NY chicken lover!!!!

[rancher hicks]

Sorry to hear everyones troubles and losses lately.

I'm hoping the snow and cold is done. I'm so over it. I need to see my daffodils pop up soon!

I should be getting my paw paw trees next week, Rancher I'll get those Jostaberries to you soon.

I just let the dog out, I look out the window and see something in the yard, but it looked too small to be her. I call for her and she comes running from probably 30ft below the unidentified animal, then it looks at me. I think it was stalking her, I'm pretty sure it was a fox. Looks like I'll be having more fox trouble this year.

that reminds me I have a bag of crocus bulbs I didn't get in the ground. I've got to pot them up and see if any survived being in the garage and all. That's what happens when I buy them late in the season. It was just to cold to plant them. On the warmer days I forgot. I did plant some Narcissus though.

Not so soon I hope. I'm leaving town. I've decided just to plant "berries" and fruit plants everywhere and hope they take. I'm sure what I don't pick the birds will love.

I heard the Woody Wood Pecker out there this am. I get chewed out by a Robin that flies back and forth near my garden too.

Last year I scared a ground bird off her nest and cause her to lose her eggs. I felt bad but there was nothing I could do after I whacked all the weeds hiding her nest poor thing.

Perhaps you can take a wlk and clear any areas foxes might build a den. I've plans to build some half scare crows, like I saw in a magazine. I've seen them made with boot feet. I hope to put them in the woods and then use them as "marking" spots.

 

[huntin fool]

well I just got a call at work from the DW, she found a pile of feathers and ripped up fencing on my small coop that had 2 old girls in it. i got these 2 hens a couple years ago from mennonites, they had scaly leg mites so i never let them integrate with the big coop. looks like i might not be boiling any sap today, gotta make sure my big coop is secure, set traps, load gun and set up my trail cam, i think it might be raccoon or possum, whatever it was, it had to climb up on top of the run as that was where the new hole was. i'll probably take a walk thru the swamp to look for more evidence. darn predators! RIP to my two old hens

 

[rancher hicks]

I am sorry for your loss. Predators can be determined to find a way in. Was there no door to their coop?

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Morning all. Sun is out and I hope it stays that way. Yesterday was a bust because of all the rain. Hoping it stays sunny and warm today so I can set up Juniors cage outside and get him in it. He is currently crowing his head off downstairs. Legolas looks pretty good this morning. The eye is shut again but I put more vetermycin on it and the spray stuff on his other wounds. They are healing nicely. He is happy to be with his girls. Little miss broody pants bolted out of the coop this morning bawking her head off. Had to go real bad I guess. Ran around like a fool eating and drinking then right back on her eggs. I better get some chicks out of this!

Turned over the litter in the big coop and hopefully will get some drying in there today. The run is one giant muddy mess as is my yard. Almost fell twice yesterday because of the mud.

Welcome to the newbies!

Hen--sorry to hear of your losses. I hope its run its course.

Sunny and cass--time to eliminate those threats before they become issues.

Off to the pharm. Hopefully the circus has moved on and taken their clowns with them! Ta for now.

 

[Metella]

huntin fool - sometimes the old scrappy ones find a special place in our hearts.

Get that gun !!! I'm encouraging my dogs to bark each night and mark all around .... the preds are hungry right now - hungry to starving ....

 

[huntin fool]

Quote:
yeah there was a door, but these 2 old girls liked to sleep under the coop on occasion, so i just got used to leaving the door open. i was using some older fencing i had for their run, some of the wire was a little rusted and they just pulled the wire to make a big hole on top of the run, DW didnt see any blood or carcasses, she thought she saw dog prints (fox,coyote), so i think ill set up the cam to see whats out there, i would think they will be back tonite to try to break into the other coop. i close the big coop up tight evernite, but if they tried hard enough they might get in, im worried they might be able to get in by sliding the pop door up, i got some work to do. oh yeah, safe travels Rancher, have a nice trip

 

[huntin fool]

Quote:
yeah i know what you mean, i havent gotten eggs from these girls for about a year, but i just couldnt cull them. preds are definitely hungry and pregnant as well, so they are looking, all the coyotes i have seen in the past 3 weeks are paired up and hunting as pairs, i missed a big coyote last Sun. morning, tomorrow i wont miss!

 

[Cass]

Sunny and cass--time to eliminate those threats before they become issues.

Off to the pharm. Hopefully the circus has moved on and taken their clowns with them! Ta for now.

Oh, my threat never got out of the coop. I may not have known where the gun were kept but Ray did. 2 shots....one to heart, one to head. And off to the landfill in a large garbage bag for that one.

(he was really cute, and didn't touch a single chicken, but I doubt I will get a single egg today cuz they are still all in a tizzy over the scare yesterday. Some of them are still in the rafters waiting to see if it is safe to come down at this late hour.)

PS, guys, 2 shots cuz it was a 22, not a shotgun....Didn't want a shotgun blast INSIDE the coop. Oh my aching ears if he had done that. Not to meantion the slug going through the body into the the coop wall, possibly blowing a hole in the wall.

 

[huntin fool]

Quote:
thats surprising that it didnt touch chickens, just curious, the .22 didnt go thru the coon, thru the wall/floor? .22 cal rimfire rifle, right? .22 air rifle would probably not pass thru...

 

[LuvMyChicks1491]

Heni, I'm so sorry about your loss. It must be so hard on you to lose your big boys.