Maine

[superchemicalgirl]

I've finally caught the rat plague, ******** are faster than I can aim my 22 and they seem to be wise to the traps.

I see a barn cat in my future.

Welcome to the war. We have a lot of feral cats in the neighborhood, the rats and mice don't seem to be bothered by it all.


Today I dealt with the worst bumble foot I have ever seen. It's a female turkey that I have that's very prone to bumble. She had it last year and I definitely let it go too long - dealing with bumble in a chicken is one thing, multiply that by the size of a turkey and the stupidity, and well... I let it go too long. We got the plug out today, drained some pus and put her in the basement in a cage. Oh, and BF clipped her toenails, too. I hope she makes it, she's sweet (unless she's being touched and then she's possessed by daemons).

 

[Hiltonizer]

Welcome to the war. We have a lot of feral cats in the neighborhood, the rats and mice don't seem to be bothered by it all.

You're not too far away from me IIRC... so that's not good news :-\

 

[superchemicalgirl]

In Vassalboro.

 

[buckabucka]

About bumble foot, can you tell someone has it by looking at the top of the foot (swelling, etc.?). I have a rooster that limps slightly. I've looked at the bottom of his foot without my glasses and couldn't see anything (I can see pretty well without glasses ). The limp seems a little better, but not totally gone, -maybe a leg issue? Is bumble foot easy to spot if they have it, or do I need a close inspection under good light? I've never dealt with it before (and it sounds like I'd rather avoid it).

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Bumble is simple to spot. On a part of the foot - usually the bottom of the pad - will be a (usually) round dark scab. Once the bumble progresses the foot (or toe) swells, but the scab will remain. The scabs are usually pencil eraser sized but can be bigger or smaller. It is very easy to identify. To treat it you need to cut the scab (and the nasty plug behind the scab) out. If you have a rooster limping, with no visible external injury, he probably sprained/strained it.

 

[buckabucka]

Thanks SCG. Glad to know it is easy to identify. I think he must have a strain, especially since he is a little less gimpy than he was last week.

 

[CoopChick719]

I've finally caught the rat plague, ******** are faster than I can aim my 22 and they seem to be wise to the traps.

I see a barn cat in my future.

Sorry you've caught the rat plague too! I've started taken my feed in at night. My waterer is on a pulley system so I raise that to the roof of the run.

Today, I went out and trenched 25' for my skirt around the run.  Hope to get an other 25 - 40' done tomorrow.  Who needs a gym membership.  I'm thinking about planting mint or lemon balm along the west edge over the skirt.  Any feed back whether and why that would be a good or a bad idea appreciated.

I have both mint & lemon balm near the coop. I'm sure you're away they're both invasive. My mint hasn't really taken off yet. The girls do eat it sometimes but not often.

Rat Update--Since I started bringing the feed in at night, the rats are eating the PoP & Fluff. Do you think they'd eat floxglove leaves if I blended them with peanut butter?

 

[Hiltonizer]

In Vassalboro.

South China here

 

[Cknldy]

I haven't been on in a long time- so much goes on! Sweet mint is planted in raised beds around some of my coops. When I see parts growing towards the ground outside of the bed I just pluck it off for tea. Keep a watch around the raised bed to make sure it isn't trying to be sneaky and escape to everywhere but the bed. I recently planted lemon balm, sage and 2 types of mint on the bare banks along our 1/4 mile driveway to help stop erosion. At least if any of the 'invasiveness' occurs it will smell good and be useful in many ways I'd definitely go for an herb mix planted around the coops.

 

[lazy gardener]

I've never found lemon balm to be invasive, unless you count the many seedlings. Not a problem for me, as I love the aromatics. Mint? Different story. After we had the yard work done last year, I salvaged some peppermint that didn't get totally obliterated by the bull dozer, and put it... of all places... in my garden, knowing full well that I'd live to regret it! But, I wanted to be sure I had some to work with. So, I can dig that up b/fore ground freezes, and put some in the skirt trench as I back fill. I'm getting about 25' of trenching done/day. (that's all my body can handle) Broke the starter to the tiller, so that's not available to help me. Just as well, I'm finding the ground is too boney and root infested to be able to safely break up the ground with it. I could just imagine it getting away from me and getting wound up in the run fencing. I don't think the mint will be much of a problem around the run, b/c as it spreads past the skirt, it will just get mowed. My biggest worry was that it would provide cover for small predators to work unseen on getting through the skirt. Chiefly weasels and rats, and squirrels.