Maine

[superchemicalgirl]

I never got anything in the electric traps, except spiders.

There has been no more rat activity here, I think I caught it right when they were moving back in again. I do highly recommend the JT Eaton black plastic snap traps. They get mice and rats.

 

[MainerChick]

The only thing I don't like about the black plastic snap traps is partial kills I've seen where the wounded rat drags the trap away. I had one drag the trap thirty feet or so away from where it was set before it died. So if you can put it inside a cage or other drag away prevention, it's great, and prevents accidental chicken injury as well.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I've never had these traps get a partial kill; I've had them about a year.

 

[MainerChick]

Maybe it's because we have oversized nuclear powered rodents I'm glad you haven't had the same issues, just putting the thought out there. It's also possible I got a somehow defective trap.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I've had rats so big I caught them in a Have-A-Heart trap meant for raccoons.

 

[mosse71]

hello from the ''other'' maine. st. john valley aroostook county! have 6 waiting to lay s.l. wynadottes and 2 chinese geese. haven't insulated the coop but i bank it high with snow and -20f or less i put out a heat lamp for them. the geese just laugh at the cold! also feed lots of extra corn and sunflower seed in winter to give them extra calories. got down to -30 a handful of times 2 yrs. ago and the birds were fine. they're tougher than we give them credit. i put a small trough heater in a shallow metal bowl and the water stays lukewarm even on the coldest days.

 

[Hiltonizer]

hello from the ''other'' maine. st. john valley aroostook county! have 6 waiting to lay s.l. wynadottes and 2 chinese geese. haven't insulated the coop but i bank it high with snow and -20f or less i put out a heat lamp for them. the geese just laugh at the cold! also feed lots of extra corn and sunflower seed in winter to give them extra calories. got down to -30 a handful of times 2 yrs. ago and the birds were fine. they're tougher than we give them credit. i put a small trough heater in a shallow metal bowl and the water stays lukewarm even on the coldest days.

Bienvenue!

 

[mlowen]

hello from the ''other'' maine. st. john valley aroostook county! have 6 waiting to lay s.l. wynadottes and 2 chinese geese. haven't insulated the coop but i bank it high with snow and -20f or less i put out a heat lamp for them. the geese just laugh at the cold! also feed lots of extra corn and sunflower seed in winter to give them extra calories.  got down to -30 a handful of times 2 yrs. ago and the birds were fine. they're tougher than we give them credit. i put a small trough heater in a shallow metal bowl and the water stays lukewarm even on the coldest days.

I, too, am very comfortable with how comfortable the chickens are at sub-zero temps. We don't get quite so cold here in the "Deep South " but it's been in the teens below zero a few days at a time and they've done just fine. I have lots of ventilation and no drafts in my coop. I bring out hot water each morning, and with plastic/tarps on the open sides, the run gets warm enough to keep the water liquid most of the day.

 

[Widget]

Been trying to catch up with all the posts. Guess that will teach me to be away from this forum for more than a few days.

Anyway is anyone interested in some Buckeye pullets? They are about 25 weeks old. I have three available. I also have a trio of Icelandics plus an extra roo looking for a new coop. The girls are black and one roo is white with black highlights and the other is black with a bit of white and tan. They were hatched this past spring. The roos are good natured but I don't need four of them so two are being evicted.

 

[chickery-do]

When do chicken and ducks start laying eggs?