Minnesota!

[cmom]

duluthralphie-I love your egg pictures! I never get tired at looking at all the eggs everyone posts pictures of!

Keeping predators at bay is a full time job with them coming from all sides literally. Aerial and ground. My brother in law, who shares a property line with us, tells me he has bobcats, martens and weasels regularly. The weasels have made it to our house and we accidentally trapped 3 this summer and the kids saw one just a couple weeks a go. This fall we had 4 or 5 bald eagles take up a temporary residence in our trees for a couple weeks. That was really interesting. We lost a rooster this summer to a hawk that wasn't afraid of my DH. Then the coyotes & wolves have been heard but not seen yet. Pretty sure that is where on of the drake rouens went. Ah yes, the challenges of the Minnesota land.


Switching subjects here............I wanted to ask about how many hens can a rooster properly care for? can you put 2 roosters in one flock or do you need to separate a larger flock into 2 smaller ones? As of right now I have 25 hens. I plan to get a rooster for them. DH and I are considering getting more chicks and we are not sure if we can add them at some point to this flock or do we start a whole new flock with a rooster of their own? How many of you manage more than one flock and how do you do it?

Sorry for rambling on so. Just trying to get some ideas and see what might work for us. Thanks.

The usual is 1 male to 10 females for good fertility. I have a few more with each male. I usually only have 1 male per coop and pen. I have had 2 males but it was really an accident and they didn't fight so I left them. They were RIW's.

 

[Rhetts]

Hi Scott. Is it crazy to suggest putting in a game camera in the coop to see who is laying what eggs? I would LOVE to find out who is laying and what egg belongs to them. I know crazy thought?

Just tonight as I was doing evening chores a deer came into our yard. I know they have been coming in because they basically are licking the feed bowls of the geese and ducks clean. I started putting the dishes away each night but sometimes they get over looked. Well, tonight the deer came into the yard as I was working on putting the geese and ducks in their house. He stood there staring and snorting and stomping at me. I thought that perhaps he just might come at me but then it just turned away. WHEW! I wasn't in the mood to take on a deer!

 

[duluthralphie]

I lost a CX to a mink around Dec 1st.

I do not have martin here, I did when I was way up north, They are nasty critters. Did you or you Hubby trap this past fall?

That would help keep the numbers somewhat down and it is good fun and brings in a few bucks. I know not everyone likes it so I mention it hesitantly.

As far as the deer goes, I think it is late enough now the snorting and pounding was all posturing. The rut should be long over by now.

I have 2 roosters in my coop with 30 hens. I had 4 in there, but alas 2 died...my favorite two.

They all were hatched together and I never really had a problem in the coop.

I have a third rooster he is the CX and lives with his 2 girls, I am going to give him 2 more girls in the spring (rainbows)...


Then I plan to get a rooster or two from EJB they will get their own coop and hens. so all in all I hope to have between 5-10 hens with each rooster. It could be less as I am not sure if I want to breed all the pullets. I am going to play cupid and decide who falls in love with whom.

 

[starbuck123]

For some reason a chicken version of 'the dating game' just entered my head. . Bachelor number 1 enjoys long dust baths.....

 

[Rhetts]

I lost a CX to a mink around Dec 1st.

I do not have martin here, I did when I was way up north, They are nasty critters. Did you or you Hubby trap this past fall?

That would help keep the numbers somewhat down and it is good fun and brings in a few bucks. I know not everyone likes it so I mention it hesitantly.

Are mink something between a weasel and martin? I have never seen a martin in person but I was warned they are pretty bad. Actually, we do not trap as a sport. I was trapping what I thought were gophers this summer (turned out they were Franklin Ground Squirrels) my garden took a real beating from them. Then it was the underground yellow jackets in the fall that got our undivided attention. My brother in law (same one I mentioned before) has a beaver problem on his property too. We don't have a waterway but they do and I guess they are causing all kinds of trouble. I, too, suggested they trap the beaver for the pelts. They decided not to though. I am sure the spring will renew their thoughts on the matter.

 

[duluthralphie]

Are mink something between a weasel and martin? I have never seen a martin in person but I was warned they are pretty bad. Actually, we do not trap as a sport. I was trapping what I thought were gophers this summer (turned out they were Franklin Ground Squirrels) my garden took a real beating from them. Then it was the underground yellow jackets in the fall that got our undivided attention. My brother in law (same one I mentioned before) has a beaver problem on his property too. We don't have a waterway but they do and I guess they are causing all kinds of trouble. I, too, suggested they trap the beaver for the pelts. They decided not to though. I am sure the spring will renew their thoughts on the matter.

I am so sorry, I should have proof read better. I meant I lost a chicken to a weasel. BUT to answer your question a mink is black in color and larger than a weasel which is white this time of the year.

A pine martin is slightly larger than a mink, a little huskier but maybe not as long. A fisher is longer, about the size of an otter but with a round tail, versus the flatter tail of the otter at it's base.. I think I have that right.

Beaver are nothing but bad news! I have a permit for year round trapping and shooting of beaver on my property near Togo. They destroy my trees and my drive. They block my culverts, they are great animals on other peoples land.

Yellow jackets are nasty, I had some here last fall, I got nailed a few times, my chickens cleaned them out. I prefer to trap the beaver during the time they are prime so as to not waste the fur. I have eaten beaver, but it has been a long time ago. I would like to try some again, but I want to shoot one for food not trap.

I have never heard of a franklin Ground squirrel. You got me there. Is that like a striped gopher or flicker tail? I assume you live in the arrowhead am I right? I lived there for many years and never heard of that one. Does it have a "common" name?

Beings we are speaking of wild animals in the north country, I have seen mountain lions 3 times in my life in Minnesota, Once was on the Pike Lake Road between Grand Marias and Lutsen. The other two times were near Togo. Once crossing my walk bridge at my cabin, the one the beavers try to destroy and then the last time was about 2 in the morning outside my window at my cabin. Actually I did not see that one I heard it, scared the poop out of me and my dogs. Horrible sound they make.

I happen to be talking with a game warden a week or so later and I told him I had seen the mountain lion and he was so happy to hear that. He had seen one about the same time on near Thistle Dew and no one took him seriously. We were each others confirmation on the mountain lion.

When I said trapping is fun, I did not mean it like roller coaster type fun, I meant it in a raising chickens type way, it is satisfying on a primal basis as if you are providing by your own hands. Just like hunting and gathering is.... I guess you have to be into sustainable living things to like them.

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

Mink are a very dark brown. And beavers are great! I don't think people really realize how important they are to the ecosystem. We have 26 acres along the Apple river. I have a ridiculous amount of predators. Mink, weasels, fox, coyotes, hawks, raccoons, owls, the neighbors piece of crap dog, stray.cats (who normally just steal eggs).

 

[Bogtown Chick]

A rooster every ten hens is a rule of thumb for fertility. Depending on the rooster, age perhaps he could handle more or less. If free ranging it may be wise to select roosters that are brood mates. So they get along better and not fight as much. I've also heard that two roosters for a good number of hens is a good thing as one can get "stressed out" trying to protect everybody. I've actually watched the submissive roo take over gaurd duty while the alpha roo grazed and relaxed a bit. They really worked as a team. But for my number of hens they were hard on back feathers as they competed for attentions.

That's what I know about Roos.

Mink are part if the weasel family. They mostly hunt water shorelines. I saw a fisher here about 2 years ago. Rare and impressive looking.

I've added a layer to the egg count. The buckeye laid her first egg yesterday. A pale cream colored egg. My silkie is edging into broodiness again. She cracks me up. She has a strict schedule of eggs/broodiness. You could about set a watch to it.

 

[duluthralphie]

Y

...

Mink are a very dark brown. And beavers are great! I don't think people really realize how important they are to the ecosystem. We have 26 acres along the Apple river. I have a ridiculous amount of predators. Mink, weasels, fox, coyotes, hawks, raccoons, owls, the neighbors piece of crap dog, stray.cats (who normally just steal eggs).[/quote




You are right i should have said almost black on the color of the mink.

A beaver is great and important to nature , but a pain in the rear in the "wrong" place. Like whenrver man and critters try to inhabit the same place. The good thing is beaver never eat chicks!

 

[Minniechickmama]

Wow so much to read in the couple hours I was gone!

I agree with you MinneChickMama on the "old" breeds versus the new ones. I think it is sad we have lost so many of the old breeds and what we call old breeds today would not be recognized by our ancestors of 150 years ago.

It is one of the reasons I want to get some Dominiques. I like the cute little combs and I liked barred chickens. If I ever get some I will keep them separate during breeding season so I can keep the line as pure as possible.

I understand the 4h thing with kids. We raised animals when our kids were young to conform to what the judges wanted at the fair too. Now I get to raise what I want that pleases me. Which is what I am doing.

I like the Cornish crosses because they are such sweethearts, it is a shame they are not designed to live longer. I will most likely buy some early to process and sell before the 4th of July. However, I plan to breed and raise my own eating birds. I still have hopes (fingers crossed) of my CX's breeding and laying eggs.

I cannot believe how into my birds I have gotten, I would rather stay with them than go to my cabin even, and that is sick!

I may have a problem here. I have a turkey Jake that has black marks on his head. I first thought it was blackhead and panic set in. Then I figured it was just the turkeys fighting with each other and opening sores that became frost bitten. Now I am back to possible blackhead, I just do not know. I have never heard of anyone getting blackhead in this immediate area. I would think with the cold the parasites would have a hard time surviving. I have no idea. Just guessing.

It is only one turkey that worries me right now, but one is too many. It is not weak, it is not off it's feed and continues to fight with all the other turkeys. When reading about blackhead it says the first thing you notice is a lethargic bird. I have not seen this and still do not.

I am going to error on the side of caution unless one of you tells me otherwise. I ordered 10 pounds of cayenne pepper from Amazon and am going to get some apple cider vinegar for the chickens.

I plan to lock the turkeys up with the guinea fowl and feed them de-wormer for about a week. The turkeys will not be happy, but that is life. I do not want to use de-wormer on the chickens.

I am not sure if I should de-worm the CX's or go with the pepper. Any suggestions are appreciated.
I would ask this in turkey thread and I might eventually, but I trust my fellow northerners more.

Thanks.

If they are fighting, I would think it is just scabs, they look black when they dry. I know it is unnerving to see any birds with things that make us immediately jump in our brains to a worst case scenerio.

As for worms, I use Wazine and get it done in one shot in the water.