Maine

[DwayneNLiz]

Glad I got the coop mostly finished week before last. Just got out of doctors appointment and managed to give myself not 1 but 2 hernias at work. One is definitely going to need surgery and surgeon will decide on other.
Glad it happened at work so workman comp is footing the bill. This is going to really foul up lots of things that need done though.

that is no fun hope you heal quickly

 

[LadyCluck77]

Hi everybody! Glad to hear that gardens are productive and the new pullets are laying well.

EE hens egg colors can fade from a greenish to a blue, in my experience they will be more green as she begins laying, and then repeats with each lay cycle after molts.

We've found a large family of rats with tunnels all over our fallow field. We unfortunately no longer have our little Jack Russell, which is probably how the rats got so populous this year.

Been using the electric trap and got three rats so far.

 

[lazy gardener]

CFB, so sorry you have been injured. The only good thing of it is that WC will foot the bill. Take it easy, especially after repair, so you have time to heal properly. I have a bull headed friend who pushed too hard after repair, and ended up worse than he was to start with. Don't do that!!!!

My neighbor who I gave some Wine Cap mushroom spawn to has reported her first shrooms! I'm not so lucky. her location was perfect, mine, perhaps too sunny.

Picking Fortex beans in the garden. First Blue Lake blossoms in the orchard. Have harvested garlic, some heads almost as big as my fist. Will be yummy!!! Tomatoes coming on.

 

[CoopChick719]

Hi everybody! Glad to hear that gardens are productive and the new pullets are laying well.

We've found a large family of rats with tunnels all over our fallow field. We unfortunately no longer have our little Jack Russell, which is probably how the rats got so populous this year.

Been using the electric trap and got three rats so far.

I feel your pain!! I wish my electric trap worked. I never got a single rat with it! We also bought a new trap that shoots a steel rod out when the rat sticks its head up into the trap. Nothing with that one either. I've followed all the directions for each. Removed all food so the bait was the only thing available. Argggh!!

 

[LadyCluck77]

I'd heard mixed reviews on the electronic traps. Last fall we caught one with it, and I assumed it was the only one... so we put it away... luckily it still works fine. Just needed new batteries.

The steel rod traps I've been considering for dealing with my groundhog: another pest who has moved in with the lack of dog.

We tried live-trapping, and used cantaloupe which is supposed to attract groundhogs, but we caught a skunk! It depends how smart your critter is, I guess, some individuals just sense a trap when they see it.

 

[lazy gardener]

Hey, fellow gardeners: here's a question for you. Have any of you had success with "Butterfly bush" ? Otherwise known as:
Buddleia
I planted one late last year, and it didn't survive. So, I found a couple at HD on the Dollar Racks. I just planted them, and noted that the tag says Zone 5 and south. I know it's wishful thinking that I could grow it here, but... hope springs eternal. I've put them in my orchard. Soil is heavy clay, and may actually be too moist for them. Heavily amended with compost, and mulched up to the base of the plants. My intent is to put about 6" of mulch around them for the winter, and perhaps even lay some trash bags full of leaves over the mulch.

 

[DwayneNLiz]

I feel your pain!! I wish my electric trap worked. I never got a single rat with it! We also bought a new trap that shoots a steel rod out when the rat sticks its head up into the trap. Nothing with that one either. I've followed all the directions for each. Removed all food so the bait was the only thing available. Argggh!!

that pop up trap may work but I think they are designed for moles??

 

[buckabucka]

Good luck with the rats! We tried everything. Poison helped a little, the mink seems to have solved the problem (and lining the coop floor with hardware cloth), but the mink took 7 hens as well. Worth it overall, I suppose, but I expect rats will come back before too long.

We've only had a few larger ripe tomatoes, but all of a sudden I have a ton of melon! It is a green-fleshed melon called Arava. There are other varieties out there too, but Arava is exploding this year.

 

[CoopChick719]

that pop up trap may work but I think they are designed for moles??

This trap is actually designed for rats, mice & ground squirrels. If I could get a bait that would lure them up the trap, it just might work. The lure that came with it doesn't seem to be working.

Good luck with the rats! We tried everything. Poison helped a little, the mink seems to have solved the problem (and lining the coop floor with hardware cloth), but the mink took 7 hens as well. Worth it overall, I suppose, but I expect rats will come back before too long.

Hey bucka, Sorry about your hens! Not sure I want to trade a rat problem for mink problems. I've put out some homemade poison but no takers on that either.

So I've got 4 chicks hatched from my broody so far today. Pretty sure there's 4 more eggs under her. We went on our annual camping trip 3 weeks ago and I came home to 2 girls sitting on eggs. One left the nest so I took all those but the other girl stayed put. I never saw her off the nest once.

Here's the first little one.

 

[lazy gardener]

Congrats on the chickies.