***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[nnbreeder]

I have to many roosters and guinies running lose for a snake to go undetected they would sure let u know and I have railroad ties and the bottom of my pen. What else would be stealing them?

If you find shells with one end gone it is either skunks or rodents, no shell it is snakes, a partial shell it is usually the hens. Most snakes will hunt at night when it is cooler and they have darkness to their advantage.

Get some of that 1/2in bird netting from WalMart and just put it on the outside of the pens. A snake's head can go through it but not the body but they do get stuck in the netting. And think small. A rat can go through a hole the size of a quarter and a skunk can squeeze through an opening of just a few inches.

I think that Bill used a minnow trap with an egg placed inside and trapped quite a few new hat bands for himself a couple of years ago.

 

[prettychicks]

you could click edit, and just insert a smiley after deleting the post?

Thanks. Didn't think about that.

 

[BBAcres]

Soooooooo cute! How are Nigerian Dwarfs different than Pigmys?

They are the same as far as height goes. But Pygmy's are considered a meat goat and Nigerians are a dairy goat. That's when it comes to judging in shows and stuff. I personally do not have any experience with pygmy's. But when it came down to picking a breed I just preferred the Nigerian of everything that I researched. I would how ever love to get some La Manchas but that doesn't seem to be anywhere in my near future.

 

[Ksane]

and for your morning smile!

Just a question. I've been reading that oak leaves are poisoness to goats. Anyone have experience with this?

So last night was a first for us. About 1 am this morning my DW tells me to come quick and bring the snake tongs....I'm guessing we're going to one of the coops....nope, we're headed to the front porch. Ok, country as it gets, we have metal water trough with a lid made from a wooden frame and poultry cloth on the front porch as a brooder....had over 60, 2 week old quail chicks....inside under the heat lamp coiled was a 4 1/2- 5 foot king snake! It had several lumps in it and one chick was dead by the feeder.
Needless to say...snake tongs to lift this out of the brooder, carried him out to a safe location from the house and violently dispatched it with full wrath....Ok afterwards thought I should have taken a photo...but can promise there's not enough left to photo now!
We get snakes around the houses and runs, normally copperheads...and even near our house. That's why we have the tongs, so can get a bugger out away from birds and buildings to dispatch it (shot holes in walls or birds doesn't set well) We have had one get tangled in deer netting and die...but this is the first we have ever had one actually get to birds...much less eat them! The kind of real disheartening thing was how large that bugger was. Our front porch is a very tall, very large, multilevel, elevated deck....didn't expect any critters up there...much less inside the covered brooder..today, it gets screened!

I would be very interested in what your snake tongs look like and how you made them. I check the coops at night for snakes when I lock up birds but at the back of my head I'm thinking, "And what exactly are you going to do if you find a big snake....?" The tongs sound like they'd be really handy to have. Snakes just give me the creeps.

 

[bfrancis]

Mitzi, with snakes, especially the poisonous ones out here...I didn't fool around and make one. I bought the best, Midwest tongs...used by many zoos and other professionals.

http://tongs.com/gentlegiant40inchtong.aspx is the model I got. Long enough to keep the business end of the snake under control and outside a bite length.


It has paid for itself 10 fold! To safely remove a snake from a no shoot area is key...then take it out to either ventilate it or the old shovel for head removal. Like last night, no way I would gotten a shovel or a gun inside my brooder. reached in, grabbed it and removed to the yard before the slaying commenced.

 

[Elwood Lightfoot]

Mitzi, with snakes, especially the poisonous ones out here...I didn't fool around and make one. I bought the best, Midwest tongs...used by many zoos and other professionals.
http://tongs.com/gentlegiant40inchtong.aspx is the model I got. Long enough to keep the business end of the snake under control and outside a bite length.
It has paid for itself 10 fold! To safely remove a snake from a no shoot area is key...then take it out to either ventilate it or the old shovel for head removal. Like last night, no way I would gotten a shovel or a gun inside my brooder. reached in, grabbed it and removed to the yard before the slaying commenced.

I bought two pair of tongs a couple years ago and got the cheaper versions and shouldn't have, I have already broke the 36 inch ones, they do work but the better ones would have been the smarter investment.

Quote:

Just a question. I've been reading that oak leaves are poisoness to goats. Anyone have experience with this?

My goats eat oak leaves all the time with no issues, I don't milk them so have no clue how what they eat effects the taste but it makes sense though, That makes me wonder though how much that might effect the taste of the meat if one was going to eat the goat, I plan on doing just that some where in the future.

 

[Ksane]

Mitzi, with snakes, especially the poisonous ones out here...I didn't fool around and make one. I bought the best, Midwest tongs...used by many zoos and other professionals.
http://tongs.com/gentlegiant40inchtong.aspx is the model I got. Long enough to keep the business end of the snake under control and outside a bite length.
It has paid for itself 10 fold! To safely remove a snake from a no shoot area is key...then take it out to either ventilate it or the old shovel for head removal. Like last night, no way I would gotten a shovel or a gun inside my brooder. reached in, grabbed it and removed to the yard before the slaying commenced.

Which length is the best to get? Thank you for this link! I'm going to order some this week. I'm not sure what length I should get though. Just measured my arms and they're 23" long-does that make a difference?

 

[Kassaundra]

Which length is the best to get? Thank you for this link! I'm going to order some this week. I'm not sure what length I should get though. Just measured my arms and they're 23" long-does that make a difference?

Well considering you will be picking up a snake w/ it, I'm going out on a limb and saying the BIGGEST one!!!!!

 

[bfrancis]

Well considering you will be picking up a snake w/ it, I'm going out on a limb and saying the BIGGEST one!!!!!

well said

For us, we chose the 40" one for a few reasons...My wife is also on the small side so you don't want something too short or even if caught in the grip, if done incorrectly, can still result in getting bit. Now too long...if you have a big snake in the grippers...it will be heavy, and the further out you are carrying it the heavier it will seem because of the length, and if you drop a now hacked off snake that is poisonous that could be bad too. The 40" model is a good length for strike zone prevention and still short enough to handle a bigg'n safely and securely.

Now my disclaimer, the instructions that come with it say to hold gently to not break ribs grab it midway to prevent injuries, yadda, yadda. If I got a hold of a snake, it isn't going to live long anyway, grab the handle like there's no tomorrow...also be sure to grab somewhere between the neck and the halfway point...Just trust me on this one, you wanna control the snake, don't grab by the tail!

 

[Elie mea]

Rodents can get in your pen from underground.  Not sure if they will eat the eggs or not though.  Also, when hens get older they don't lay as often.  I have also seen chickens eat their eggs from time to time.  A friend of mine had game chickens and they ate them quite often.

I'm not finding any shells and my hens are very young just started laying 2 months ago and I gather eggs right before dark it might be a snake but if so he's coming in the day and some how sneeking by 11 guinies and thirteen too that free range by the pen and 18 hens and two roos inside the pens