Texas

[jajeanpierre]

Why can't I relocate a coon? I am about 4 miles from a wildlife preserve.

All animals live in a niche in their environment. There isn't usually any empty space. Everything is in balance.

If you relocate your raccoon, you will first of all, be removing it from a place where it has shelter and knows where food and water is. This you would be doing at the time of stress from our unusually cold temperatures. The other thing is that you will be putting this raccoon into an environment which is probably quite full of other animals that are competing for the same food and territory resources.

In general, the wildlife experts are finding relocating problematic animals to be failure and are rethinking it. Adding another predator to an area puts all the resident predators at risk because there just isn't enough food and territory. I don't know the number of miles you would have to go to stop your raccoon from returning, but four miles doesn't sound like enough.

It might be illegal to relocate a raccoon.

Those are just my thoughts.

I have been very lucky to not have lost a chicken to predation. I know predators are around and will continue to be around whether I were to kill every one I came across. If there is an empty space for a predator, one will move in to fill it. Removing your raccoon, if it is a raccoon, might solve your problem; but then again, it might not. My goal is to make my chickens as safe as I can while leaving the wildlife alone. But, again, I've never faced the heartbreak of losing any bird, especially a loved one, to predation.

It is quite possible the chicken was unknowingly left outside at night. If that had not happened, maybe you would never have known there was a predator in your area capable of killing your chickens. Maybe just making sure your chickens are locked up at night is the solution. Predators are everywhere, even in cities.

A rooster can be quite helpful in keeping hens safe. Do you have a rooster?

Good luck with your decision. You know I'm always on the side of live and let live.

 

[Teri Metcalf]

Interesting article about chicken intelligence that many of us had already suspected:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/a...ntelligence-of-the-common-chicken/?print=true

 

[Teri Metcalf]

Trying again. Hope you can open the link to this Scientific American article.

The Startling Intelligence of the Common Chicken
www.scientificamerican.com
Chickens are smart, and they understand their world, which raises troubling questions about how they are treated on factory farms


In Brief

• Mounting evidence indicates that the common chicken is much smarter than it has been given credit for.
• The birds are cunning, devious and capable of empathy. And they have sophisticated communication skills.
• That chickens are so brainy hints that such intelligence is more common in the animal kingdom than once thought.
• This emerging picture of the chicken mind also has ethical implications for how society treats farmed birds.

 

[bnjrob]

Never thought of that. Would you expect the South Texas State Fair the end of March to be the same? I was planning on going to exhibit, but don't want to if it is likely to be a madhouse. It is quite far away to begin with.

Have never been to that one, so don't have a clue about what it will be like. Since it isn't THE state fair, it might be less crowded and crazy.

HEY PEOPLE - HAS ANYONE BEEN TO THE SOUTH TEXAS STATE FAIR? Got someone that would like to know if it is crazy crowded like the State Fair of TX in Dallas is on weekends.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Trying again. Hope you can open the link to this Scientific American article.

The Startling Intelligence of the Common Chicken
www.scientificamerican.com
Chickens are smart, and they understand their world, which raises troubling questions about how they are treated on factory farms

In Brief

• Mounting evidence indicates that the common chicken is much smarter than it has been given credit for.
• The birds are cunning, devious and capable of empathy. And they have sophisticated communication skills.
• That chickens are so brainy hints that such intelligence is more common in the animal kingdom than once thought.
• This emerging picture of the chicken mind also has ethical implications for how society treats farmed birds.

Bob Bailey and his wife Marian Breland ran Operant Conditoning and Behavior Analysis Workshops (known as Chicken Camps) for trainers of all kinds of animals. They used chickens as the model to train the trainers. It was the go-to place for dog obedience trainers to improve their training techniques.

For those familiar with psychology, Keller and Marian Breland and Bob Bailey were proteges of B.F. Skinner. That group was involved in the training of all kinds of animals for the Navy for the war effort starting back in the late '40s I think. Anyone remember the coin-operated dancing chicken boxes that were around in the mid west, I think? Those were put together by this group.

My understanding of a chicken's rate of learning is that it takes 50 reps for the animal to learn a behavior. That is far higher than something like a crow or a parrot. The reason I think chickens are so suitable for a training camp is that they take so many repetitions to learn a behavior and aren't smart enough to figure out what behavior you are trying to teach them the way many other animals will. There isn't a lot of room for trainer error in timing with chickens, whereas a parrot, dog or crow will think about what you are really trying to get them to do, so any timing errors are compensated by the learner. With a chicken, you will get the behavior you reward for and they will show trainers where they are making mistakes in their timing of the marker (usually a clicker's click) that marks the correct behavior.

I trained a parrot to learn to pick up a plastic disc, and depending on the color of the disc, deposit it in either the right dish or the left dish in 6 or 7 ten-minute sessions spread over 4 days under the tutelage of a professional trainer. I wouldn't expect a chicken to be that attuned to do what I wanted. They are more motivated by what they want.

 

[bnjrob]

I have some questions for your experienced chick raisers.

I have two orders of chicks coming this spring, possibly at the same time. One order is for 12 Ameraucanas from a breeder/exhibitor. The other order is for 23 chicks from a small hatchery. It is a mixed bunch of Black Copper Marans, Wyandottes, Araucanas. Those birds are probably not a lot better quality than a hatchery, but the foundation stock does come from serious breeders.

I want to use a brooder, and will buy one or two of the 20-chick Brinsea brooders. Will 23 LF chicks fit under the smaller Brinsea for awhile at least? The small brooder says it is for 20 chicks. Until what age? I might have to buy two brooders because the chicks will probably come at different times. I was thinking if things are too tight, I might put under a Silkie.

I would appreciate some advice.

Thanks.

You can probably get 23 under the smaller one until they are about a week old, after that, they will be spilling out the sides of it.

I've got a brooder of 3 week olds, 8 of them. They no longer fit completely underneath it. Although the ones that have ended up out from underneath it have been fine because they have feathers everywhere but their heads, and they still get warmth from the buddies they are snuggled against. The coldest that it gets in the room they are in is about 50 degrees.

 

[Kdunn9]

We just received 24 day old chicks today. (Wanted 15, bumped it to 20 to avoid packing peanuts, got 4 extras anyway). We have the 20 chick warmer and it doesn't look like 20 chicks will fit under it much less 24. I am calling amazon today to get another one.

 

[hensfortherapy]

All animals live in a niche in their environment.  There isn't usually any empty space.  Everything is in balance.

If you relocate your raccoon, you will first of all, be removing it from a place where it has shelter and knows where food and water is.  This you would be doing at the time of stress from our unusually cold temperatures.  The other thing is that you will be putting this raccoon into an environment which is probably quite full of other animals that are competing for the same food and territory resources.

In general, the wildlife experts are finding relocating problematic animals to be failure and are rethinking it.  Adding another predator to an area puts all the resident predators at risk because there just isn't enough food and territory.  I don't know the number of miles you would have to go to stop your raccoon from returning, but four miles doesn't sound like enough.

It might be illegal to relocate a raccoon.


Those are just my thoughts.

I have been very lucky to not have lost a chicken to predation.  I know predators are around and will continue to be around whether I were to kill every one I came across.  If there is an empty space for a predator, one will move in to fill it.  Removing your raccoon, if it is a raccoon, might solve your problem; but then again, it might not.  My goal is to make my chickens as safe as I can while leaving the wildlife alone.  But, again, I've never faced the heartbreak of losing any bird, especially a loved one, to predation.

It is quite possible the chicken was unknowingly left outside at night.  If that had not happened, maybe you would never have known there was a predator in your area capable of killing your chickens.  Maybe just making sure your chickens are locked up at night is the solution.  Predators are everywhere, even in cities.

A rooster can be quite helpful in keeping hens safe.  Do you have a rooster?


Good luck with your decision.  You know I'm always on the side of live and let live.

Don't think I can have a rooster. I was working under the live and let live philosophy. Then it killed my chicken. I figure it is my fault for having the automatic door set to open too early and the coon just happened by late. The girls are being hesitantly about coming out in the mornings. They stay in the chicken yard, where before they would be out foraging or at my back door. So I think in happened in the early morning cause the scene was fresh.
I won't kill the raccoon, but he will be relocated.

 

[hungnguyen]

Quote:
what is the Chick Warmer ? Brooder ?

 

[Ms Jellybean]

The black one is Marcos, thumpers son. The white one is Diego. He was a boy til he had babies last jan. I had just gotten thumper and tried, unsuccessfully, to have Diego, cupcake (the brown one in this pic) and thumper all live happily ever after. Unfortunately, cupcake (Diego's true love) and thumper were going to kill each other. But, unbeknownst to me, thumper impregnated Diego rt before Christmas 2013. So thumper had to live in a pen all by himself. Then the 5 babies were born-what a shock-and now I have 6. Cupcake is super old like 7-8. We got him at the pound. One of Diego's and thumpers daughters decided it would be better to try and live in the wild, she ran away. Sniff sniff. And one I gave to a student who I knew had a great place to the bunny to run around. But we still have the other 3 babies and the three adults. All males have been nutured. (Spelling?). It is a big huge soap opera in my bunny pens. Oh yea. There is peter who is a rogue and can't get along with anyone so he's all alone.

Raise your hand if you really care bout all this!!!

That's funny! We had two rabbits when I was a kid. I'd like to get one again, a siamese looking dwarf kind, but my son is highly allergic to them.

Have to show my tin chicken sign I found last week

Cute! I found a bunch of signs on Amazon. I may have to order a few when I get my chicks next year.

Yep, sadly I have found that I am the only person my age that likes chickens around here

everyone else just thinks chicken nuggets when I bring them up.

Is there a 4H club around?

A few Pictures from the snow!

Beautiful flock!

The bad thing about those shows are that you have to pay for admission to the full event, not just the poultry shows. We prefer to go to the fair during the week when it is not so crowded, but after already paying out the nose to get into that, not to mention paying for parking, the idea of having to pay parking and fair admission all over again for the poultry show on a busy weekend is not that appealing. Not to mention the horrid parking and crowd conditions. Would much prefer to go to a show not affiliated with big events like that. And the fair grounds are in a part of town that you feel like you have to be armed in order to come out alive.

I take the bus to the fair when I go. I haven't gone in years though. No one I know wants to go just to look at all the animals. That's my favourite!!

I may have to try Silver Campine some day. First I want a real Gold Lace Wyandotte.

Chicken math!!

I'm so sorry you are having predictor troubles. I can't imagine-I don't even close up my coop at night. They go in when they want and come out to squawk at the back door. Gotta keep my fingers crossed but so far neither man or beast has discovered my treasures!!

I worry more about human predators than anything right now. Time will tell if I have the other kind. Of course I need to actually have chickens first.

Wow, it is amazing how attached you can get to a chicken.

I get attached to animals of all kinds. I have cried when my fish die.

All animals live in a niche in their environment. There isn't usually any empty space. Everything is in balance.

If you relocate your raccoon, you will first of all, be removing it from a place where it has shelter and knows where food and water is. This you would be doing at the time of stress from our unusually cold temperatures. The other thing is that you will be putting this raccoon into an environment which is probably quite full of other animals that are competing for the same food and territory resources.

In general, the wildlife experts are finding relocating problematic animals to be failure and are rethinking it. Adding another predator to an area puts all the resident predators at risk because there just isn't enough food and territory. I don't know the number of miles you would have to go to stop your raccoon from returning, but four miles doesn't sound like enough.

It might be illegal to relocate a raccoon.

Those are just my thoughts.

I have been very lucky to not have lost a chicken to predation. I know predators are around and will continue to be around whether I were to kill every one I came across. If there is an empty space for a predator, one will move in to fill it. Removing your raccoon, if it is a raccoon, might solve your problem; but then again, it might not. My goal is to make my chickens as safe as I can while leaving the wildlife alone. But, again, I've never faced the heartbreak of losing any bird, especially a loved one, to predation.

It is quite possible the chicken was unknowingly left outside at night. If that had not happened, maybe you would never have known there was a predator in your area capable of killing your chickens. Maybe just making sure your chickens are locked up at night is the solution. Predators are everywhere, even in cities.

A rooster can be quite helpful in keeping hens safe. Do you have a rooster?

Good luck with your decision. You know I'm always on the side of live and let live.

+1

Don't think I can have a rooster. I was working under the live and let live philosophy. Then it killed my chicken. I figure it is my fault for having the automatic door set to open too early and the coon just happened by late. The girls are being hesitantly about coming out in the mornings. They stay in the chicken yard, where before they would be out foraging or at my back door. So I think in happened in the early morning cause the scene was fresh.
I won't kill the raccoon, but he will be relocated.

You should call animal control (city or county depending on where you live) and see what can be done. Relocating is not something that should be considered an option for the above reasons.



Dang it is windy here today! We have a wind advisory. It's from the south but it sure is a cold wind. Brrr!!!!!