Michigan

[vicki2x2]

HELP! I'm mmmmeeeelllttttinnngggg!

Somebody turn off the heat!! Just praying next week is like last week, about 70 ish, as we will be at fair and if it is like this, we will be in serious risk of losing animals and maybe a few people!

 

[wyliefarms]

Yes it is hot out there!

This is officially the worst year ever for Wylie Farms poultry. Rachel went out to do chores this morning and found all but one of her three-month old bantams dead. Killed by either a mink or weasel, all of the heads chewed off, one body eaten. 20 total killed. Everyone here is sad and crying off and on.

there are 2 maybe quarter size holes in the wall of the coop, the only place the weasel/mink could of gotten in. This coop is split in half with ducks, and cages of other birds. All of them ok. so I am gratful the other 15 or so fowl didn't get killed too. Not sure what we are going to do tonight. I have a small varmit trap, but the wire size is the same as the hole the milk/weasel got into.

Off to try to get some work done. Keep cool everyone!

 

[wyliefarms]

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I am hoping the same thing for the following week when the Livingston County fair will be happening. We have a record number of market birds and turkeys and showbirds. They are worried they won't have enough cages and room for all of them! I can see with the economy how people have switched to small animals to raise.

 

[wyliefarms]

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[michickenwrangler]

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How awful!

 

[vicki2x2]

Well I am done whining about the heat.

My cousin posted today that according to CNN he is in the hottest place in the world right now, it is 125 degrees! He just started his second tour of duty, leaving behind his new wife of a year and their new 4 week old baby boy to go protect our freedoms in that hotbox across the world in full uniform and gear and I am whining because I don't have central air?

Thank you Josh, praying you are home safe and sound before you know it!

(where is our patriotic smiley guy???)

 

[GotChicken?]

Wyliefarms: I'm so terribly sorry about your bantams. Your Rachel must be absolutely devastated.

Are you sure there is no other place the weasels could have gotten in from? If the holes you described are the diameter of a quarter, that seems too small for an adult weasel to get through; their skulls would be bigger than the hole. So maybe young ones, or an extremely clever adult? Hope you find a solution. A weasel decimated my small flock when I was a kid, and it took me twenty odd years to start raising them again because it was so heartbreaking.

 

[vicki2x2]

I am sorry to Sarah, that would be heartbreaking, especially for the kids. Have you considered a LGD? We haven't lost anything since we got ours and they aren't even with the birds, they are with the goats but are enough of a deterrent. The dogs and goats are farthest from the house and main barn and in between are all the smaller coops and pens. In the main barn we keep the radio playing 24/7 which has always helped too.

 

[SillyChicken]

Thanks Wylie... actually the second egg today was a bit bigger today!

Anyone want to guess the temp today? We reached 100.4 degrees in Ann Arbor! I'm thinking thats the highest so far! A really small rain cloud moved in this evening and you could feel it cool down. I don't mind the heat... I think I rather it stay warm than get all the cold ..... we'll be getting that soon enough! I went out tonight and got a couple kiddie pools for my fur kids so hopefully they'll enjoy that.

We should probably be getting some good storms tomorrow afternoon.

Sorry about your birds Sarah, hopefully you can catch the culprit!

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

Sarah, so sorry to hear about your losses.

How is the hen with the amputated wing doing?

My FIL was up and walking today. Just from the chair to the door a couple of times but tomorrow he will have to walk down the hallway. We got to take our little dog to see him today.

I promised not to complain about the heat since last summer was too cold to enjoy much. I am thankful that DH is on vacation this week and not having to work in that hot factory.