Texas

[TexasLisa]

Talking about predator, last weekend I re-arranged my yard, moving the cages to a better area, higher and shady. That's when I re-tied the Nite Guard which I bought 2 years ago. Well, I just found out half of them already went dead, not blinking at night any more. I had to order some new one for replacement. After I placed my order, I found out, with the same price, there are similar items. These items have more lights, hopefully if 1 dead, others still light up, then these items must be better than the Nite Guard, longer life. Check out 2 links below. Does anyone here use these?


https://www.amazon.com/Albrillo-Cou...1471959712&sr=1-1&keywords=Albrillo+Courtyard

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...0_204851260_pd_te_s_gc_ti/157-7653147-7911857


PS1: Lisa, does your skunk growl ... Lisa, Lisa .... can you hear me


PS2: @ KittyTeer ... welcome abroad, I'm from Austin

I am 'plugged' in, so yes I can HEAR you!

I, too, would like to hear from others on the 'predator deterrent' lights. Do they really work or are you spending money for peace of mind????

 

[jtn42248]

I got two Nite Guard lights from Murray McMurray three years ago. They are still working just fine. I just have to clean off the solar panels now and then. We were having problems with raccoons before I got them. Once they were up and working we have not had a single raccoon in the area of the birds. We have caught a couple in the yard but the dogs dispatch them in a hurry. So, based on our experience, yes they do work and yes they are worth the money. The secret is to position them at about the level of the eyes of a coyote so that they intimidate anything further out in the field.

 

[kajira]

Hello all! I'm from a small town named Castroville, just west of San Antonio. Just dealing with all the rain right now, but my girls are troopers! Looking forward to meeting local people to share chickens, eggs or anything!

I get up that way (SA) all the time.

If you ever feel like trading eggs, my daughter's going to have Easter Eggers, Cochins (either EE roosters, and a Cochin rooster.) Polish crested, Sexed link females and silkies. Her silkies will be in the house, but I can always throw them out with one of the cochin roosters if you wanted half-silkies.

We have 1 RIR female too - i'm about to try to hatch 3 of her eggs, and the daddy is a pretty red Cochin Roo. Our first laying hens, are random, 1 cochin female, 1 little grey one, and 1 white one besides our RIR hen. No idea exactly the breeds of our 3 other ones, but they are small and friendly. Our RIR is the only one who lays eggs pretty much every day so far. And one of the other 3 smaller hens, will lay a second egg. Every once in a while, we get a 3rd egg out of 4 hens. LOL

 

[hungnguyen]

I am 'plugged' in, so yes I can HEAR you!

I, too, would like to hear from others on the 'predator deterrent' lights. Do they really work or are you spending money for peace of mind????

YES, IT WORKS. My yard is large, too large for an old dog to watch. I have about 15 Nite Guard units hanging around the cage, around the fence, even facing up to care of the night owl. So far we rarely see any problem in the last 2 years. That's why I want more, but I wonder if the other brand is better or not, as they have more lights, hopefully last longer than the 1 light Nite Guard.

Last year in my driveway, doves started shitting on my car. I took a Nite Guard unit home and hanged on the tree, facing up toward where the doves slept at night. The problem stopped ... but that was in winter months. In the spring, same problem started as the leaves coming out and started blocking the light. So the key is... the predator has to see the light... and you have to hang them "at their eye levels".

I got two Nite Guard lights from Murray McMurray three years ago. They are still working just fine. I just have to clean off the solar panels now and then. We were having problems with raccoons before I got them. Once they were up and working we have not had a single raccoon in the area of the birds. We have caught a couple in the yard but the dogs dispatch them in a hurry. So, based on our experience, yes they do work and yes they are worth the money. The secret is to position them at about the level of the eyes of a coyote so that they intimidate anything further out in the field.

Thanks for the tip. But would you give details of how to clean this solar panel. Hopefully I can save the existing non working units. Somehow I thought the recent rain has cleaned up almost every dust in the yard. So where else can I clean !

 

[jtn42248]

Quote: I just brush off the solar panel on top of the unit. Mine have two lights (I noticed someone said there's only had one) which I suspect is supposed to mimic the reflection of light from a predator's eyes. If just cleaning off the solar panel on yours does not work they may actually be shot and need to be replaced. If I ever have to replace ours I will go for the same brand since they have worked so well over the past three years.

Note, they do need to be exposed to a full day of sunlight if possible.

 

[hungnguyen]

Anyone here use Scare Tape?

 

[Baymule]

Does anyone here feed there chickens with organic feed? Wanting to know some good brands out there yall like using

I use Texas Naturals. Naturally it is twice the cost of regular layer pellets, but I like it being non GMO. We are starting to build up a small egg business because people like the non GMO. We charge $4 per dozen and can't keep up. Have 14 POL pullets that ought to get started next month. People comment that our egg yolks are rich and taste good. We just butchered 22 Delaware roosters and the meat is very good. I sold a couple of them and the lady ordered 5 more (we have 9 more to butcher)

 

[iloveduckies]

Hi all
I'm in Liberty Hill
And i just got my first egg!!!

 

[newchickjess]

Hi all
I'm in Liberty Hill
And i just got my first egg!!!

Yay!!! So pretty!

 

[henless]

Sad past 2 weeks! All of a sudden my jumbo pekin (about 5 months old) disappeared. 2 days later one of my cayugas disappeared, the game camera wasn't catching anything. We moved the camera and got a hit, a coyote! I started penning the ducks up but had to let them out to clean their enclosure, while they were out it snatched my other Cayuga. Last night the game camera picked up a bobcat!!! So now I have 2 predators after the ducks! This morning I go out and one of the Black Swedish ducks is almost dead. She can't walk, not eating or drinking. I have her separated, but I don't hold out much hope! So....I am down to one Black Swedish duck (5 months old) and 2 adult Pekins (2 years old)! What a bummer!!!!

I don't know how I missed your post! So sorry you have lost some of your ducks. How is the survivor doing?

Hello all! I'm from a small town named Castroville, just west of San Antonio. Just dealing with all the rain right now, but my girls are troopers! Looking forward to meeting local people to share chickens, eggs or anything!

Welcome to BYC! We were in San Antonio last year for our vacation. It was hot, but we had lots of fun.

Talking about predator, last weekend I re-arranged my yard, moving the cages to a better area, higher and shady. That's when I re-tied the Nite Guard which I bought 2 years ago. Well, I just found out half of them already went dead, not blinking at night any more. I had to order some new one for replacement. After I placed my order, I found out, with the same price, there are similar items. These items have more lights, hopefully if 1 dead, others still light up, then these items must be better than the Nite Guard, longer life. Check out 2 links below. Does anyone here use these?


https://www.amazon.com/Albrillo-Cou...1471959712&sr=1-1&keywords=Albrillo+Courtyard

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...0_204851260_pd_te_s_gc_ti/157-7653147-7911857


PS1: Lisa, does your skunk growl ... Lisa, Lisa .... can you hear me


PS2: @ KittyTeer ... welcome abroad, I'm from Austin

I always wondered if these things worked or not. I like the one with all the lights. If one or two burn out, you would still have some working.

I use Texas Naturals. Naturally it is twice the cost of regular layer pellets, but I like it being non GMO. We are starting to build up a small egg business because people like the non GMO. We charge $4 per dozen and can't keep up. Have 14 POL pullets that ought to get started next month. People comment that our egg yolks are rich and taste good. We just butchered 22 Delaware roosters and the meat is very good. I sold a couple of them and the lady ordered 5 more (we have 9 more to butcher)

I used Texas Naturals when I first got my chickens. I probably used it for about a year or so before I switched feeds. My eggs started tasting fishy and the sacks were full of weevils. I had no complaints with their scratch feed. It looked good & my chickens loved it. It was just the starter that I had problems with.

I've got 18 POL pullets. I can't wait until they start laying. I sold the last of my original flock a couple weeks ago. I had to buy store eggs this week.

There is nothing like yard eggs!

Hi all

I'm in Liberty Hill
And i just got my first egg!!!

What a pretty egg! What kind of chicken laid it?


I hope everyone got some sun today & maybe dried out a little. It sprinkled on me this morning on the way to work, but cleared up quickly.