The Front Porch Swing

[OHhappychicks]

Blooie, I'm praying for your sister and your family.
Well, no fox in the snare trap!

Was really hoping there would be so we can get on with life! We haven't seen him yet today. DH went out early this morn to set in the corner where they come in to the garden, but nothing. Our mini schnauzer, Willow has been acting anxious today. Jumping up, running to the door, barking and growling, which she rarely does. I let her out and watch to see which way she goes. She is a very good tracker. I've been out twice in the last 45 min. I feel like Elmer Fudd!!

I grab the 22, go out on the deck, start scanning the yard. I walk down over the hill and back to the corner where they come from, all the while tiptoeing and scanning. I stay uphill from them, checking down in the cedar thicket and the open pasture that borders our property. Haven't seen anything. It might be this evening before he comes back as there was a lot of activity yesterday evening in his territory. When my DS came to set up the traps, my DGS came with him. He is 8 yrs old. He brought his little gun, I don't know what it was. Not a BB gun, but it looked like one. He called it some kind of a big shotgun!! Magnum maybe?? I don't know guns. It wasn't, really. But we sneaked back in the thicket and watched for a while. He said this is his first time for fox hunting!!

I said "me too". He makes me smile! Now, I know how to shoot the 22, but I haven't shot it in a very long time. But I'm hoping that if the time comes, I can shoot well enough to hit that fox! Can I tell ya, I've never shot a living thing! But for some reason, shooting and getting rid of this fox doesn't bother me in the least! I'm actually kinda excited about it!

 

[enola]

Quote:
Originally Posted by LeslieDJoyce
He was getting a little sweaty in my bra, so I gave him a private room.
Besides, you probably don't want what comes out of a chick in your bra

First thing I thought of, too, Bruce.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Soooooooo ...

We found the spot where she brooded them. I'll post photos of that later ... it's a little weeping evergreen "Nesting Box." There were lots of hatched eggshells in there, and one lone egg. All the shells appear to be the same shade of light brown, so it is *possible* they are all her eggs, but that little bush has been where other escaped hens like to lay, so who knows.

We counted the chicks in the clutch. There are 17, and they are all different.

With the little guy in my office, that's 18.

And with the one unhatched egg, that's 19!

She isn't even a particularly large or fluffy hen.

 

[OHhappychicks]

Soooooooo ...

We found the spot where she brooded them. I'll post photos of that later ... it's a little weeping evergreen "Nesting Box." There were lots of hatched eggshells in there, and one lone egg. All the shells appear to be the same shade of light brown, so it is *possible* they are all her eggs, but that little bush has been where other escaped hens like to lay, so who knows.

We counted the chicks in the clutch. There are 17, and they are all different.

With the little guy in my office, that's 18.

And with the one unhatched egg, that's 19!

She isn't even a particularly large or fluffy hen.

So, she has 18 chicks??!! Wow! that's alot of chicks to brood!!

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Photos to go with my last post. Team Mutt is pulling WAY ahead of team Heritage Delaware Restoration Project.

Was it stupid of me to point out to Dad how much easier taking care if this clutch has been than the ones we've got in the coop?

 

[love2grinchicke]

Okay, update on Lucy. I couldn't bear to take her off of her nest. She just so wants be broody. We took her out of her box, and to the dust bath area. She was just beginning to kick up dirt, when Big Ugly (or Fernando) came up, and tried to fertilize her. We chased him away, but that ended her dust bath phase. So we put her back on her nest, and we are deciding what to do next. My mom suggested getting a small coop kit, and putting her in there, giving her outdoor access for her last 8 days. Opinions, anybody?

 

[Triple Willow]

Problem child (CX meat chicken)...

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Okay, update on Lucy. I couldn't bear to take her off of her nest. She just so wants be broody. We took her out of her box, and to the dust bath area. She was just beginning to kick up dirt, when Big Ugly (or Fernando) came up, and tried to fertilize her. We chased him away, but that ended her dust bath phase. So we put her back on her nest, and we are deciding what to do next. My mom suggested getting a small coop kit, and putting her in there, giving her outdoor access for her last 8 days. Opinions, anybody?

It sounds similar to what we do.

We have a big coop and lots of nesting boxes and lots of hens and roosters, so we have brooder boxes we use to keep a broody organized. The boxes are about 2.5' tall, 3' wide, and about 6.5' long. We can set one of our double nesting boxes at one end (where there is a door in the lid), and the food and water at the other end (another lid door down there) and there is a little bit of space in the middle so the broodies (maximum two per box) can scratch around and stretch their legs. We remove the broody poo when we see it. It still isn't a great place to dust bathe compared to the rest of the coop and run, and usually broodies want a dust bath ASAP after the clutch hatches and we take the box away ... but it does give the broodies peace and quiet and keeps them organized on their own clutches so they don't get lost on the way back to their nest after a potty break.

I wrap the nest end in feed bags so broodies feel snug and safe. I put feed bags on the top so nobody poos on the broodies from above.

We do keep an eye on the hens to make sure they haven't been infested while they brood.

If you can quickly get your hen's bum cleaned up and maybe dust her a bit by hand (just regular dust from your chicken area) ... then give her a private space? The eggs can tolerate a bit of a break from incubation. But unless you give her fake eggs, she really might not be happy about letting you take her clutch to incubate artificially.

 

[heartsizedfarm]

I did give that a passing thought. I've had chick/duckling/poult poo everywhere before, and I do not normally invite it. But ... no pockets in in my PJs and my hands are cold. 

He is starting to chirp a bit in his new spot (instead of PEEP! PEEP!). Has wriggled around a bit. I can't spot an obvious problem with him. But I'm trying so hard to not get attached!

It's probably really normal to get attached to something that's been in your bra!

 

[LindaB220]

Blooie, I'm praying for your sister and your family.
Well, no fox in the snare trap!

Was really hoping there would be so we can get on with life! We haven't seen him yet today. DH went out early this morn to set in the corner where they come in to the garden, but nothing. Our mini schnauzer, Willow has been acting anxious today. Jumping up, running to the door, barking and growling, which she rarely does. I let her out and watch to see which way she goes. She is a very good tracker. I've been out twice in the last 45 min. I feel like Elmer Fudd!!

I grab the 22, go out on the deck, start scanning the yard. I walk down over the hill and back to the corner where they come from, all the while tiptoeing and scanning. I stay uphill from them, checking down in the cedar thicket and the open pasture that borders our property. Haven't seen anything. It might be this evening before he comes back as there was a lot of activity yesterday evening in his territory. When my DS came to set up the traps, my DGS came with him. He is 8 yrs old. He brought his little gun, I don't know what it was. Not a BB gun, but it looked like one. He called it some kind of a big shotgun!! Magnum maybe?? I don't know guns. It wasn't, really. But we sneaked back in the thicket and watched for a
while. He said this is his first time for fox hunting!!

I said "me too". He makes me smile! Now, I know how to shoot the 22, but I haven't shot it in a very long time. But I'm hoping that if the time comes, I can shoot well enough to hit that fox! Can I tell ya, I've never shot a living thing! But for some reason, shooting and getting rid of this fox doesn't bother me in the least! I'm actually kinda excited about it!

The fellow that fixed my coop yesterday said that in the last two weeks he's trapped 2 red fox, 4 coons and 2 possum. He eats them. erp. At least the coon.