NY chicken lover!!!!

[Cass]

only when I'm in there. Sumatra's are funny birds. Theylike private nests.

ummm....I bought my Sumatras from you. I KNOW I did. Mine like to live in the coop and lay in the communal nest box (which is actually a wooden box full of shavings), sometimes 2 of them in the box at a time. I think my birds aren't really Sumatras. I think they are silkies without the fuzz. LOL

 

[stonykill]

You do have a good point - however, when I was looking at mouse traps, all I could find that was safe to be in a coop with chickens involved drowning or poison.. The snap traps would snag chickens also and also could hit a mouse in the wrong place and not kill em. I've only used the nooski twice, but what I liked was that it involved no poison and was chicken safe. and less chance of a maimed mouse. Always willing to hear better suggestions!

then that is a good tool for the coop! I am a firm believer in having the right tool for the job. For instance traditional mouse traps for area's the chickens don't go. I neeed to trap predators but have free range chickens so I use a box trap, and kill the predator in the trap. And when I catch a chicken, which is often I just let them out.
My favorite methd for mice is the 5 gallon bucket with a little feed in the bottom. Then I quickly kill them in the morning.

 

[stonykill]

ummm....I bought my Sumatras from you. I KNOW I did. Mine like to live in the coop and lay in the communal nest box (which is actually a wooden box full of shavings), sometimes 2 of them in the box at a time. I think my birds aren't really Sumatras. I think they are silkies without the fuzz. LOL

they learned it from your birds they were raised with. I can't keep my free range Sumatra's cooped. I try, but can't. And I WANT them cooped at night. Broody born chicks, raised in the coop with mama RIR, reach 6 months old and move into a tree with a Sumatra rooster

. EVERY night for the last 2 weeks I have been chasing 2 Cochin/rir mixes out of a tree, as the Sumatra's taught them

.

I do have a few Sumatra hens who lay daily in the RIR coop. I like that. Prefer it, I know where the eggs are.

 

[Cass]

they learned it from your birds they were raised with. I can't keep my free range Sumatra's cooped. I try, but can't. And I WANT them cooped at night. Broody born chicks, raised in the coop with mama RIR, reach 6 months old and move into a tree with a Sumatra rooster

. EVERY night for the last 2 weeks I have been chasing 2 Cochin/rir mixes out of a tree, as the Sumatra's taught them

.

I do have a few Sumatra hens who lay daily in the RIR coop. I like that. Prefer it, I know where the eggs are.

I can't remember how I raised my chicks. I am planning to throw them out of the coop in the spring. They have their own "house" up high on a tree stump, so they don't have to risk being taken by an owl....but I really really need them out of the coop. I just don't understand why they think they need that whole coop. They are the first ones out of the coop/run in the morning. If they lived outdoors, they wouldn't have to wait for me to wake up in the morning.

 

[Lynzi777]

I candled a couple of eggs tonight and there is definitely some action going on in those tiny little eggs!!!! So excited!!

 

[County Boy]

I got some new Cochins to add to my flock today. They are young and still have some filling out to do but I really like them. Here is Geronimo and my new Buff Barred pullet!








Buff Barred pullet with Peanut Butter

 

[Gramma Chick]

I candled a couple of eggs tonight and there is definitely some action going on in those tiny little eggs!!!! So excited!!

great ! Dont forget to show us pictures ...of the new babies when they hatch .

 

[Gramma Chick]

Quote: You have just made the shop Tooo Cozy ..maybe she is the smartest one . She delivers her eggs right to you .

 

[rancher hicks]

Lynzi - I too thought I'd gotten all the holes but noticed where the house meets the foundation there are cracks. Small to me but apparently not to mice and cooties.

I had not heard of the "Nooski" but won't spend the money since I have to many places to set traps. I'd need to set it just the same and for the price can buy more snap traps.


As for the bucket idea, I haven't used one and probably won't since I can't place buckets everywhere there are mice.

With the traps I can place them under things. Traps do require a walk around and I confess to a feeling of satisfaction when I see a dead mouse in the traps.

I have never used the glue traps since they seem messy and inconvenient to use. Again I'd need to many to make it cost effective.

I don't like poison because it doesn't allow me to know where the mice die.

NOW I WILL SAY THIS ABOUT POISON SO LISTEN UP. The poison works by causing the rodent to bleed to death. The main ingredient is an anti-coagulant and it takes time. The rodent eats it and goes off to die. How fast I can't say.

BUT, BUT, keep in mind that dogs , cats and even chickens eat dead things. If the eat a poisoned mouse they will die too. At the very least get sick.

Wild predators like Fox, Coyote and Hawks have been found to have this ingredient in their systems. So if you poison a Squirrel and it gets eaten by a Predator you may get a two-fer.

Please remember that this is just information I'm giving you. What you choose to do is your business.

Honestly I'm with Stony on this one. Quick is best. Though different situation call for different methods. Do what ever is easiest emotionally and convenient for you. I say emotionally cuz I am not about to watch a critter die a long and dragged out death.

I do set traps near the runs at night but take them up during the day so the chickens can't get to the peanut butter bait. Then I reset them at night.

Gotta go Elementary is on.

 

[stonykill]

yup, quick is best.

Elementary, great show. Watch it every week