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

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I love all 10 of my roosters crowing lol but some people just don't. I can respect that. Leg color, well, I don't know first hand since I didn't keep any that didn't have yellow legs, but I've heard you can breed out green as long as you have a yellow leg mate. It takes a long time I've heard too. Black or dark, no, not really anything you can do with that even if the mate has yellow legs. You might get swarthy (black and yellow) but black is really hard which is why they are considered pet quality.
 
[[[......Are these miniature appleyards?....]]]]

No, they are standards, and look like they are going to be quite large ( I hope ). They are putting on a lot of growth very quickly.

They are calm natured and don't seem to make a lot of noise. The Swedish mutts quack a lot and the Appleyards seem to waddle along with the flock with their mouths closed. The Swedish are going into the freezer as soon as my plucker arrives. I expect the Appleyards to be even calmer without their influence.

I've got to get the hatchery Swedish gone before I put my new exhibition Swedish out with the ducks. I don't want their lovely temperaments contaminated with the hatchery hysteria.
 
Well it looks like I may have found new homes for all my extra roosters! Hopefully it works out. I am supposed to be meeting up with several people tomorrow to pick up their roosters. Maybe by tomorrow night things will be more peaceful in the hen house!
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Now I just have some polish chicks to grow out and see which of those will be rehomed..... Probably wait until the Fall Swap on those to give them enough time to grow into themselves. Some will be kept as future breeders.
 
Been working on the fencing around my coops. I'm now trying to get the top enclosed.
Does anyone know, if raccoons climb chain link? I've read where they will kill chickens trying to pull them 'through' the fencing, but haven't read anything about them 'undoing' the fencing from the top? The only thing I've read about having a 'top' was to keep large 'birds' (hawks) from attacking. I'm just hoping that I will have the top, which one side is canvas like tarp, and the other side is fencing; will be knotted down tight enough?
Any thoughts?
Thanks!

I'm also putting 1/4 inch wire cloth over the bottom 2 foot of the chainlink. Not worried about chicks getting out, just the raccoons reaching in. I'm repurposing my dogs old kennel. Spent a small $$ on the stupid thing and the dog never used it.
 
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I'm pretty sure racoons will climb the chain link. I know they climb over my cedar fence with no problem. I put fencing over the top of my run, and then used zip ties to help hold it at the edges (along with staples since I have a wood frame). I figure zip ties can't be untied. I know racoons are very clever and have dextrous little fingers. So far none have gotten in my coop or run. Another idea is to run a single electric fence wire around the edge of the roof to discourage predators from messing with it.
 
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Oh, I also wanted to say that they can probably chew through the canvas tarp, so maybe you should run the fencing under that as well?

Second that. The only reason the raccoons haven't got my neighbor's chickens yet (she has the same set up as you are talking about) is because she has a Mastiff there with them. The raccoons seem to stay away from any place that has a dog scent. Not sure why but I don't think it's going to be pretty when the dog dies (she's very old). My coop and run are like Fort Knox. Nothing is getting in and nothing is getting out. While building it I put myself in the place of a raccoon (don't laugh at me lol) and said could I get in here? I have never lost a bird to a predator in 4 years using this mentality. My fencing is buried 12" and cemented into the ground on all sides and it is double fencing - ranch fencing (don't know the proper term for it) covered in hardware cloth. My coop pop doors are locked from the inside with heavy steel poles that go all the way through the beam under the coop and the people door has 3 locks that you need to use a key to open - 3 different keys mind you. My husband teases me about seeing a coon out there with a lock pick kit, lol but it hasn't happened yet
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(ZooMummzy / DancingHen)
Thanks! (to both)
We used to get alot of coons in the yard, haven't seen any in a long time. We have dogs also. But I was afraid that once I put the chickens out, they would start coming back. Maybe the dogs do keep them at bay. I have seen possums, but they don't seem as aggessive as the coons. I mean, they seem to not want to work as hard to get at anything. They don't get in the yard, they just walk the tops of the fence. I think just to mess with the dogs. I am working with the bottom also. My dogs are diggers, so I know I will have to do something about that.
And thinking like a raccoon, I read somewhere that you should get a 6 yr old to try and get in your coop/run area. If they can do it, so can a raccoon.
And if the scent of a dog's pee works, I know where I can get lots of that!! I have 2 male dogs!! And one, a beagle would pee on everything if he was smart enough not to get caught!! I can send him out to that part of the yard, won't be any problem to get him to hike a leg on a corner or two!! LMAO!
 
Raccoons can climb nearly anything.

I am using a dog kennel as my night run. It's welded steel, not chain link. I've got livestock panels over the top fastened on with baling wire. Bottom is lined with 1 inch chicken wire and there is a wire skirting to prevent digging in.

Baling wire is so useful for so many jobs and most of the hay farmers switched to that plastic twine so that baling wire is getting hard to find. I went down to the farm supply store 5 years ago and bought myself a box of baling wire. It was an excellent investment and I am using it often.

The only problem is that it is an itty bitty box and it is so heavy I can't lift it or move it. I have to call for help if the box needs to be moved.

If you know anyone with livestock, maybe they can provide you with several pieces of baling wire. Raccoons can't break that.

I've heard that raccoons can reach through the 1 inch poultry net and pull a bird over to them to be killed. If I actually get any raccoons, I'll probably have to change the wire around the bottom of my night run. If I do, I'll use the rabbit cage wire because it is much sturdier. So far, though, it's coyotes and birds of prey who are th biggest threat---- oh, and abandoned dogs and cats who have come out to the country to live on a farm.

Helpful hint: a large dog can pull the chain link loose from the bottom of one of those chain link kennels. So take your baling wire and wire the bottom of that chain link down to the frame really thoroughly.
 

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