Maine

[quailtrail]

Only on a site like this do folks wait patiently for the poop photo!  Thanks for posting it!  That's how we all learn, how ever, when I saw the close up of the poop, I thought I could smell it!

Jazor, congrats on the chicks.

my cat seems to be back to normal today.  He's eating fine, and I haven't found any puddles.  I'll continue to keep an eye on him.  He's quite the hunter, so I'm guessing that he may have got ahold of something that was an irritant.  I'm hoping that that was all that it was, and won't be a long term and expensive problem!

We cranked up the wood stove last night to take the chill off... When we got up this morning, I found that my 12 y.o. grandson had the fan in his open window all night, BLOWING IN.  No wonder I was so cold last night!  It was 62 degrees in the house this AM!

Hope the cat is feeling better. My dog that did that for a few days then just stopped.

Yes as a nurse I am always talking about poop...so this is everyday for me lol!!!

My kids and I are rhe same...window open snow coming in or ac on when its 40 out with a fan too...my husband doesn't like us 6 mo out of the yr.

 

[Mainechick168]

Weird as it may sound, you should inspect the scat. If it's full of hair (or looks...pretty hairy) it's most likely a fox. It wouldn't be too much larger than a barn cat's droppings either. Lots of times a fox will mark territory like this so it will seem like an oddly placed deposit, but to them it's territory. Stumps, clearings, rocks, dirtpiles, anything of the sorts.

Coyote droppings look much more like a typical pile a dog would leave behind, albeit smaller.

Makes sense, right? A little crude, but it's how the predators work.

Speaking of inspecting scat....don't do it before breakfast

I've got a thing about knowing everything that's going on around my house, and when I find a track...or in some cases scat, that I can't 100% identify, I go to google... One morning, I did this, while eating breakfast....identified the animal ( skunk) but lost my appetite...for a few minutes

 

[buckabucka]

Wow. Busy thread today! Oh, wait..... It was just "that guy" again.

Congrats on the new chicks! I will be interested to see what the exotic turns out to be.

 

[quailtrail]

I wish I could stay on all day!!!

 

[klf73]

I need to rehome my lf project choc orp roo. He is too loud and isn't very nice to my husband or son.
Free

 

[CoopChick719]

Only on a site like this do folks wait patiently for the poop photo! Thanks for posting it! That's how we all learn, how ever, when I saw the close up of the poop, I thought I could smell it!

Jazor, congrats on the chicks.

my cat seems to be back to normal today. He's eating fine, and I haven't found any puddles. I'll continue to keep an eye on him. He's quite the hunter, so I'm guessing that he may have got ahold of something that was an irritant. I'm hoping that that was all that it was, and won't be a long term and expensive problem!

We cranked up the wood stove last night to take the chill off... When we got up this morning, I found that my 12 y.o. grandson had the fan in his open window all night, BLOWING IN. No wonder I was so cold last night! It was 62 degrees in the house this AM!

Too true, LG! Glad to hear your cat is feeling better! I closed all the windows and put another blanket on the bed but didn't turn the furnace or pellet stove on.

Succes! Arrived safe and sound, now it's time to start figuring out who is who...



I've fixed the image on my PC so it's not sideways; however it won't upload correct. I'll take more later. 10 Barred rock, 6 red star, and one "rare exotic". To be honest, they move around too much in that little box to count. I know there are 6 red star, but half the time I count 10 black ones, sometimes 11, sometimes 8...when I get home and put them in the brooder we will know more.

Originally Posted by Jazor

I find that my job seriously negatively impacts upon my real life. I, too, could sit and watch chickens scratch and eat things and chat amongst themselves all day long!

I totally agree mlowen!!

Speaking of inspecting scat....don't do it before breakfast

I've got a thing about knowing everything that's going on around my house, and when I find a track...or in some cases scat, that I can't 100% identify, I go to google... One morning, I did this, while eating breakfast....identified the animal ( skunk) but lost my appetite...for a few minutes

Yeah I hear ya MC! I did this the other day during lunch.

 

[Mainechick168]

I've just go to say- what a huge difference having chicks raised by a broody as opposed to raising them in the house! Already, I notice that they have feathered out much fast than the ones we had in the house last year, and they seem to not get cold...ever. They are already foraging like champs, with the help of mom- I saw one of them take down a huge grasshopper the other day!

My little project for today will be retrieving a couple of eggs on my willies laid under the shed....of course, in the very middle, out of my reach.....

 

[lazy gardener]

MLowen: that fence in the foreground of your pic showing the leghorns in the ?asparagus... is that a cattle panel? if so, will it actually keep them from going through?

Also, here's an other containment vs. predator question: In the dead of winter, Would the chickens be predator safe in a cattle panel enclosure skinned over with poly during the day? I'd like to add an other 8' of panel to my existing fort knox structure (which is covered with 1/2" hdw. cloth including a 2' skirt pegged down to the ground all the way around. The added panel structure would be covered only with poly. they'd be allowed free access to it during the day, and shut in fort knox at night. I hope to be able to allow them into the added sun room during the day, even when I'm not home.

Follow up question. I have a deep cycle marine type of battery to power my electronet fencing. Would it hold enough charge to be effective (in the winter) powering my converter with a couple of strands of electric 1/2" tape, in addition to a 40W bulb type of heater or aquarium heater for their water which would be hooked up to a thermostat and only come on when the temp is below 32 degrees? I'm thinking I'd probably be a fool to try to hook up electric fencing in the winter. Any one want to second that thought?!

Follow up question: How many of you out there in Maine use some type of water heater during the winter? What do you use, and how well has it worked for you? I have to at least buy or make an other waterer as the one I have will crack at the first sign of ice. (It's one of those cheap plastic white and red gravity feed 1 gal. waterers from TSC.) I'm not crazy about buying galvanized as I don't like the idea of leachates, and not crazy about the open rubber tub either, b/c it will be in their loft, and I DON"T want to have to chip a littercicle out of their loft in the dead of winter. Ideas?

On the plus side... my electronet fencing is adjacent to the garden. It has effectively repelled coons all summer except for one early excursion into the garden where they pulled down a single stalk before it had even silked. Usually, they DECIMATE my corn, to the point where I almost talk myself out of growing it every year.

 

[lazy gardener]

No free range time today!

I went out to let the girls out for range time this morning, and just before I came in, I heard quite the coyote song going on up at the end of my road.

 

[MEMama3]

Quick question: is it "being broody" if she refuses to let me collect the eggs, but stays off the nest the rest of the day after I've booted her? We've been doing this three mornings in a row now.