San Diego Chicken meetup and Chat thread

[RyeRanch]

I have these in my yard with chickens for years.... They are very good for controlling small pests, I would never harm or remove them without having a real problem I knew was being caused by them, I would not worry about it. They will eat rodents, like gophers, baby squirrels, lizards, etc. They are beneficial.

Good to know - we have a huge amount of ground squirrels and gophers, so maybe that is what he was after. As long as I never catch him after the chickens we are OK.

 

[RyeRanch]

Boo, sorry for all the sad news!!!! Poor scalpy chicken!!! I hope it turns around under your loving care!!

And, hope the tummy is feeling better.......

And, yes, in Elfin Forest/Harmony Grove/Western Escondido I have seen these on the roadside and in fields driving through, but none in really residential areas (we are 2+acre minimum...so still rural). Our ground squirrel issue is unbelievable and I would love a natural predator.....I'm sure one could eat for years without having to worry about chasing chickens.

does anyone have a squirrel control suggestions???? They are stealing my eggs, going into my coop and eating the chicken food, I lost 60% of my apricots this month and I have plums and peaches coming that I don't want to lose!!!! Husband got a pellet gun....but honestly, he isn't the best hunter

. I'm worried gas will hurt the chickens...but we did do it on the lower property far away. They are just everywhere........in large numbers.

fraun

We have the same out of control squirrel population and have found great success with the Squirrelinator squirrel trap. We put it in the chicken coop during the day with a bowl of chicken feed and remove all of the other chicken feed from the coop. We have the population onder control now, but there was a time where we were captuing 6-8 squirrels per day. It is a live trap so you can take them out somewhere and let them go or you can feed them to your neighborhood friendly weasel. We have captured about 70 squirrels this year, there are still a good number of squirrels around, but they seem to have enough other food avaialble that they are not constantly in the coop snacking.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

I am sooo upset!!! One of my naked neck pullets (her name is "Coco's baby" was attackedby other chickens and scalped.  I bandaged her up and gave her electrolytes, but she is acting like she has lost the will to live......   If anyone has any bandaging suggestions, etc. I would appreciate it, I love this bird and she is the only baby I have hatched from Kevin and Coco, naked necks given to me by Knockneedhen.

It's very upsetting to find this. I have experienced it with a chick. Here's what I did....I separated her and put her in a warm hospital cage. Adding heat helps heal and keep them from going into shock. I used a heating pad under a crate where she could move off the heat if needed. Check to make sure it's not too hot by pressing your hand down on the bottom of the inside of the crate. Adjust the heat by the thermometer and/or adding newspaper on top of the heating pad. I washed the wound with a betadine solution, then liberally put a triple antibiotic ointment on her three times a day the first couple of days, then to twice a day until it was almost healed. It healed quickly, but she now has a lone feather at the back of her head (it used to be on top of her head). I believe this picture was taken just a day after it happened. You can see how it already is forming a hard crust. I never picked anything or cut anything off her. I just used a Q-tip with a load of triple antibiotic ointment on it and threw it away each time. It's healed and only I would know what happened by looking at her.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

  Now, look what my neighbor caught and turned loose again :-(  I'm in rural Vista.  Anybody else have these guys running around?

This is worrisome to me. I sold some birds to someone in Escondido that said their neighbor has been losing chickens to weasels. I couldn't believe it! I didn't know we had weasels. Then about a week later coming home from Ramona I swore I saw this same thing standing up on the side of the road. Now I hear they're everywhere!! It concerns me because I know that one weasel can kill multiple chickens in one night, mostly by removing their heads for a late night delicacy. They can fit into a very tiny space...if they're heads can fit they can get their entire bodies through. I wonder if there is a population explosion in the county for some reason. I'd much rather deal with ground squirrels then weasels. My old neighbor said that it's been 20 years since he's seen any weasels up here in the mountains. I hope we continue that streak.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Edited to add that I wish I could feed my horses 100% alfalfa (and I know they wish that, too!), but it is just too rich for them. They are lucky that they get a single flake to split at lunchtime being that they are such air ferns...

I think they have other stuff besides just alfalfa, you'll have to double check on their website...

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Does anyone have a squirrel control suggestions???? They are stealing my eggs, going into my coop and eating the chicken food, I lost 60% of my apricots this month and I have plums and peaches coming that I don't want to lose!!!! Husband got a pellet gun....but honestly, he isn't the best hunter

. I'm worried gas will hurt the chickens...but we did do it on the lower property far away. They are just everywhere........in large numbers.

We have problems with squirrels too. We use a shotgun approach (no pun intended). They eat alllllll of our stuff too.

Here's what we do;

1. shoot with pellet guns
2. trap with snapping rat traps
3. put poison down holes and places where I know other animals can't get it
4. also use live traps with eggs as bait
5. no longer free-feed, instead feed at specified times with pellet gun in hand, the squirrels will come out when they know there's food and you have a better chance at getting them...


Using all of these methods combined we are able (barely) to stay on top of the population...


ETA: I've heard that the squirrelinator works well, but they are so expensive I haven't got one yet...

 

[vannaHaines]

I've resorted to using a pellet gun as well. Doesn't kill the squirrel, but sure pops them with a good sting. Haven't seen any in a while, but when I check my coops, I'm out there with pellet gun in hand.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Quote:


I haven't seen any either, but they are so cool (and pretty) that I would hate to see someone kill one just because it's a weasel. It's so neat they are making a comeback!!! Hopefully they will help control the rodent population!!!! I wouldn't do anything until (if ever) I had a problem, then I'd live trap it and release it far away.

 

[dfdesigns]

We also use a Squirrelanator here... I load that thing up with some MM scratch, and then just can't resist it. (We had an absolute bumper crop o'squirrels this year.) As for keeping them away from the feeders, I've been adding in organic cayenne, and it seems to be cutting down on my feed losses. Supposedly rats don't like the spiked feed, either, but who knows. I have been sneezing a LOT on the days I'm mixing in the cayenne.

 

[dfdesigns]

Quote:
I did - all they have is alfalfa and straw. If they have Bermuda or Orchard Grass or Timothy I'd be all over it! This would be so great for those of you who have dairy goats.