The Front Porch Swing

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
I think that as long as there is good ventilation the snow will act like insulation for the coop. Your biggest threat is if the interior surfaces get warm enough to condensate water. Humidity is the biggest fear. I have talked with people in Alaska Which I believe is in Felix' latitude if I am not mistaken and thats what they do.

Important part also is diet.... and replacing sunlight for those darker winter months. Just enough to give them a normal day not necessarily to extend the laying season. Remember chickens put off alot of BTUs on their own. As long as they adapt to the climate they should be able to withstand pretty low temps.

Another thing you can do for those extreme cold temps is install a thermostat that turns a small heating element on. There are some that screw into a light bulb socket but are ceramic so they dont mess with datime night time...

deb

 

[wyoDreamer]

We don't have a big lot, we live in town, but are whole yard seems to be over run with goaphers! Every day it seems I find a new mound. My cat has killed two that I've seen, we have killed a few with traps, but now they seem to not be coming to the traps. I think they just have so many places to go! So now, after setting two traps Friday (no luck) I've found yet another hole! Now I'm trying to drowned them. Sitting here with water running and I have a 2x4 in my hand incase I find any trying to dig out to escape. Figure if I even kill one it's more then my traps have cought lately. These guys are driving me crazy

I had been losing the battle against the "ground squirrels" this spring. The final straw was when the 6 babies came out of the hole at the front door and ate all the Asian lilies down to stubs. Making a mess of everything, digging holes all over, pooping on the welcome mat. I read about using ammonia. I soaked some rags in ammonia and stuffed them into the holes around the house. It took a week of re-applying the ammonia and filing holes. It didn't kill them, but, they have stayed outside my ammonia perimeter for three weeks now.

Deb, you were right. They are ground squirrels - everyone out here calls them calls them gophers and I just assumed that's what they were. I looked it up, the Wyoming Game and Fish states they are ground squirrels, but commonly called gophers, and the rest of the article referred to them as gophers.

 

[enola]

You guys need to get a Jack Russel terrier ot two!

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
They are so bad here that they can dig out a foundation on your patio.... The feed stores sell "Squirrelenators"

http://amzn.com/B0046VE7VM

They carry plague fleas as well... best to get rid of them if you can.

Ground squirrels will steal eggs and chicks too. here they get very invasive. We dont have the habitat for tree squirrels over most of San Diego County.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

You guys need to get a Jack Russel terrier ot two!

Yep or a Fox Terrier.... Any kind of terrier.... only deal is dont yell at them for excavating to dig the varmets out. Because when they go to ground they will be on a MISSION.

My Rosie was not a terrier but tenaceous none the less. She removed the whole garden bed under the window when i spotted a rat disappearing in a hole in the ground. She removed a yard of dirt AND killed three adults two juveniles and uncovered three nests full of Pinkies. Good job Rosie I can fill in the hole later.

deb

 

[LindaB220]

They are so bad here that they can dig out a foundation on your patio.... The feed stores sell "Squirrelenators"

http://amzn.com/B0046VE7VM

They carry plague fleas as well... best to get rid of them if you can.

Ground squirrels will steal eggs and chicks too. here they get very invasive. We dont have the habitat for tree squirrels over most of San Diego County.

deb

I put that thing on my wish list on Amazon. I thought I had gophers. Mama never could have tulips because they would eat them.

 

[lazy gardener]

OK, I'm a little hesitant to ask, but....

Where is everyone? Was there a big fight or something? Is everyone on holiday? The "old crowd" just seems to have vanished and the porch is rather spacey. Just curious... Was hoping for a good chat and catching up with the regulars... Usually that takes a bout a week's worth of reading to catch up an afternoon's worth of chat!

There might have been a translational mishap that has led me to believe it was a "gopher". My uncle told us that's what it was but there are tons of words in Spanish that don't really have an English translations. Gopher was probably the closest thing to what he was actually saying.

It wasn't a cat, though. There is a tiny space that an animal can get into the coop through, but you can't fit a young cat's head through it. It's way too small. Some sort of rodent had to have gotten in there. I had originally thought it was a possum, but most possums wouldn't have gouged out the chest or dragged the bodies around.

I'm sure I'll figure something out! I want to set up big rat traps along the top of the coop just to see if I can kill some of the things that could be getting in there.

I believe your gopher predator may have been a weasel. They can get through amazingly small places.

Are you sure you arent talking about Squirrels? While gophers do eat stuff like grubs and bugs they stay pretty much in their holes and The largest one I ever saw was the size of a hamster. And the most above ground work I have seen them do is pull grass down from around their holes.

deb

If gophers eat as varied a diet as chipmunks do, they'll surprise you. I once watched a chipmunk sitting on my wood pile happily munching away on a... FROG. I was not too pleased. I'd give preference to the frog living in my yard over a chipmunk, any day of the week.

 

[Alice28]

I had been losing the battle against the "ground squirrels" this spring.  The final straw was when the 6 babies came out of the hole at the front door and ate all the Asian lilies down to stubs.  Making a mess of everything, digging holes all over, pooping on the welcome mat.  I read about using ammonia.  I soaked some rags in ammonia and stuffed them into the holes around the house.  It took a week of re-applying the ammonia and filing holes.  It didn't kill them, but, they have stayed outside my ammonia perimeter for three weeks now.

Deb,  you were right.  They are ground squirrels - everyone out here calls them calls them gophers and I just assumed that's what they were.  I looked it up, the Wyoming Game and Fish states they are ground squirrels, but commonly called gophers, and the rest of the article referred to them as gophers. 

They are driving me crazy! My cat killed two in a week! I swear they just love are yard and leave everyone else alone. I hope I killed a few. Uh. Going to stuff the hose down two more holes tomorrow! Will have to go get ammonia. Where would you even get that?

 

[vehve]

I think that as long as there is good ventilation the snow will act like insulation for the coop.  Your biggest threat is if the interior surfaces get warm enough to condensate water.  Humidity is the biggest fear.  I have talked with people in Alaska Which I believe is in Felix' latitude if I am not mistaken  and thats what they do. 

Important part also is diet....  and replacing sunlight for those darker winter months.  Just enough to give them a normal day not necessarily to extend the laying season.  Remember chickens put off alot of BTUs on their own.  As long as they adapt to the climate they should be able to withstand pretty low temps.  

Another thing you can do for those extreme cold temps is install a thermostat that turns a  small heating element on.  There are some that screw into a light bulb socket but are ceramic so they dont mess with datime night time...

deb

I've got 100mm of rockwool in the walls and floor, and 150 in the roof. If needed, there's a 90W tubeheater installed on the wall, and a heat lamp which currently holds a 75w ceramic bulb. I'm planning on mostly just turning the heat on if we get insanely cold weather, or if the humidity gets out of hand. I'll have to see if I need to do something about the ventilation still. I keep reading US recommendations and compare them to finnish recommendations, one says to cut up humongous holes, the other deals with the moisture with properly placed vents and bedding.

I'm also going to panel in the run with something clear for the winter, and give them a deep litter with leaves and pineneedles.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
I will be interested in finding out your learning curve. I have only to deal with wind.... we get some snow... but only a grand total of 72 hours worth. Winter time winds here have gusts of sixty and seventy miles per hour. I wonder what if there is a BTU rating that chickens put out.

Article on keeping chickens in Alaska

He doesnt heat at all.

deb