Michigan

[Hillbilly Hen]

Now...remind me of this when I'm running around ready to pull my hair out okay?

We did more running and such when my boys were homeschooled than when they went to public school. Field trips and all sorts of fun things.

 

[Bianca67]

spent a good part of today painting the coop. Not quite finished but really close. Next comes the run.

 

[NovaAman]

Thats very very nice, Bianca!

Oh, I'd love that camper coop... Only, got no way to get it here for one... and for two... I'd only just buy more chickens, or hatch more, or buy more, or, or, or, SO, as much as I'd like it... How much you asking?

 

[RIRJen]

Wow! Nice coop Bianca!!


Eeyore, I'm sorry for your loss I don't have floors in all of my coops so I border the edges with raised flowerbeds.

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

Bianca, that is a nice looking coop. I love the skylight!

 

[swampducks]

Eeyore, sorry about your birds. A few years ago I lost 9 fully feathered, almost full sized Muscovy ducklings to a mink. It slipped through a crack about 3 inches wide and an inch high where the garage door hadn't fully locked against the floor. The birds all looked fine but all were very dead. Bitten on the back of the neck. None were disemboweled. DH doesn't think a mink would do that, he's not sure about the weasel, but they are almost as nasty as minks and can slip through very small spaces. A coon definitely could do that though.

.....

Still waiting on rain up here. By the looks of the radar though, we could be getting walloped tonight.

Hope so, we really need it.

Hope the rain clears up soon.......it has put a bit of a damper on the plans so far today.

My coop has a dirt floor but instead of a wire skirt around the outside, DH put the wire in the bottom of the coop and up the inside walls. So it's as though the coop is sitting in a wire basket (1/2" hardware cloth).

Are you guys talking about not having floors in your nighttime coops?

I have a floor in the coop and my run has wire that is dug two feet into the ground. I am not bragging I just wondered if people don't put floors in their coops...........are your coops on dirt?
Also, tiny mesh / hardware cloth is needed for the run at least around the bottom and into the ground. To prevent weasels which can get through chicken wire.

We just added an electric wire 6 inches from the ground and 6 inches above the top of the field fence surrounding the yard. My coop is inside that. Mainly we put it in to keep my 2 dogs inside the fence. Luna is notorious for digging under and Ziggy sails over like a gazelle. Not anymore. I figure that it may help with varmints as well. I lost 3 chickens including my roo to a fox last year, and though she's had a litter of 4 kits in a den just up my driveway, I haven't lost anything while free ranging so far this year. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the dogs are in the yard most of the time now as well.

And welcome back, Opa!

You might want to consider adding an electrified perimeter wire. Six inches off the ground deters most critters. Something about an electric current running through their nose makes them want to avoid a second encounter.

 

[EeyoreD]

Yes, welcome back Opa!

Thanks everyone.

Well I got a live trap, a 22, and 1500 pounds of cement blocks laid over the hardware cloth. Hopefully one of those things will work. If everyone survives the night I may be contacting you all about your available chickens. I just want to make sure I have Fort Knox going before I get any others.

Oh and I also have a solar charged electric fence that I'll put up but it needs to charge a bit first so it won't be ready tonight.

I'd love to catch the rat bastage so I know what I was dealing with and... for other reasons.

 

[RaZ]

You can always tell when the weather keeps people from doing their chores, the posts increase. Throw in a tragedy like chickens lost to a predator and there is a lot of catching up to do.

I just got caught up after spending the afternoon with BackyardFarmMom. She groomed my 3 dirty, dirty, shaggy dogs.

That baby robin was still here when I came home so I caught it. It has been here in the driveway and shrubs since early this morning and no adult birds are here to take care of it. Poor little thing looks stressed and a bit wobbly. I dug up some worms and added some meal worms and wildgame grumbles. I also added some chick saver to the waterer. I hope I can rehab the little one.

 

[chicken grandma]

That's great RaZ. I hope you can rehab Robin also.

Now how do I get these young house sparrows to leave. Parents fed them for a couple days but they love my porch. I am thinking a big plastic owl might be useful.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Aww. Poor robin. I wonder if he was a storm baby? We had some high winds here a day or so ago...........

I got nothing done today, and it felt good. I got to watch one of the little guys pop out of the shell, it was neat. One last one to go, i finally just said p on it and threw poor broody out for a sec to go potty, i didn't yesterday at all. Got new holes for my efforts, but she was clearly in distress so it was good i did it. I fished the yesterday babies out and showed them to eat and drink, they were very happy and it kept them occupied as they all wait on the pokey one. I candled real quick to see if anyone was in there, i saw movement so he's just a late bloomer.

Tried to get pics, no go until i get decent batteries I really hope i was wrong about color sexing though, otherwise i have 3 new roos and only one girl............................