INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[ChickCrazed]

On the mice, why not set traps in areas that the chickens don't access? Also, there is the "rat zapper" that would be safe in the chicken area too....

I tried the rat zapper, they peed on the sensors and the $50 thing only worked for 36 hours. I tried setting traps but I have hundreds of mice at this point and it wasn't making a dent (plus it gets expensive when you are dealing with so many).

ETA I did try cleaning the zapper, it says to clean it after every use but they managed to pee down in the crevices and I couldn't get it working again.

 

[ChickCrazed]

I don't want to start a fire storm here, but I thought this was interesting.

I am interested in whether this could catch on, obviously there is a segment of the population that is already mis-trustful of crops with engineered traits (e.g. GMO), but engineered milk could mean that we could reduce the number of dairy cows being kept in pitiful, inhumane conditions.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...ab-grown-milk-biotechnology-gmo-food-climate/

Also, for those that are not really sure why there is such a push towards engineering food, it is currently estimated that the world population will double by 2050. We are also facing a shortage of useable farmland, mostly due to urban sprawl that has resulted in a lot of farmland being turned into subdivisions. The two facts together mean that we have to make sure that we are maximizing yield on the land we have, and are developing crops that can be grown in soil that conventional crops currently can't germinate and grow in. We have to figure out how to produce more crops to support population growth estimates.

**I don't see this as meaning you have to support or consume GMO crops, only understand why they are important. I think it is important that everyone make the decision for themselves and I fully support those of you who choose not to consume them. I just also hope that you support that some of us DO support GMOs and also have the right to consume them.

 

[twoboystwogirls]

So I had an exciting Saturday, I was in the barn cleaning stalls when a couple of chickens came hurtling in and hit the hay stack. I went running outside just in time to see a small whitish hawk start flying back up into the sky. No chicken fatalities luckily. I have seen hawks flying all over out in my "hood" but this is the first time I have seen one go for my birds. It couldn't have been that much bigger than my chickens!!!! The chickens have been staying under cover since.

Operation barn kitty has been a failure so far. It appears I just got two extra mouths to feed and no payoff. I was excited when I started finding a corpse a day in the barn, then realized they were moles and not mice. I still told myself that at least my mole population was decreasing.....then spotted the female cat bringing a mole into my property from the field across the street......so basically she is bringing extra rodents INTO the barn.......

I finally reached a breaking point in my shed/coop. The mice have eaten into all of my plastic storage tubs and I have to throw all of my egg cartons, medications and supplies out. I can't reach into anything in either my shed or my barn without uncovering a nest and having at least 6 mice run out. It is freaking disgusting. My coop reeks of mouse droppings. There are a good 200 mouse pellets on my nest boxes in the coop the day after I clean. I was hoping the cats would help but I can't continue like this, i can't touch anything in my coop without worrying about catching a rodent carried disease. So I broke and put mouse poison in the loft of the shed/coop. It is safely out of reach of the chickens who are being strictly locked out of the open area of the shed for a while. There is obviously a risk of the chickens eating a mouse that has been poisoned but they have not shown any interest in eating mice so I am crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. I tried snap traps (too many mice, not even making a dent), buck traps (same thing), humane traps, homemade poison and cats (worthless).....it is my last ditch attempt to re-claim my shed. 24 hours after putting the poison out I had 13 mouse corpses clearly visible in the people part of the shed, I can only imagine how many more are in the loft or in the corners, under boxes etc. My shed will smell TERRIBLE for the next few weeks, but hopefully i can keep the rodent numbers manageable with the other control methods once I knock the population back.

I will feel terrible if I accidentally poison a chicken but am really at my wits end with the issue and am willing to risk it at this point.

Last week our chickens (we have 19) cornered and killed a mouse outside. We didn't know what the fuss was. My husband went over and they were attacking a mouse. I couldn't believe it. We also have mice periodically in the coop. Nothing to the extent that you are talking about but I will see droppings here and there so I keep everything sealed. They haven't ate into any of my plastic tubs. I feel for you. That is awful. I haven't used poison b/c the mice drag it everywhere and I don't want the chickens eating it but my husband found some poison at TSC that is inside a plastic case and the mice can't drag it out. It is supposed to be safe for kids and pets because the mice have to go inside to eat and then leave and die. He put them out in the spring and I have not seen any mice yet. He is going to buy some more to put out for winter.

 

[Leahs Mom]

What's the brand on the mouse poison? (And I still would probably have to be totally overrun to use poison since the chickens and other animals eat slow moving dying mice, unfortunately.....)

 

[Leahs Mom]

Oh...and has anyone tried using the bucket with water in it with the spinning can with pnut butter?

 

[Leahs Mom]

(Like these....)

 

[ChickCrazed]

(Like these....)

I did, I didn't have much success with it. I caught a couple and then had one of them give birth in the bucket so it caused them to multiply!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Bummer. I was hoping to hear good about the bucket trap.

 

[racinchickins]

Hello all,
We have 4 EE's born Apr 13th that haven't laid yet. Is that normal, or am i doing something wrong?

Also, we have 3 roosters, but need to get rid of two that have begun to be aggressive to my little girl. Is it normal for roosters to go after children but not adults? She hasnt done anything wrong to them.

Since EEs are basically mixed breeds, it can be hard to predict with laying. And now the daylight getting shorter every day is another factor inhibiting laying. I had some girls hatched in March last year that didn't lay until this spring. If your birds are healthy, and getting good food, they will lay when they are ready.

It is definitely possible to have a roo go for kids but not adults. They are closer in size to the chicken, so he may think he can dominate them where he won't try with you. I personally will process any roo that shows human aggression because I have friends that bring their kids over and I don't want any incidents.

 

[ChickCrazed]

Bummer. I was hoping to hear good about the bucket trap.

It was a promising idea, but I only caught like two over the course of a month. I had peanut butter and sunflower seeds as bait.

I can pretty much honestly say I've tried EVERTHING before resorting to the poison (zap traps, snap traps, bucket traps, humane traps, cats). I did go with the kind that is in the plastic animal proof case, so I am hopefully minimizing even more the odds of directly poisoning an unintended animal. A secondary poisoning is possible, but my research does say that it would take a large animal eating a few mice before they would consume enough that way - most of the unintended poisonings reported are from an animal getting directly into the poison, not consuming a mouse that has been poisoned.