NY chicken lover!!!!

[why do birds]

Yup that's an ashtray feeder and one for water too!

It cost $1.00!

 

[stonykill]

unless there is not a house within 2 miles of your house and you are 100% positive that no one is walking anywhere within 2 miles of your house this is simply a HORRIBLE idea. What goes up must come down. Know your target and beyond. I felt the same way when our VP said something similar. REALLY REALLY BAD IDEA and makes ALL gun owners look bad and irresponsible

Quote:

unless there is not a house within 2 miles of your house and you are 100% positive that no one is walking anywhere within 2 miles of your house this is simply a HORRIBLE idea. What goes up must come down. Know your target and beyond. I felt the same way when our VP said something similar. REALLY REALLY BAD IDEA and makes ALL gun owners look bad and irresponsible

sorry stony, hence why I said if your in the country. and I am not irresponsible. I prepare for the worst and protect my family. and we are gun owners who practice in our back yard against a huge hill the runs the whole south end of my property. thank you for your opinion.

I live in the country as well. And there is still NOTHING safe about shooting a .22 in the air. Nothing. In the air is not against a hill. AND are you absolutely positive no one is walking that hill? Things posted like this make every gun owner look bad. Shooting a gun in the air being a bad idea is not my opinion it is a fact.

 

[Tough Old Bird]

TOB---so sorry for your loss of Merlin. My mother had to put down her jack russell this morning. I lost my boy last year. I do believe that all dogs go to heaven. My father better have a lot of treats waiting and lots of walks in store.

Thank you Pharm, and I'm sorry for your mom's loss of her companion, too. I hope she is coping as well as can be expected. Does she live alone? It's even harder then, I think.

So sorry to hear about Merlin. I too believe most dogs go to heaven, maybe not the one that bit me, but all of my long term dog family will be there. I hope I get in.

Thank you, Glass, for the sweet thoughts. I think and feel the same.

TOB-- So sorry about Merlin. It's hard not having them there when you get home to greet you at the door.

Hi Tab. He was my shadow and always happy to see us, even if we were only outside for a few minutes.

I hope your girls are all doing well, baby included.


TOB

 

[Tough Old Bird]

It makes me smile in a really good way to hear that you do it. My Step dad crocheted all the time. He was really good at it. So good that he did it professionally. He used to teach at a yarn store. One of my prized possessions was a doll that he made. It won best of show at the fair the last year that he could enter in the amateur class.



I have to get a nice glass case to put it in. It is getting dirty. I get sad. He's been gone now for 12 years on Monday.

And yes it does get costly especially if you get into using some of the more expensive yarns. I love them. I haven't done as much as I used to. I have CT and it bothers my wrist. That and I'm running out of people to give stuff too. I just made 20 hats to donate with leftover yarn that I had. My favorite thing is to make baby blankets...They are so snuggly

Wow, that's gorgeous! He had some real talent and creativity. I could never get past the chain and shell stitch while crocheting, but even with that was able to enjoyable pass time making simple blankets. It's a very calming hobby (unless you have to rip a row out because you screwed up, LOL)... It's nice that you have this keepsake he made as well as some nice memories...

I wish I knew how to knit and crochet. I've ordered so many things off Etsy, hats, scarves, etc and everytime I do I say to myself, "Man these people are making a killing!" The last two hats I bought for my daughter and myself that were matching cost me close to a hundred bucks. If I could get into something like that as a hobby, something that would allow me to still stay home with my kids. I'd do it. But I don't know how to to crochet. Funny I came here and all this talk of crocheting must be the cause of these new ads popping up my screen "Free knitting classes"

My favorite hats are the two my mother-in-law knitted for me. She also makes me woolen-blend socks and pretty scarves, both functional and a few frivolous, cute ones. I am so not handy either!!!!

TOB

 

[Tough Old Bird]

I think falcons are smaller maybe. I didn't see either attacks but my neighbor and my son did. My neighbor knows all about animals so I am taking his word for it.

. I have heard of red tailed hawks as a predator but never a falcon. In fact I really didn't know they lived around here.

Most likely a Cooper's Hawk, which is smaller than the more easily recognized Red-tailed Hawk. Cooper's are Crow-sized and their look-alike, the Sharp-shinned Hawks are about the size of a bluejay. They are all master predators, and Coopers and Sharpies tend to take birds as their main meal. So the Cooper's may have tackled your Guinea. Not sure, of course...there are plenty more raptors that live around here that could have preyed on your birds... Sorry for your loss.

TOB

Edit to add links to Coopers and Sharpies i.d. and info pages, for anyone interested. I've had a Coopers Hawk cruising through my yard a few times this past week. He/she dive bombs the feeder areas, trying to spook up song birds. The smart ones hunker down or flit into thickets. The ones that flush into the open are usually toast (or served on it)!

Cooper's
http://www.avianweb.com/coopershawks.html

Sharp-shinned
http://www.avianweb.com/sharpshinnedhawks.html

 

[Cass]

unless there is not a house within 2 miles of your house and you are 100% positive that no one is walking anywhere within 2 miles of your house this is simply a HORRIBLE idea. What goes up must come down. Know your target and beyond. I felt the same way when our VP said something similar. REALLY REALLY BAD IDEA and makes ALL gun owners look bad and irresponsible

I would be ok in ONE direction....personally I would shoot at the bird, to miss it, but to hit a tree or something to stop the bullet. Never ever ever shoot into the air. Just recently (last 2 years) someone out west got hit with a stray bullet....finally tracked to someone celebrating High School graduation shooting into the air. OUCH. Fortunately the person didn't die. But was months healing.

edited to fix my fingers not wanting to hit a double "o". twice. grrrr

 

[Breella]

I know my attack was a Falcon. It landed near by in a tree and if it could have carried the pullet off it would have. I've seen our Red tail once. Landed in the yard but didn't get a chance to get a bird.

I will be planting lots of cover grasses around the yard.

Rancher, you are right and it's a Peregrine falcon to be exact. I've seen her. She was roosting in the tree across from the ESM building on my side closer to 290 the other morning. I think that she also left a rabbit kill in my neighbors yard because she brought the carrion birds with her. They were circling and freaking all my girls out.

 

[Cass]

Quote:

I have cell towers close. (by close, I mean the red blinking light shines in my bedroom window at night) I have hawks who made a nest in those towers. As a result I have done a lot of research on dealing with hawks. IF the hawk is harrassing your livestock you can harrass the hawk....you can't kill it, but governments have and do use gunshot blasts to keep birds of prey and Canada geese from areas they are not wanted. (airports, public swimming holes, etc) You don't have to have a permit to harrass them....you do have to have a permit to kill them. Of course, if you live in the country SSS works. For any unwanted predator. (except the 2 legged kind, of course)

I am going to try the mirror cones this spring.....I would really like to have my chickens and ducks safe.

 

[Lynzi777]

Afternoon All,
What a nasty day...my chicken yard is becoming flooded with water that is running down from melting snow in the upper part of the yard. All of the water is just sitting up against the foundation - UGH I knew it was going to be warmer today but didn't know it was supposed to rain. I really wanted to clean out that duck house. Owell....

Breella ~ Let me know when you have those bags of feed if you don't already...I don't want to keep you waiting too long. And if you DO have them already I can make a trip out your way tomorrow if that works for you.

I set my silkies eggs this past Wed and I can't wait for a few more days to go by to see if anything is going on in them. I had to candle them the day I got them and the day after to make sure the air cells were all attached. I think just about all of them got detached during shipping and all but 2 have reattached. So I don't think anything will happen with those. I have 7 in my Brinsea and 3 in my LG with the rest of the eggs I set from the BR, Lav and Buff Orps. I have 11 larger eggs in the LG. Whatever hatches from those eggs will be sold unless I get another color other than blue from my lavender eggs. The blue pullet I have from the last hatch is turning out so nice. She'll be half english orp so I'm wondering if she'll be in between Gru and Stella's size.

I'm really happy with the way the EE chicks are turning out. I have one that is mostly white (a yellowish white, not bright white) and another that is light brown with some tints of blue mixed in. So cute! I'll have to try to get some pics.

DH set one of our mouse traps in front of the brooder in case any of the mice that were in there come back up onto the porch and try to get in there. We caught one this morning. Waiting for #2 today. There were 4 in that crate when I opened it out and screamed at the top of my lungs. LOL

 

[why do birds]

Is SSS like the sonic boom noise to scare predators?

wouldn't a bb in the tail scare the living jeepers out of a hawk?

What about those guardian dogs? Does anyone have something like that for their outside chickens? We read about Great Pyrenees and Akbash, anyone know if these dogs will protect a flock? Would a dog like that go after predators, even hawks?