Oregon Fall Poultry Swap - October 22 - Corvallis @ the Fairgrounds!!!

Date sort Score sort
Quote:
She's a cutie!
love.gif


I fly to the midwest every year to visit my mom. I have flown with my Duncan since he was 4 months old. (he is 7yrs old now) I think if I ever go to mom's without him, she probably wouldn't let me in!
smack.gif
She tells everyone about her 'granddog'!
 
Quote:
I don't have any pics yet.
sad.png
I'm working on it. My phone takes awful pics. I've got to get my camera out.
hu.gif
I've just been lazy. The roos are so cute!! Can't wait. Babies are still little, just a few weeks or so. But there are not afraid of anything! They seem so tiny next to my orps, but they just push their way right in to get to the food! So they will be a little while before they can go out, but the little roo won't be lonely! My chicken family keeps growing and growing!
thumbsup.gif

(I sneaked the chicks into the house today
roll.png
, but I did tell hubby about the roo!)
 
Anyone on here have experience with rats attacking chickens?

All this week my chicken numbers have been going plus one, minus one. Last Saturday my broody silver penciled wyandotte (aka raffle donation!) hatched an adorable grey-brown chick. The next day it was found in the nest with her... missing its head. Needless to say, I was upset. I am sure SHE didn't do it, but I wish she'd protected it better. None of her other eggs hatched.
Then on Wednesday, my broody buff orp hatched a little black and white chick. Yay!
But then something small got into my little coop and killed (and ate most of) one of my 6 1/2 week old Aloha project chicks. I found what was left of it on the floor of the coop this afternoon. Just bones, feathers, and feet left. At first I worried it was death by natural causes and canibalism (ew!) but while I sat there contemplating the probable cause of death, I heard a scratching/chewing noise coming from under the coop. We tried, machetes in hand, to flood it out, dig it out, or otherwise scare it out... but it didn't show its self. Finally we just locked the peeps in for the night and set out snap traps at the most likely entrance point of BOTH coops. Whatever killed my chicks will end.

I am thinking rat, most likely. Anything bigger would have killed more and taken the bodies, right? No other birds have been harmed, no eggs seem to be missing/broken. The dogs keep most bigger things pretty well scared off, but rats are small and stealthy. Aside from the traps is there anything else I can do? I am only going to consider pet safe options (no poisons!!!) And I prefer not to have it suffer, even if it did kill my birds. Can't blame a critter for looking for an easy meal because that's its nature. I am not looking for revenge so much as trying to prevent more losses.

On a positive note, at least I ended on plus one- my BLRW, Scarlet, hatched her first egg today. The other 4 eggs under her might hatch tomorrow *cross fingers!*
And I have 3 more broodies setting. Lots of mutts will be coming to the swap to find new homes if the girls succeed at hatching and protecting their babies. (though I might keep Scarlet's peep. It appears to be pure BLRW, the only possible non-mutt that could come from my flock right now.)
 
Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex :

Anyone on here have experience with rats attacking chickens?

All this week my chicken numbers have been going plus one, minus one. Last Saturday my broody silver penciled wyandotte (aka raffle donation!) hatched an adorable grey-brown chick. The next day it was found in the nest with her... missing its head. Needless to say, I was upset. I am sure SHE didn't do it, but I wish she'd protected it better. None of her other eggs hatched.
Then on Wednesday, my broody buff orp hatched a little black and white chick. Yay!
But then something small got into my little coop and killed (and ate most of) one of my 6 1/2 week old Aloha project chicks. I found what was left of it on the floor of the coop this afternoon. Just bones, feathers, and feet left. At first I worried it was death by natural causes and canibalism (ew!) but while I sat there contemplating the probable cause of death, I heard a scratching/chewing noise coming from under the coop. We tried, machetes in hand, to flood it out, dig it out, or otherwise scare it out... but it didn't show its self. Finally we just locked the peeps in for the night and set out snap traps at the most likely entrance point of BOTH coops. Whatever killed my chicks will end.

I am thinking rat, most likely. Anything bigger would have killed more and taken the bodies, right? No other birds have been harmed, no eggs seem to be missing/broken. The dogs keep most bigger things pretty well scared off, but rats are small and stealthy. Aside from the traps is there anything else I can do? I am only going to consider pet safe options (no poisons!!!) And I prefer not to have it suffer, even if it did kill my birds. Can't blame a critter for looking for an easy meal because that's its nature. I am not looking for revenge so much as trying to prevent more losses.

On a positive note, at least I ended on plus one- my BLRW, Scarlet, hatched her first egg today. The other 4 eggs under her might hatch tomorrow *cross fingers!*
And I have 3 more broodies setting. Lots of mutts will be coming to the swap to find new homes if the girls succeed at hatching and protecting their babies. (though I might keep Scarlet's peep. It appears to be pure BLRW, the only possible non-mutt that could come from my flock right now.)

Sorry to hear about your losses
sad.png
I've had what I think was a rat or some small critter attack one of my grown chickens before. It chewed on her leg and she was limping one morning so I assume it happened at night in the coop. I took her to our local bird clinic and they gave her pain and joint meds and kept her over night. She was on the meds for about two weeks and her leg healed. I was surprised because she was an old girl, almost 6 years old. But that's the only rat and chicken problems I had. We set traps behind the coop where the chickens couldn't accidently step in them but caught nothing. Nothing attacked my chickens again though.
hmm.png
I'm not sure what it was but I'm assuming it was a rat.​
 
Quote:
Sorry to hear about your losses
sad.png
I've had what I think was a rat or some small critter attack one of my grown chickens before. It chewed on her leg and she was limping one morning so I assume it happened at night in the coop. I took her to our local bird clinic and they gave her pain and joint meds and kept her over night. She was on the meds for about two weeks and her leg healed. I was surprised because she was an old girl, almost 6 years old. But that's the only rat and chicken problems I had. We set traps behind the coop where the chickens couldn't accidently step in them but caught nothing. Nothing attacked my chickens again though.
hmm.png
I'm not sure what it was but I'm assuming it was a rat.

Wow, I am so sorry to hear of your losses and injuries. I had a rat under my coop last winter (finally caught him!) but he never bothered any of my chickens. I was really worried about my little OEGBs and other small bantams - mostly their legs, but there is no way he could have ever got in my coop and he never came out during the day when the big girls were around. They knew he was there and spent all day watching his holes and digging for him lol. I don't have chicks outside ever so I really don't know. Could it be something else like a weasel or mink? I'm really inexperienced when it comes to predators.
 
Last edited:
Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex :

Anyone on here have experience with rats attacking chickens?

I am thinking rat, most likely. Anything bigger would have killed more and taken the bodies, right? No other birds have been harmed, no eggs seem to be missing/broken. The dogs keep most bigger things pretty well scared off, but rats are small and stealthy. Aside from the traps is there anything else I can do? I am only going to consider pet safe options (no poisons!!!) And I prefer not to have it suffer, even if it did kill my birds. Can't blame a critter for looking for an easy meal because that's its nature. I am not looking for revenge so much as trying to prevent more losses.

I have rats eating eggs being layed in the hay barn right now, trying to get that problem solved.

I lost a hen two nights ago in my re-hab stall, straight up sides, slick metal building, and tough as fort knox! It was a racoon, climbed up the wall somehow and dropped in from the 6 ft roof. Left its footprints in the sand so I know it was a racoon. Racoons leave tons of feathers and lots of the bird, they don't eat it all. Last year I had a coon break into my main coop (now reinforced!!!) and killed 4 birds, drug some parts out of the coop and basically just left a big, sad mess! Got that one in a live trap and have not caught the current culpret yet.

Two weeks ago I had a broody hen with 5 chicks I had given her who persisted in sleeping right next to the wall in my coop. I did not realize there was a small hole at ground level where she was sleeping and one of the chicks disappeared in the night. Momma picked a different spot to sleep the next night. I guessed kitty cat on that incident.

I would not think a rat would take on a full grown chicken but would expect chicks to be about the right size..............I think Seabreeze is having this issue right now.​
 
Yeah, my Alohas are about the size of fat pigeons right now. Small enough for a rat to kill, too big for a rat to pack off. Till just today most still slept on the floor of the coop. Tonight as I set the traps I looked in on them and 11 of 24 were on the roosts. They learn, at least.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom