Maine

[Branch Chickens]

We saw our first raccoon last night (also under a bird feeder), and now that I see that paw print, I think I know what made the muddy print on the galvanized food bin outside.

I'm pretty sure the girls are safe inside their coop. It's solid wood all around, including the floor, with locked doors, and it is now elevated 3 feet off the ground. But I worry about early morning and evenings. What hours are coons usually active around here? I'd never even seen one here before last night.

 

[Heatherschix]

I wonder if you use coyote urine to scare away coons, fox, etc... would it attract coyotes if you have them? I have heard them in the past in the woods out back.

I love Maine for all of it's wildlife, but geez, I'm thinking I want to build a brick coop.

 

[IZZYBELLA]

I'm sure there are raccoons around here, but fox have been the worst for us this year. I see them around constantly and my neighbor lost two of her hens to one this past weekend. She free ranges them all day. I haven't been letting my girls out of the run unless I'm out with them and close by.... boy do they squawk every time I go by. They want out!

LG: I bag my dog's poop while we are on walks and I have a week's worth of supply ready for trash pick up on Wednesdays! If only we lived closer.

Vardo: I know how you feel about securing the coop. I fretted so much over it in the beginning. Oh, who am I kidding, I still do! We did the hardware cloth skirt around the coop and run. I am fairly certain they are secure in the coop at night, but the run isn't as good as I'd like to see it. Nice set-up for the brooder, btw!

 

[Heatherschix]

We saw our first raccoon last night (also under a bird feeder), and now that I see that paw print, I think I know what made the muddy print on the galvanized food bin outside.

I'm pretty sure the girls are safe inside their coop. It's solid wood all around, including the floor, with locked doors, and it is now elevated 3 feet off the ground. But I worry about early morning and evenings. What hours are coons usually active around here? I'd never even seen one here before last night.

I just chased one away the other night at about 6 -6:30.. I don't have my birds out yet, but I might not have locked them up at that time. I'm thinking lock down needs to happen much sooner.

 

[anyasmifya]

LG~ Yes, that's what I have been doing squishing the beetles. Luckily, the beetles here some slow. lol.

Buckabucka~ I did read about Surround but it seems awfully expensive. It is kaolin clay so I'm thinking about trying to find some fairly cheap kaolin clay online. Yay, amazon!

 

[lazy gardener]

Rocky had some ham last night, but did not trip the trap. My back fence posts were secure this morning, so he left that alone. I'd love to do some target practice with him. Evil creature. But i do think i'd rather do business with him than with a fox.

 

[ducklucky]

Well now, a lot to talk about here! Ash, what were you rooked into doing another hatch for? I had great success with the duck hatches, only lost 3 eggs midway out of about 75 or so, so very successful, but I am DONE for the year. All healthy and in good family homes, so thrilled!

Let's see, beetles, bugs and pests. Get thee some guinea hens! Once your garden is semi established, they don't bother with the plants, all they want is bugs, bugs and more bugs. Strict protein eaters. If you get them as very young keets or hatch yourself, you can tame them down a bit. Mine are about 6 weeks now and out in a pen, with places to hide when frightened, branches to perch on and lots of pine branches over top of the netting overhead. They are coming right up to me at feed time, so think they will maybe come in nights when called. Whatever, trying to make it as attractive as possible for them, and can't wait to set them out in a few weeks. The friggin' weather, how many false springs/summers is Mother Nature going to tease us with??? I swore after this winter that I would not complain about what comes next, black flies or anything ever again, but really...we had a year just like this a few years back, let's just hope it isn't a repeat.

Waiting for the guineas to hatch, had some ordered from Strombergs who told me I was at the top of the list, now they tell me they won't even ship them 'til the end of July, so worthless. Canceled with no problem at all. I have orders for all that are in the 'bator, so no problem there, should start pipping next week. But thrilled with the success of the duck hatching, nice looking babies, and have actually heard back from a few families who bought some, how enamored they are with them, so super, super happy. Always nice to get some positive feedback!

Has anyone had success in candling guinea eggs? I can see the air bubble, but that's about it. They are about 3 weeks set now, would think I could see some movement, but really dense shells. Is there some secret to it, or should I just leave them be and hope for the best?

Had to put our favorite duck down yesterday. The golden pup had obviously broken her neck and no amount of nursing could save her, she was starving, ate peas and did try making mush that was easy to swallow, swim therapy every day, but she was just getting skinnier. So had to do the chop and put her in the animal graveyard, which gets bigger each year. The pup was returned to the breeder, she was just too ingrained as a field dog, but did not flush birds, she mauled them. Don't need that. The other golden watches over our birds and protects them, they come right up to her and snuggle for a nap. Amazing difference. Broke our hearts to have to put our Sweet Pea down, but it was for the best. Tears.

Garden is mostly in, have some pie pans hanging to keep the ducks and chickens out for now, they stay clear.

Oh, have you all seen those blinking solar lights that are supposed to keep varmints out at night? They are only about $6 a piece on Amazon, called Nite Guard. They blink intermittently all night, no batteries, and they really do go ALL night long. Supposed to scare off all pests, raccoons, rats, fox, even owls. We shall see, we have had a bad rat problem, get into the chicken coop at night and eat all the food. The girls are smart enough to stay up on the perch. We set traps and get one every single night, so a bit of a problem, they eat all the food, but so far have not bothered with the hens. Everyone tells us to put D-con in the rat holes, but I hate to use poisons at all. The traps seem to do a good job. And those lights seem to be helping as well. Has anyone used them? They are supposed to last for up to 3 years, year round, no need to bring them in for winter. Sounds too good to be true, but we shall see.

Let's all hope we have a nice summer, we need this little bit of rain right now, and the Farmer's Almanac says it will be suddenly summer soon and stay that way. Digits crossed!!!

 

[buckabucka]

Anya, yes, the Surround isn't that cheap. We bought 25 pounds (the smallest size Fedco offered) for $50, but it is sealed in buckets and will keep forever. You need to get the right sprayer though.

I have a gallon size sprayer that has a wand and nozzle. One morning I mixed up the Surround and headed out to the squash patch. I sprayed one leaf and the nozzle clogged. I very patiently took it all apart and sprayed out the pieces with the hose, reassembled and tried again. A few more leaves, it clogged again.

I took it apart, much less patiently, cleaned, reassembled, tried again. By the third clog, I went ballistic! I dumped a bunch of the liquid into a tray and in my fury began dunking and flinging the liquid with my hands. By the time I finished, my clothes and hands were totally covered in white clay, and it looked like some sort of crazy paint explosion occurred in the hoop house.
Later, I tried a new quart sprayer that had come FREE with an online purchase, and it worked like a charm!

Izzybella, I have been very lucky here with predators so far, and I attribute that in part to neighbors whose chickens are less secure. That may work in your favor.

 

[lazy gardener]

Bucka, i do wish i had been around for your Surround surround! I think i'd have pulled up a chair, and sat down with a nice tall glass of iced tea for some good entertainment! How well does the Surround stay in place when it rains? I'm guessing that you have to reapply after a good rain?

The cat was harrassing a huge garter snake yesterday. It was also very fat, so, i'm guessing that it was pregnant. Did you all know that garter snakes give live birth??? Interesting trivia for the day. Well, i grabbed that snake, and put it in the green house. Hoping it's a she who gives me lots of babies. First i showed it to the chickens. They were all gathered around it doing their "Huh???" cluck.

One of my cockrels is now mounting the pullets. And an other one is constantly clearing his throat. Why can't they reach butchering size before the roo theatrics start??

 

[lazy gardener]

Sorry Ducklucky about your duck. Getting rid of the pup probably saved you many seasons of frustration. Sorry also that the pup didn't work out for you.