Official Squatch Watchers

[TexasSam]

Yesterday about 3:30 I let some chickens out to play between the poultry yard and the high power line. I was in the poultry yard when a coon came across the ditch after the hens.. he looked at me and kept after the hens. I grab a shovel and ran at him... he didn't run away. I wacked him with the shovel and he looked surprised...kept after the chickens. I wacked him until he went up a tree. It looked like he was a couple yr old ..male.
I think he was sick not to run from me.. or a pet someone dumped... his canines tips were broken.. like he had been in a cage/trap. But he was in good shape... but a little thin and hungry for the wrong type of food.. no last meal for him, slow moving meat hens are safe. Silly birds are used to the coons that used to come for the mulberries and never went after them.

How did he keep moving after a wack from a shovel?

 

[Molpet]

Scary! I HATE coons. They are creepy.

It was probably a pet, a "tame" wild coon, or just a sick one.

I had a pet one as a kid so I felt bad if it had been a pet. But between the distemper that is going around, the neighbors that are hiring trappers to get them out from the attic and under the deck, and most of all... IT WANTED MY CHICKENS well lets just say it made a mistake.

 

[Molpet]

How did he keep moving after a wack from a shovel?

I am old I wacked it with the flat of the shovel.. should have used the edge

 

[TexasSam]

Oh next time wack him with a 22 they hit hard even if you’re old lol

 

[Molpet]

Oh next time wack him with a 22 they hit hard even if you’re old lol

LOL well he was treed.. took 3 shots before he fell out of the tree 22 LR from a target pistol.... I was impatient and he kept going up the tree.. all 3 hit him but through and through.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Plant Daffodils with other bulbs you don't want moved around. A line of them at the edge of the bed or intermixed with the others. Daffodils are bitter. Usually once they get a taste of daffodil they leave everything alone to be safe.

I do have about 200 in that bed. I ordered more last summer. They came just before Thanksgiving. They substituted with a tiny itty bitty variety. I had to put them in a raised bed since the ground was frozen. I did not pay much due to the sale so shouldnt be to bummed. When they die back i will move them to the front bed.

The blooms are about the size of a nickel.

Yesterday about 3:30 I let some chickens out to play between the poultry yard and the high power line. I was in the poultry yard when a coon came across the ditch after the hens.. he looked at me and kept after the hens. I grab a shovel and ran at him... he didn't run away. I wacked him with the shovel and he looked surprised...kept after the chickens. I wacked him until he went up a tree. It looked like he was a couple yr old ..male.
I think he was sick not to run from me.. or a pet someone dumped... his canines tips were broken.. like he had been in a cage/trap. But he was in good shape... but a little thin and hungry for the wrong type of food.. no last meal for him, slow moving meat hens are safe. Silly birds are used to the coons that used to come for the mulberries and never went after them.

OMG!!!
That would make me paranoid! I hope it never gets a bird from you.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

@21hens-incharge The little Daffies are so cute. We used those mixed with the large ones to protect some hyacinth. My mom has some really pretty Daffodils. Two colors with ruffles. Of course they grow like crazy and her poor hyacinth turned into weird mutants. LOL They bloom but sort of sporadically. So instead of the cluster of blooms there are just random single blooms.

 

[apryl29]

The first turkey ever hatched here... a day early
Mom is a cx/br mix


View attachment 1379493

Congrats!

I never showed ya'll the chicken favela! These are crappy pictures and ignore the building process junk I haven't even thought about moving it.View attachment 1379833Original coop and middle piece added for derps last summer.View attachment 1379840New half,from pallets and junk.View attachment 1379842Whole shabang.View attachment 1379843Cooter, the solar chicken.

Nice job!

KEEP UP THE GOOD FIGHT!!

Hell, I STILL don't have the PIC in his own room fully.... and no kinds of bribery, threats, grounding, removal of electronics, etc has changed that. And with the DH out in the field for training? NO WAY is PIC gonna sleep in his own bed.... smh.....

My tiny human slept in my bed for a long time (single parent). It wasn't until she couldn't stand my snoring that she really started sleeping in her own bed. She's 12 now and mostly sleeps in her own bed. Occasionally she'll crawl into my bed in the morning, but that's more of a "I'm awake & bored so I'm going to wake you up now" thing than a I want to sleep in your bed thing. So there is a dim light at the end of the tunnel for you guys. I didn't mind it so much when they were little, but my tiny human liked to flail in her sleep and i was hit/ kicked in the face many times. She's also a creeper, no matter how much space there is in the bed she would creep over towards me. No where was safe. 1 adult, 1 small child in a queen size bed and I'd still end up sleeping on the edge.

It can be a challenge to garden with chickens.
I have had to put little short fences around all my raised beds and the in ground garden.
It is also very rewarding to grow my own veggies and extras just for the girls.


View attachment 1380211
My favorite type of tulip. It is called Shirley and the purple edges spread through the flower as it ages.
The squirrel likes them too.
He moved a lot of tulips. This one is now in the iris bed.

I did the same thing w/ the short fence b/c my parents didn't want the chickens pooping all over the veggies. It worked great, except I kept forgetting the fence was there and I'd trip over it.

Yesterday about 3:30 I let some chickens out to play between the poultry yard and the high power line. I was in the poultry yard when a coon came across the ditch after the hens.. he looked at me and kept after the hens. I grab a shovel and ran at him... he didn't run away. I wacked him with the shovel and he looked surprised...kept after the chickens. I wacked him until he went up a tree. It looked like he was a couple yr old ..male.
I think he was sick not to run from me.. or a pet someone dumped... his canines tips were broken.. like he had been in a cage/trap. But he was in good shape... but a little thin and hungry for the wrong type of food.. no last meal for him, slow moving meat hens are safe. Silly birds are used to the coons that used to come for the mulberries and never went after them.

So glad your birds are ok. I really worry about the same thing happening to my birds b/c of cats. My cats don't seem too concerned about the chickens, though the chickens will come check out what the cats are doing. But we have strays and right now Tubbs is hanging around quite a bit. He was sleeping under a tree and I only knew he was there b/c he was meowing. My girls didn't seem to concerned but Willie gave his alert signal. I gave Tubbs some cat food and he ate then went on his way. I'm not sure he's interested in the chickens, but we always stay outside w/ them when they're free, just in case.

 

[staceyj]

Oh, Cappy, that's beautiful!! You just made me want to get out there and PLANT!

I ordered a book on Amazon, Gardening With Chickens....I cannot wait till it gets here!

I looked at that book and it was awesome. The only reason I didn’t buy it was I was out of money!

 

[Molpet]

turkey babies in the incubator these are ones the teenage hen abandoned at 10 days.. I found her dead a week later.. nothing wrong with her inside or out.. I have lost 6 birds this year.. most were waterbelly or heart.. 2 I am not sure what happened.