Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[sharron]

Lol wish i could own one >.> but then fr sure the neighbor would stroke!!

i don't care if my neighbor strokes or not, kinda wish she would, because of her and her dog, we had to get rid of our six guienas
at first i had bought betty for the dil, and also bettys first heifer calf so angie could pick the one she wanted, was going to resell the one she didn't want, well betty had her second calf , heifer, two weeks after coming her, so dh made a stanchion for me and we broke her to milk, altho she did have a head start on that, had been milked a couple of times, anyway, now when i want milk, dh locks up nosey and i milk the next morning, shes turned out to be such a nice milk cow that i didn't want to sell her. since dh wants to spend the coldest months florida now cause of his knees, i was going to have to sell her, ds didn't want to take care of all my animals but his wife changed his mind i think

betty is a unregistered dexter

 

[chiques chicks]

Predators in Lancaster county? Hmmmm, dogs, coyote, fox, possum, raccoon, weasel, hawk, owl, stray cats, just to name a few.
That said, I've only had one possum get in my open run, and the rooster defended. I have a hawk nest 75 yards from my run. Rural area, mix of field and woods, run is open top, about 40x50. I do close my coops at night, and they are reasonably secure.

 

[PAchickenlover]

PM me

Can I see too! And what did you coat the floors with?

PM me

I want a goat but so far the hubby isn't going for it. I would love to see the pictures too. I need a bigger coop built ASAP.

I still have more pens to build, but here are several we already have done. Cages all have wire floors & we just take a hose under them & spray everything out every few days while watering. Coops & boxes all pretty much have dirt floors covered in chips. We just shovel out & replace as needed. Most pens are made with almost all recycled materials & whatever was laying around or on hand when we were building.
Most of my quail are in here. This was taken before they were put in. I have also used this for bantams & the larger pen on the left end has a pair of showgirls in it currently. I have this outside under a pine tree for shade & the canvas flips down at night.


The next 2 are different views of my turkey pen before my trio went in. We just built a nice glass house for my waterfowl grow-outs today similar to this 1 right next to this.




This is the BIG brooder in the house. It's an old wardrobe closet laying on it's back & is 3x5 & about 2.5 deep.


These 2 pix are of my big brooder that's now had a roof added & is sitting outside. The top pic shows the "open" section that is wire on all sides but 1. I keep the food & water here. The 2nd pic shows the nest box area with heatlamp. Both sections have a ;large door that opens p into them. This is also 3x5 & is about 4 ft tall including 1.5 ft legs that allow droppings through the wire floor. This is great for water babies & allows chicks, geese, turkeys & ducks to brood together because water drains right out the wire bottom.



Below are 2 views of our main coop 4x8 & 5 ft high. It now has wildlife netting covering the run & a tarp that provides shade over a section of the run. There is a center bean down the length of the run holding everything above head level so we can walk down most of the run without ducking. The run is 8x15.



This is the pen my runners & scovies currently share. It was already here when we moved in & sits on a very steep bank. We put an old truck cap in it to use as a night box for lockdown at night. Once the 3 new pens are built next to the coop (hopefully next week) this will only be used to keep sale birds in since it is next to the house & convenient for customers to view the birds.


This is the large, odd shaped pen (aprox 7x15) next to my turkey pen that we use for waterfowl grow-out. It now has a glass house similar to the 1 for the turkeys, but bigger.


And this is my gorgeous Tom enjoying having his head scratched by my fiance.
[COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR]


We are still working on about 6 more pens. I have several more not pictured for the pekins & toulouse, a tractor for the banties & a pen for the meaties, plus 2 more quail pens & a huge old rabbit cage that houses my calls.

Impressive! :yiipchick

 

[redhen689]

To be honest, about my predator problem, I'm not sure what has done it most of the time.
I had kept chickens for 8 years in a not-very-secure coop with no problems other than our dog.
Then, once I had something take a mama hen right off of her chicks in the predawn hours. What ever it was left all of the chicks.
Some time later something started taking our the hens just before dawn, It chewed on my plastic eggs, Someone told me that was a raccoon. I tried to make my old coop more secure but that raccoon was sneaky. (I did trap a raccoon.) Then hens started roosting in the trees. Then something started climbing the tree to get them, so they switched to the top of another tree. Then I had a owl take them, (I had my window open and I heard the noise later that I realized was an owl in flight.)

I have a very secure coop now, (made from a used wooden playhouse) but once about a month ago I forgot to close it up at night. When I went out, all of the plastic eggs from the nesting boxes were scattered on the ground, and one hen was missing. I had to leave for work. When i arrived home, I looked around and found the hen behind the hen house, with it's head chewed off. I'm not sure what did that.

My dad built me a automatic door opener/closer, made from a car window opener. It's triggered to open at dawn, close at dusk. I'm going to install it sometime in the next month or so. I have to build a chicken door for it, because it won't work on the people door.

 

[PAchickenlover]

I have a question.. my Pekin drake, I am pretty sure he was the culprit, drown two ducklings earlier this spring. Now one of my ducks is sitting on a clutch of eggs. I am worried about when they hatch. Has anyone ever had a drake do this before? I think he is going to be out of here pretty soon just sick of the things he has been doing. I guess I should build some more run areas,ha e to find the money to be able to first, right now my chickens, ducks, and goose all share the same run area. I have noticed my drake going after some of my chicken hens.. not really the best set-up but it is what I have right now. Any other ideas for my drake other than getting rid of him?

 

[sharron]

To be honest, about my predator problem, I'm not sure what has done it most of the time.
I had kept chickens for 8 years in a not-very-secure coop with no problems other than our dog.
Then, once I had something take a mama hen right off of her chicks in the predawn hours. What ever it was left all of the chicks.
Some time later something started taking our the hens just before dawn, It chewed on my plastic eggs, Someone told me that was a raccoon. I tried to make my old coop more secure but that raccoon was sneaky. (I did trap a raccoon.) Then hens started roosting in the trees. Then something started climbing the tree to get them, so they switched to the top of another tree. Then I had a owl take them, (I had my window open and I heard the noise later that I realized was an owl in flight.)

I have a very secure coop now, (made from a used wooden playhouse) but once about a month ago I forgot to close it up at night. When I went out, all of the plastic eggs from the nesting boxes were scattered on the ground, and one hen was missing. I had to leave for work. When i arrived home, I looked around and found the hen behind the hen house, with it's head chewed off. I'm not sure what did that.

My dad built me a automatic door opener/closer, made from a car window opener. It's triggered to open at dawn, close at dusk. I'm going to install it sometime in the next month or so. I have to build a chicken door for it, because it won't work on the people door.

i would have the auto opener set for later than dawn, predators are still out looking for food, i've seen coons still on the hunt that early

 

[PAchickenlover]

Yes I agree with Sharron. I also had a Fox in my backyard the other week and it was around 4 pm. So even an automatic door Isn't a guarantee.

 

[wingstone]

Predators in Lancaster county? Hmmmm, dogs, coyote, fox, possum, raccoon, weasel, hawk, owl, stray cats, just to name a few.
That said, I've only had one possum get in my open run, and the rooster defended. I have a hawk nest 75 yards from my run. Rural area, mix of field and woods, run is open top, about 40x50. I do close my coops at night, and they are reasonably secure.

Here is the reason why you must take the time to find out what YOUR predators are gonna be.....I am literally only about 3 miles away and have very different predator's,,,,I get hawks but only in late summer early fall,,,,never had a raccoon problem, only time we see them is when sweet corn is ready and we set traps at that time....seen one possum in the last 3 years and it was obviously not well being out in the day time (really was not well an hour later).

with that said, my biggest predators are the sparrows that carry all kinds of nasty things with them and the pigeons (still looking for a useful purpose for these)....and the road, we live along a strip of road that people like to race on.

 

[stake]

Here is the reason why you must take the time to find out what YOUR predators are gonna be.....I am literally only about 3 miles away and have very different predator's,,,,I get hawks but only in late summer early fall,,,,never had a raccoon problem, only time we see them is when sweet corn is ready and we set traps at that time....seen one possum in the last 3 years and it was obviously not well being out in the day time (really was not well an hour later).

with that said, my biggest predators are the sparrows that carry all kinds of nasty things with them and the pigeons (still looking for a useful purpose for these)....and the road, we live along a strip of road that people like to race on.

Well, lets add 'skunk' to the list....imho, I am trying to build a setup that take care of all possible critters...you never know who may be moving in next door......

 

[wingstone]

Quote: Not sure what you may have been referring to there, but yes I have had neighbor problems, as in they let their dogs run free.

building fort knox was something I aimed for in the beginning, now I realize I ave to try to keep out the worst of the predators and hope for the best....seriously though, I am not sure many people realize how bad the sparrow can be, I see many people with bird houses and feeders alongside the chicken coop......this is not good.