San Diego Chicken meetup and Chat thread

[perchie.girl]

I'm the one with the Crumblestock party, which I think was the origin of the mouse/rat thing. Storage is in galvanized trash cans, so as perchie girl said, the battle is in the coop.

I haven't quite gotten un-squeamish enough to try it, as this one sounds pretty gruesome, but they say that the water bucket thing is about as tried and true as it gets, can catch 20 mice or rats in a day, is pretty darn cheap, and doesn't involve poisons or chemicals (if you are interested in this, try a search for "rat" "bucket" "trap"). That's when you partially fill a smooth-sided bucket with water, and suspend some food-type product in the middle of the bucket. The rodent falls in and drowns. Yuk.

They also say you can do the same thing without the water by oiling the insides of a trash can, but you have to kill whatever is in the bottom of the container when you find it. Yuk.

I'm going to start looking into the treadle feeder. Either that, or I need to rent someone's cat for a week.

There is a variation on the bucket of water thing. Fill it partway with water then sprinkle bird seed on top. It looks like a bucket of food they hop in for a snack.

They just drown themselves in my water buckets So I dont bother. I fish a mouse out about once a week. For the horse I make sure the water is filled to the top or I have to fish out rabbits and squirrels.... sigh. (oh I keep it filled to the top so they can get back out I use automatic waterers on the big animal water tubs) the horse has a 110 gallon and the goats have a 50. Keeps the water cool and available with a trickle supply. Horse drinks about 30 gallons a day when its hot.

deb

 

[desertdarlene]

Aww, that's so cute DonaldFan with all four together. Glad to see them adapting so well. I know that Pekins do have different shades of bills, but that one is really pale.

I rarely see female Muscovies dumped, but there were a few at Chollas lake until recently. They're usually not a whole lot bigger than the mallards.

 

[RHRanch]

Escondido Feed in North County carries treadle feeders for around $30-35 each.

 

[perchie.girl]

Escondido Feed in North County carries treadle feeders for around $30-35 each.

Wow thats a good price. Is Escondido Feed the one by the railroad tracks Kind of sandwiched in an old part of town?

I may have to check it out.

deb

 

[luvanimals2]

I HATE rats and mice. They made me give up my chickens many years ago. I can still see them in my head, marching on the chainlink fence and coming out of the hanging feeders.

After buying the new place and having the chicken coop built from scratch. I knew I wanted it predator and RAT proof. They ended up using 8 rolls of hardware cloth. Each roll = 100ft I also knew I did not want to feed those darn rats organic feed. I decided to spend on the hardware cloth and enclose the run. It was not cheap but I figure I saved it by not feeding $$$$$ feed to the rodents. So my problem is having a secure place for the feed before it goes to the coop. I have had the rats get to it in the garage. After the dust settles, I will have a shed built to house the feed. I will go and buy more metal trashcans to store it.

Good Luck everyone!

Nancy

 

[Aumlet]

Escondido Feed in North County carries treadle feeders for around $30-35 each.

So does Carter's in Encinitas. I was there yesterday and contemplated buying one.

 

[RHRanch]

Wow thats a good price. Is Escondido Feed the one by the railroad tracks Kind of sandwiched in an old part of town?

I may have to check it out.

deb

yes, its near Hawthorne Country Feed, but is not the same place. I prefer Escondido Feed, the staff is much nicer and the prices are usually better for a lot of things.

http://www.escondidofeed.com/escondidofeed/Welcome.html

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Quote:
Anyone have a pic of them?

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
Anyone have a pic of them?

There are two kinds metal and wood. Pretty much the same mechanism. The following link shows a bunch of different treadle feeders.
The mechanism is pretty easy if you are willing to goof around with linkages. once I have one IN my possession I can make many others.

http://tinyurl.com/8ax9n8s

deb

 

[igotchickens]

I was just wanting to know where the feed is kept for the person/s that was haveing mice and rat problems. And what its being kept in?

I bought a 55 gallon food-grade metal drum/barrel off Craigslist for $10. I got it from a bakery in Mira Mesa (it previously had white grape juice in it). When I got it it was only slightly sticky because they spray them out but I just soaped it up before putting feed in it. It came with a metal lid too. It holds about 6-7 50 lb bags of feed. Just make sure it's where you want it when you fill it because it will be impossible to move when full!