The Middle Tennessee Thread

[CarolJ]

Oh yes - you were writing about DBs a few days ago. I forgot!

 

[Countrypunk92]

I don't have a hatch till later in the week.
I would love the chick, but Idk how I would get it, I live in portland and dont drive.
Do you have anything else for sell? it would justify gas money getting there, instead of one chick.
I can see if I could meet or something

 

[DMRippy]

I don't have a hatch till later in the week.
I would love the chick, but Idk how I would get it, I live in portland and dont drive.
Do you have anything else for sell? it would justify gas money getting there, instead of one chick.
I can see if I could meet or something

Hatching eggs? I don't really have any birds to sell.... except roo

I have leghorns, olive eggers, RIR and RIRxNH, Splash Marans x Splash Rock.... I can come up with a doz easy....

 

[Countrypunk92]

ooooo Splash marans, PM ME lol

 

[debid]

We have wild rabbits here year-round also (I'm really not that far from you). But, I also believe there will be a spike in the population here soon. At least, March is when our cat seems to bring home a juvenile bun on occasion. Sorry, it's a tough world out there for the wild ones. I'm just feeling the weight of a hungry predator population and would welcome some relief.

Oh, and our run is completely enclosed in chain-link kennel panels (even the top) so the thing would have to unlatch a gate to get in. I'm seeing evidence that something has tried to get in (stretched holes here and there) but no break-ins yet.

...
Debid-we have bob cats here as well..one climbed over a door...the only place that didn't have electric over the top and get a real nice hen.I'm married to an avid trapper/hunter that lets them live in the back of the property but when they come up here it's instant death...HUSH on those Spring rabbits

we have wild rabbits all over here all year long.

 

[carmentk]

Oh.my.goodness. I just saw a bobcat skulking around about 100' from the chicken coop. We have a juvenile bald eagle hanging about also (2-3 years of age by the looks of it). Not to mention all of the hawks... I take the chickens out for an hour of closely supervised ranging as often as I can manage but the poor things just don't get to roam at all anymore and we have a hawk or two check us out every time. Come on spring rabbits...

Yikes! We had trouble with a pair of coyote this fall and winter. The chickens stay close to the pens and house but the guineas, ducks, and geese roam all over. We had to expand the "lawn" area around our pens and limb up some trees so they had more difficulty laying in wait. It seems to have helped. Also, my dogs stay out at night unless the temp is below freezing, so smaller predators get warned off.

 

[lemuckley_flock]

We had a red fox around twice last year. The first time it was trying to jump the fence into our open-top run. That day we put the chickens into the smaller run and added a top to it, and stayed on alert. A couple of weeks later it was down there again, stalking the chickens from between my squash. We got one shot off and it zipped, and I guess that shot was enough to keep it away, we didn't see it again. We've got a few large dogs on the surrounding properties (we're on an acre in an oldish sort of subdivision in the county), I think that helps an awful lot.

 

[carmentk]

We had a red fox around twice last year.

Two years ago we think we had a fox problem. In one week we lost 5 birds - ducks and guineas - just before we penned them up for the night. My sister is good about counting everyone and she noticed that certain birds, that she had seen earlier in the day, were missing at bedtime. One missing bird is an anomaly. Two is suspicious. 5 is downright creepy. And it was always at dusk right before bedtime. My husband and sister searched the property and found feathers and remains on the furthest edge on the west side. This made me think fox rather than coyote. I wondered if there was a pair with kits nearby since the birds were carried to a certain point then eaten. After that we mowed the grass shorter and further away from the back of the pens and then tethered our two big dogs at each end of the "poultry row" in the afternoon to act as a deterrent. (Whatever was taking the birds was small enough - and sly enough - to avoid detection of our dogs who run loose!) That did the trick, although the dogs couldn't understand why they were being "punished."

 

[debid]

We have a chicken-friendly Irish Water Spaniel that marks all around the perimeter of his established territory. Yes, that's right, we have a bird dog protecting the chickens and if you're wondering, he's well-trained and has never been close to touching one ever since Delilah the Dominique pecked his nose for sniffing her backside. The foxes and coyotes have kept their distance since he joined our family but the bobcat was sniffing one of his favorite spots and marking it himself (I understand both genders mark but guessing male based on size). Apparently, that bobcat is not concerned with the scent of dog. Our dog will chase anything that runs. He is territorial and has been in a couple of fights with animals that entered our yard after nightfall. He sleeps indoors but roams the property untethered for a large portion of the day (he knows where his yard ends). He prefers to guard the house, though, rather than the coop. We have a barn cat that likes to nap in a spot near the coop and catches lots of rodents for us. In spite of her petite size, she's even taken down a squirrel. Tough little kitty. She sleeps in a shelter by the house at night so again, not near the coop after dark.

Have any of you had a mink problem? That's the critter I worry most about. The run is secure for opossum or larger but mink could waltz right in and if I haven't closed the door yet because we're out after dark...

I thought about adding a Nite Guard light right by the pop door but the reviews on Amazon aren't promising.

 

[carmentk]

Have any of you had a mink problem? That's the critter I worry most about.

Not to my knowledge. Aren't they found by water? We don't have a creek running near our property. . . darn it. We had to take the cat door off because one of our cats kept bringing in rats and leaving their dismembered remains all over the kitchen for my husband to find.

He really hates that. [snicker]