Whoops, was about a week late with that reply, wasn't I? My bad, guess that didn't add much to the conversation.... well, while we're talking, here's some random recent observations I've had:
1) I was having trouble with a fox for a while, but he was coming by while I was at work, and I didn't feel comfortable setting out snares where my dog or a neighbor's might get in trouble. I read that people have bad luck with cage traps, but I picked one up nonetheless, figuring it was better than nothing. Only one I could find local was ancient and rusty, and way too big... looks wolf sized! Still, I put it down along a wire fence line so it wouldn't look too out of place, right near one of the fox's past kill sites. Baited it with some cooked chicken: caught my own pup once or twice, but the shame taught him to steer clear, and eventually he left the bait alone. Chicken sat there for a week untouched, I got some baby chicks shipped, a couple died after transit, threw one in there and one on the ground just outside the trap. Another week went by with no luck, and then the bait was gone! Evidence of the fox checking it out from all sides, some scratches where he tried to dig underneath it from behind the cage instead of going in the opening, smart bugger... Unfortunately, I'd set the pressure plate too firmly, and when he did nip inside to take the goodies, it didn't spring... but I re-baited with a smoked turkey leg, and about a week later, he returned and sprung the trap, caught him! Lesson learned? Patience, patience, patience.... foxes are as suspicious as they say, and it'll take a while before they get over their mistrust of a cage trap... but give it time, and their stomach's will win over!
2) I had a hen hatch out some chicks in the barn, and set her up in a cozy little enclosure (to keep her clear of aforementioned fox). Unfortunately, I left a scrap of 2x6 in the corner of their pen... and one of the chicks wedged himself underneath one night and died of exposure! Came out the next morning and found him, cold, no breath, no hearbeat, starting to get a little stiff.... but I've had luck thawing out chick-sicles in the past, and tried it again, popped him into my incubator at around 98. Within 15 minutes, miracle, he started to pant and stir! It took him about an hour of gentle attention, talking to him and keeping him warm and trickling sugar water down his throat, before he was back up on his feet and running around. A couple hours after that, and he was as good as new and ready to be reintroduced to mama. Hard to believe such delicate little guys can stand up to that sort of trauma, but its a lesson well learned, don't give up on chicks that have died from exposure!
3) Just finished a new chicken shed! Its my first attempt at building a structure top to bottom without more experienced supervision, and boy did I make a ton of mistakes, but in the end it was a positive experience, and I think it'll serve the barnyard well. I'm a little torn on the isulation question... down in Kodiak it doesn't get TOO cold, and I've never had problems with birds getting frostbite (that I've noticed) in the big breezy open-faced barn they currently roost in. But we do have frozen eggs in the winter (when and if they feel the need to lay during the winter, which they rarely do. Need more light!)... I've got some spare insulation on hand, but I'm just sort of balking at the couple hundred it'll set me back in plywood to do interior walls, not really sure one way or the other whether I should take the plunge. Plus, it has a greenhouse roof (I'm already regretting that decision), and I'm already worried it'll get too hot in the summer even with all the accidental ventillation I built into the thing... I'd hate to make the thing too stuffy to enjoy in the summers! Ack, decisions decisions.
