Maine

[superchemicalgirl]

2 more kills (2 traps) in the new snap traps last night.

 

[buckabucka]

Glad you found a dog, LG.

SCG, you are kicking rat butt! Do you know what brand this poison is? We had one kind that the rats ate. The container was later left (sealed up) indoors at our camp, where over winter the squirrels shredded the container and hauled off every bit. Now we have new bait, and it never gets touched.... I'm backing off on my rat battle until my vacation when I have more time.

I'm dealing with a sick hen right now. She is our favorite, -Crossbeak. Normally she is the first one to the dish, even in the dark, but 2 days ago she didn't come out. One year she had a 24 hour spell of hunched behavior with no appetite, and I was hoping that was all this was, but it's still going on. I swear she weighs about 3 ounces. First day I left her alone, and yesterday I syringe fed her some egg yolk mixed with kefir. She looks at the food dish, but is not really eating. She is almost 6 years old, so she's done well here, but I still hate to let her go.

 

[lazy gardener]

Sounds like it's her time.

 

[oldfartfarmer]

HI, I'm from standish,
I got 6 comets from longhorn last year and started my flock,
still getting 2 eggs per day--the other 4 are collecting welfare over the winter,
they took a week to come outside after the snow hit, i snowblow paths for them in my back yard,
been feeding them Black sunflower seeds man they love those,

was wondering if any others from maine might have any Brahmas,Cochin,Black jersey giant, or EE Chicks
this march/april for sale as I'm wanting to expand my flock,

cheers
John

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Glad you found a dog, LG.

SCG, you are kicking rat butt! Do you know what brand this poison is? We had one kind that the rats ate. The container was later left (sealed up) indoors at our camp, where over winter the squirrels shredded the container and hauled off every bit. Now we have new bait, and it never gets touched.... I'm backing off on my rat battle until my vacation when I have more time.

I'm dealing with a sick hen right now. She is our favorite, -Crossbeak. Normally she is the first one to the dish, even in the dark, but 2 days ago she didn't come out. One year she had a 24 hour spell of hunched behavior with no appetite, and I was hoping that was all this was, but it's still going on. I swear she weighs about 3 ounces. First day I left her alone, and yesterday I syringe fed her some egg yolk mixed with kefir. She looks at the food dish, but is not really eating. She is almost 6 years old, so she's done well here, but I still hate to let her go.

Sorry about your hen. Keep us posted.

The poison is JT Eaton peanut butter. Their apple also gets good reviews.

 

[buckabucka]

Thanks for the bait info, SCG.

Crossbeak has sour crop. I didn't think so the first day, but this morning it became clear. I know sometimes sour crop is a sign of some other more sinister problem, but since I've had good success treating it in other hens, I started her treatment this morning. She's caged in the house now so I can keep an eye on her and deliver her meds. I figure it's worth a shot anyway. Tonight I finally saw her drink some water, and she attempted a taste of moistened feed, - not sure how much she got. It's pretty surprising she hasn't starved to death, but she's a tough old bird. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

 

[lazy gardener]

HI, I'm from standish,
I got 6 comets from longhorn last year and started my flock,
still getting 2 eggs per day--the other 4 are collecting welfare over the winter,
they took a week to come outside after the snow hit, i snowblow paths for them in my back yard,
been feeding them Black sunflower seeds man they love those,

was wondering if any others from maine might have any Brahmas,Cochin,Black jersey giant, or EE Chicks
this march/april for sale as I'm wanting to expand my flock,

cheers
John

Hi John. You might be interested in what I'm breeding. I have an EE roo over a mixed flock. My breeding plan is to breed a flock of birds that will yield a colorful egg basket while maintaining a small comb. Some of my chicks are sex linked. Egg colors include: white, cream, tan, varying shades of brown, including some with freckles, blue, green and olive. Combs include rose, pea, walnut with the occasional recessive straight comb thrown in. Will be hatching this spring.

 

[CoopChick719]

How far are you from Vassalboro (Waterville/Augusta)? I have some samples of poison. If you don't have a covered bait trap I also have some samples of the bag poison (the rodent eats into the bag so you know it's been taken up and dies within 48 hours) that you're welcome to try. Very toxic to birds, so you want to use it outside the bird area.

I don't want to jinx myself but I am starting to get ahead of the rodent population here. I contacted a pest company, explained my predicament, and they sent me a bunch of things to try. Surprisingly this morning I had a mouse in my rat snap trap (the first night I tried them)!! I also had rats eat the entire block out of the bait station. I replaced it last night and will see tonight if they chewed on it, yet. I have not tried the bag poison because the new traps and the new bait (covered, in station) appear to be working.

I will have a full report on what has worked for these rats without married parents in a week or so, when I have enough data.

I work in Augusta near the Capitol. I would like to try the bag poison, if it's not too much trouble. Do you want to PM me to work out details? I've found an exit hole behind the coop where the birds can't get to right now. That might be a good spot to try it. Those pics of your bait stations..can't believe how quickly they emptied them. The Rat Zapper is on tonight with a ritz cracker smeared w/peanut butter & bird seed topping as bait. The PB crackers I've used the last 2 nights were taken. There are 2 new holes in the pen near the feed tray so I hope to have a confirmed kill tomorrow morning. I also dug out 3 snap traps & smeared them w/PB as well. Fingers crossed they've caught something!

Thanks, Widget! I knew that if anyone had a lead on a dog, it would be you! I drove almost 2 hours at 5 AM this morning to stand for over an hour and a half in the freezing cold so I could be in line to adopt a puppy from a shelter at the southern end of my state. Then, I had to wait 3 hours till the shelter finally opened up so I could pick her out. She's a Jack Russell/mix. I think she has some hound in her. She just about made my ears bleed when we started driving home. There was some baying mixed in with the yipping. From all I'm seeing, she's going to be an awesome dog, and very easy to train. I hope she'll be a safe presence around my chickens to help deter hawks.

Congrats on the pup!! Jack Russell & Hound sound like no match for a rat! Can't wait to see the pics.

HI, I'm from standish,
I got 6 comets from longhorn last year and started my flock,
still getting 2 eggs per day--the other 4 are collecting welfare over the winter,
they took a week to come outside after the snow hit, i snowblow paths for them in my back yard,
been feeding them Black sunflower seeds man they love those,

was wondering if any others from maine might have any Brahmas,Cochin,Black jersey giant, or EE Chicks
this march/april for sale as I'm wanting to expand my flock,

cheers
John

Welcome John! I had 3 comets when I first started. Boy, did they like to hunt Mice & frogs! Wish I still had the old girls!

Crossbeak has sour crop. I didn't think so the first day, but this morning it became clear. I know sometimes sour crop is a sign of some other more sinister problem, but since I've had good success treating it in other hens, I started her treatment this morning. She's caged in the house now so I can keep an eye on her and deliver her meds. I figure it's worth a shot anyway. Tonight I finally saw her drink some water, and she attempted a taste of moistened feed, - not sure how much she got. It's pretty surprising she hasn't starved to death, but she's a tough old bird. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

Glad Crossbeak is treatable, bucka!

 

[oldfartfarmer]

I work in Augusta near the Capitol. I would like to try the bag poison, if it's not too much trouble. Do you want to PM me to work out details? I've found an exit hole behind the coop where the birds can't get to right now. That might be a good spot to try it. Those pics of your bait stations..can't believe how quickly they emptied them. The Rat Zapper is on tonight with a ritz cracker smeared w/peanut butter & bird seed topping as bait. The PB crackers I've used the last 2 nights were taken. There are 2 new holes in the pen near the feed tray so I hope to have a confirmed kill tomorrow morning. I also dug out 3 snap traps & smeared them w/PB as well. Fingers crossed they've caught something!


Congrats on the pup!! Jack Russell & Hound sound like no match for a rat! Can't wait to see the pics.


Welcome John! I had 3 comets when I first started. Boy, did they like to hunt Mice & frogs! Wish I still had the old girls!

Glad Crossbeak is treatable, bucka!

my comets whipped out the tick population, snakes, frogs mice, and i watched them gang up on a squirrel, it barely got away,
i get them the seed block, and watched as a chipmunk sat on top eating,go off and come back filling its cheeks,
they didn't mind sharing with him and his wife,
but when it came to the squirrel ohh boy it was war,

 

[oldfartfarmer]

Hi John. You might be interested in what I'm breeding. I have an EE roo over a mixed flock. My breeding plan is to breed a flock of birds that will yield a colorful egg basket while maintaining a small comb. Some of my chicks are sex linked. Egg colors include: white, cream, tan, varying shades of brown, including some with freckles, blue, green and olive. Combs include rose, pea, walnut with the occasional recessive straight comb thrown in. Will be hatching this spring.

Yes, I'm interested in a couple, come spring,