAFarm]

We have black squirrels.
We didn't when we bought the property 20 years ago. We just had gray and fox squirrels. The black squirrels showed up 3 or 4 years ago. I think some one brought them from a nearby town that has them.
I hope they don't displace the native varieties.

 

[Faraday40]

I hope they don't displace the native varieties.

I admit I also worry about that. They seem "faster" and a bit territorial. I'm not much of a squirrel fan to begin with. They have eaten every apple & pear from our trees & our neighbors' trees for the past 4 years. I really wish I had a chicken friendly dog again. Then the dog could stay outside to deter hawks AND squirrels.

 

[Molpet]

I first seen a black squirrel last year on the east side of Joliet. I googled them and it says they are a color phase of gray squirrels. So not an invasive species

 

[NotAFarm]

We have many osk and hickory trees so the squirrels have not been a problem to the fruit trees. They discovered the hazelnut bushes I planted the second year they had nuts; they don't share and are happy to harvest them before they are ready for me to harvest. If I ever need them, I'll net the bushes. For now, they can have them.

 

[cavemanrich]

You can say I'm OVER-RUN with squirrels. There are daily 20 plus that come for dinner. YES I do feed them daily BOSS.
In picture are at least 10 to 12 if you search . Half of them are black. They are referred to as Mountain Squirrels, and are not afraid of my cats.

There are 6 separate feed stations in this front yard. The back yard has 7 more spots where I place BOSS.
I had sunflower and corn sprout from my potted plant containers all summer.

 

[chickendreams24]

About half of the turkeys went in the coop. Hope they don't get sick

Had a rat trap in a box to catch Chipmunks in the garden. It was in the yard this morning. A mouse leg in the trap and coon prints on the box.

Better the coon goes after the trap than your birds.

Oh goodness why would the turkeys get sick?

Really, very sorry to hear about your loss. I too lost all adult hens but one in years past in almost the same situation. It's so very hard to think that we have mink running around, but there you go the proof is in the result.
I hope you can get replenished soon.

Oh my and here I thought it was just me. I went my whole life living relatively close to water and never seeing nor hearing of mink in the area. Now although I think it's the same one or maybe a couple they are a plague.

I did open up some of the birds to check for blackhead before disposing(note this was a few days ago now) no liver lesions at all and bruising had become visible to all their necks and upper chests. It appears to be undeniable now. Still not sure how it managed to get through such a small gap. DH is worried we have a weasel too. Ugh I hope not.

Note the mink we have seen before and been face to face with I have felt was a male due to its very large size. It could almost have been a fisher but I'm not the best with judging weight. I really feel like it was just a very large mink. That said if it was a fisher we will shoot it for sure. LoL as they aren't said to exist in our area you can't kill something that doesn't exist.

I wish I had some photos of how close we got to this thing accidentally when it tried to avoid us ran out one door of a building and came through the doorway right in front of me. Naturally we didn't have the gun.

Then while I ran for the gun and (then DH2B) watched it did basically the same thing to him. Note it showed no fear or aggression and just looked at us with curiosity.

Now I know years and years and years ago there was a mink farm near where we live but it was miles away. It was also I believe back it the 60s to 80s at the latest. There is no way a mink from the farm could still be alive.

What really perturbs me is that we only ever lost 1-3(only lost three in one day to it once) so why now kill 9 birds. Which brings me to this thought. Not much was known about mink in the wild.

There is a man with. YouTube channel called minkenry that raises and uses mink for hunting particularly rats and muskrat he uses the mink in conjunction with dogs. Now he has seen that his mink will stay with their litter mates for a time once out on their own better eventually going totally solitary. It's also usually this time of year. This scares the heck out of me. What if it's a whole group of them maybe 3-5 they'd be smaller and less experienced so more prone to going after easier prey and they would likely kill more.

Ugh I hope I don't have a breeding female producing litters here.

 

[Molpet]

Better the coon goes after the trap than your birds.

Oh goodness why would the turkeys get sick?



Oh my and here I thought it was just me. I went my whole life living relatively close to water and never seeing nor hearing of mink in the area. Now although I think it's the same one or maybe a couple they are a plague.

I did open up some of the birds to check for blackhead before disposing(note this was a few days ago now) no liver lesions at all and bruising had become visible to all their necks and upper chests. It appears to be undeniable now. Still not sure how it managed to get through such a small gap. DH is worried we have a weasel too. Ugh I hope not.

Note the mink we have seen before and been face to face with I have felt was a male due to its very large size. It could almost have been a fisher but I'm not the best with judging weight. I really feel like it was just a very large mink. That said if it was a fisher we will shoot it for sure. LoL as they aren't said to exist in our area you can't kill something that doesn't exist.

I wish I had some photos of how close we got to this thing accidentally when it tried to avoid us ran out one door of a building and came through the doorway right in front of me. Naturally we didn't have the gun.

Then while I ran for the gun and (then DH2B) watched it did basically the same thing to him. Note it showed no fear or aggression and just looked at us with curiosity.

Now I know years and years and years ago there was a mink farm near where we live but it was miles away. It was also I believe back it the 60s to 80s at the latest. There is no way a mink from the farm could still be alive.

What really perturbs me is that we only ever lost 1-3(only lost three in one day to it once) so why now kill 9 birds. Which brings me to this thought. Not much was known about mink in the wild.

There is a man with. YouTube channel called minkenry that raises and uses mink for hunting particularly rats and muskrat he uses the mink in conjunction with dogs. Now he has seen that his mink will stay with their litter mates for a time once out on their own better eventually going totally solitary. It's also usually this time of year. This scares the heck out of me. What if it's a whole group of them maybe 3-5 they'd be smaller and less experienced so more prone to going after easier prey and they would likely kill more.

Ugh I hope I don't have a breeding female producing litters here.

Much rather provide a box lunch for the coons than a turkey dinner

Mink can get in a small hole. A rat trap in a box would probably work, look up weasel box trap... That's what the coons lunch box is.