NY chicken lover!!!!

[rancher hicks]

Hey Rancher....finally a fertile Birchen Marans egg...yeah!

Unfortunately I only get 2 a week....

So, a one footed rooster can breed a hen...who knew?

Well that is good news. You know I would've traded you, but you never seemed to get my hint. Of the first four chicks I have hatched two are roos for sure. My goal is to work up to a few more birds so I can get plenty of dark eggs. Most likely 12 total.

I personally think there are some bad breeding lines out there. What with the cost of GF's chicks I bet most folks are working with birds to closely related.

Now if you are up to a trade, I'd be willing to offer a two for one. Unless of course you want just a rooster. These ones I've got mature very fast. The one I have crowed at 5 wks. Not a great crow but crowed just the same. I'll bet these guys can go to the coop at 8wks easy.

Pharm - DW is not home yet. She won't care much. She'll pretend to but she's been very supportive of my addiction.

 

[rancher hicks]

I don't think Rancher has blue orps, the eggs came from him.

You'd be wrong then. I have one BBS hen from Alabama.

This is the only lavender chick of this past hatch. You can see it in the back with the Dels in the above pic.





These are the four marans from the first hatch. About 5 wks. I expect in another 3 they'll be ready to go outside to the coop.

 

[rancher hicks]

Heartbroken...
I went to feed the chickens this morning and discovered a predator got in last night. I'm guessing a weasel. Feathers all over and necks broken. Nothing eaten. Killed 7 hens. 5 black australorps and 2 red sex links. I know it could have been much worse. I still have 29 left, 2 being roosters. No others are injured.
Spending the day cleaning, setting traps and reinforcing.
My heart just sank when I saw that this morning.

You know folks weasels are easily dispensed with a rat trap, just like squirrels. You can bait it with a piece of raw meat. There are easy to build weasel trap designs on YouTube.

I have a rat trap nailed to a tree next to my hoop coop and no more stolen eggs. Caught three young squirrels with it. Mushed up some peanut butter and set it.

Nail a rat trap to a heavy board and leave it out at night. I'd do it far away from the coop though. The edge of the woods would be good I think.

It's a shame to lose birds, when something as cheap as a $5 rat trap will prevent it.

 

[stonykill]

go

fish

 

[stonykill]

You know folks weasels are easily dispensed with a rat trap, just like squirrels. You can bait it with a piece of raw meat. There are easy to build weasel trap designs on YouTube.

I have a rat trap nailed to a tree next to my hoop coop and no more stolen eggs. Caught three young squirrels with it. Mushed up some peanut butter and set it.

Nail a rat trap to a heavy board and leave it out at night. I'd do it far away from the coop though. The edge of the woods would be good I think.

It's a shame to lose birds, when something as cheap as a $5 rat trap will prevent it.

rarely works on weasels. Weasels prefer their food alive. And the thrill of the kill. Rarely and I mean rarely will a weasel walk to a trap and eat bait. It is not something they do. Take this from a guy who has had a weasel problem and has taken every measure imaginable to kill the little killers. A rat trap won't work 99.9% of the time on a weasel. They are not only smart but predators, not scavengers. It is the kill they enjoy. Which is why they will kill 40 chickens a night. Just to do it.

kill them with either a .22 or get a good hunting cat. Even professional trappers have a REALLY hard time trapping weasels. It just isn't normally that simple. A rat trap might work if you get lucky, but don't count on it. 4 weasels dead here in a year. 1 by me and a gun, and 3 by a cat. Never caught one ever in a trap. My buddy who traps all winter long rarely gets them.

Another case of "just because it is on the internet does not mean it is true"

 

[stonykill]

weasels and a weasel killer. I've put this info on this thread before. The last picture is on a small garden edging shovel. This is how small they are. My father watched our cat William kill the one on the shovel. Fight lasted seconds. William bit him in the throat and killed him. These are tiny, smart and cunning predators who only enjoy the kill. And elusive.

 

[Tab's chicken obsession]

I had a friend who lost every bird in her coop to a weasel. Darn thing stacked the bodies like they were cord wood.

 

[stonykill]

I had a friend who lost every bird in her coop to a weasel. Darn thing stacked the bodies like they were cord wood.

that is what they do. I have a friend who lost 44 one night and another friend who lost over 60 to a weasel. Both cases in one night.

 

[AQHAchick22]

You guys are scaring me with this weasel talk...I looked the coop over and I don't think there is anywhere one could get in but I'm paranoid now...can they get in under doors/through cracks?

 

[stonykill]

You guys are scaring me with this weasel talk...I looked the coop over and I don't think there is anywhere one could get in but I'm paranoid now...can they get in under doors/through cracks?

if there is a crack 3/4 of an inch, maybe less even they can squeeze through. They are tiny and can squeeze through very small spaces like a mouse can. A door that doesn't seal tight is a spot a weasel can get in. If you have weasels think Fort Knox. I didn't think Fort Knox until 2 years ago. The 7 previous chicken owning years never one weasel. All of a sudden one morning I wake up to an entire coop of 9 chickens dead. Just killed. Spent a few hours processing them and freezing them. I still use that coop but it is now TIGHT!