The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[CourtsCacklers]

After having gone several years without losing a bird to predators other than one here and there to hawks, I've lost a dozen during the last week.  Racoon that have been able to tear right through the chicken wire!  I've trapped and disposed of six of the SOB's so far.

I have a hav a heart trap which seems to work fairly well and a tractor supply one which no matter what I do, it either shuts the trap at the slightest touch or doesn't close at all.  I've tried dozens of little tweaking of the trip wire and tab, but no avail.

I probably should just build my own trap, I can design a better trip mechanism than what they have.

The coops are about 100 feet behind the house, I'm going to pitch a little tent with a sleeping bag and wait with the 12 gauge.  For effect, I wonder about using my .375 Magnum  (no, not a .357 mag pistol, my 375 Ruger carbine.  4,700 ft. lbs of energy.
Do I sound angry?

Jack

Oh my goodness--- bummer.... use hardware wire instead? That is supposed to be stronger. Chicken wire will keep chickens in but does not keep predators out! I think I would be like you with the gun.... haha :O) Sorry about your loss! My neighbor doesn't even have a latch on where you can access the nesting boxes from the outside.... I tell him all the time that this is so simple of a way for coons to get his hens.....

 

[Leahs Mom]

I agree..the best way to catch fruit flies is..open a bottle of wine..drink the whole bottle and leave the empty bottle on the counter..do it every night till the flies are gone..

This way, certain people might even be HAPPY that they have fruit flies.

After having gone several years without losing a bird to predators other than one here and there to hawks, I've lost a dozen during the last week. Racoon that have been able to tear right through the chicken wire! I've trapped and disposed of six of the SOB's so far.

I have a hav a heart trap which seems to work fairly well and a tractor supply one which no matter what I do, it either shuts the trap at the slightest touch or doesn't close at all. I've tried dozens of little tweaking of the trip wire and tab, but no avail.

I probably should just build my own trap, I can design a better trip mechanism than what they have.

The coops are about 100 feet behind the house, I'm going to pitch a little tent with a sleeping bag and wait with the 12 gauge. For effect, I wonder about using my .375 Magnum (no, not a .357 mag pistol, my 375 Ruger carbine. 4,700 ft. lbs of energy.
Do I sound angry?

Jack

I had the same issue with the traps from TSC. I returned it and got the hav-a-hart.

My first year w/chickens I trapped 15 adults and 3 raccoon children before it finally thinned out. I try to keep a trap baited for meat eaters all the time.

Yah...better replace the chicken wire with 1/2" hardware cloth.

And it sounds too crazy cold for tent camping.

 

[delisha]

After having gone several years without losing a bird to predators other than one here and there to hawks, I've lost a dozen during the last week. Racoon that have been able to tear right through the chicken wire! I've trapped and disposed of six of the SOB's so far.

I have a hav a heart trap which seems to work fairly well and a tractor supply one which no matter what I do, it either shuts the trap at the slightest touch or doesn't close at all. I've tried dozens of little tweaking of the trip wire and tab, but no avail.

I probably should just build my own trap, I can design a better trip mechanism than what they have.

The coops are about 100 feet behind the house, I'm going to pitch a little tent with a sleeping bag and wait with the 12 gauge. For effect, I wonder about using my .375 Magnum (no, not a .357 mag pistol, my 375 Ruger carbine. 4,700 ft. lbs of energy.
Do I sound angry?

Jack

Jack,

I am sorry you had such a heavy loss..you need a dog in the coop, until you change that chicken wire to hard wire. Chicken wire is to keep chickens in..it is not for predators of any kind..not even rats. All predators can get into chicken wire.

Quote: also...........get out tennis balls and soak them in ammonia. A ton of them it sounds like...Place them around the coop.in larger circles..I keep them in trunks of trees too......Racoons are the easiest to deter IMO of 40 years of keeping them away. Racoons are sensitive to smell............... they hate ammonia with a passion.

 

[Jewelwing]

I don't see any sign of infection or inflammation. The lungs look a little on the pale side to me, but could just be my monitor. Both heart and kidney failure would cause labored breathing.

good pictures and tells a story..

This bird was fat..all that yellow should not be in a young bird. The excessive fat made the organs work too hard. Liver color is good..intestines are a little irritated..(see red veins). Nice looking egg formation...lungs are inflamed and have bits of blood ..off color and not bright enough..I would think this bird died from organ failure..it looks free from any type of sickness or disease. I would cook and eat this bird.

Thanks for the responses! I didn't see any signs of infection either, which surprised me. Or egg yolk. Do you still think that was yolk on the outside of the last egg she laid? I don't think we'll be eating her - the kids would never forgive me! Ethel soup - yuck!

Died from organ failure at 6 months old? Wow, she didn't seem that fat to me. Does that mean all my other birds are fat and at risk too? What do I do about that? Have I been feeding them too many treats? I want them to have stuff to pick at, but maybe I should stop the oatmeal on cold mornings and stale bread.

I let them free feed on ff (Countryside Organic Grower, & a bowl of oyster shell & crushed egg shell on the side), but I always make sure there's some in the dishes. Should I let them get completely empty before filling them up again? I've been worried about making sure they get enough to eat in this weather. It's warm (ish) today and tomorrow, and then back to below freezing. Maybe I should switch to the Layer feed instead of the Grower feed not that they're all (finally) laying. I thought I could keep them on Grower as long as I offered calcium on the side. Their egg shells seem quite thick (much thicker than store bought, anyway).

It was much easier before the weather turned sour - they free ranged all day and didn't eat much of what I offered anyway. When they were doing that, I did let the food dishes get completely empty.

Jack,

I am sorry you had such a heavy loss..you need a dog in the coop, until you change that chicken wire to hard wire. Chicken wire is to keep chickens in..it is not for predators of any kind..not even rats. All predators can get into chicken wire.

also...........get out tennis balls and soak them in ammonia. A ton of them it sounds like...Place them around the coop.in larger circles..I keep them in trunks of trees too......Racoons are the easiest to deter IMO of 40 years of keeping them away. Racoons are sensitive to smell............... they hate ammonia with a passion.

Wow, that's great to know about ammonia and raccoons! We could use that information to keep them from digging holes under our wild bird feeders (looking for dropped seed). We finally thwarted them from climbing up the poles and knocking down the bird feeders every night! Must... Be... Smarter... Than... A... Raccoon... (took us a while!)

 

[wolfglen]

Most of my breeding and smaller rearing cages are with hardware cloth, since I hadn't had any coon or possum trouble in a few years, I evidently erred in thinking I could use the chick wire. It seems that the coons were herding them into the corners after scaring them out of the night boxes and pulling them into the wire, tearing holes and then getting in the coop.

If raising the birds for fly tying purposes, about one of five or six comes out as a bird producing really good feathers for certain purposes. The males need to be at least two years old before producing good hackle feathers for dry flies. I just snip the really good feathers off just above the down when they are ready to molt.

I used to have a booth at fishing shows where I would take some of my birds to the show, snip off feathers as needed and incorporate some of the youngsters hair into fishing lures.
Anyone want a fishing lure out of your own hair and a few of your favorite birds feathers for an interesting addition to your hat band?

Jack

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Most of my breeding and smaller rearing cages are with hardware cloth, since I hadn't had any coon or possum trouble in a few years, I evidently erred in thinking I could use the chick wire. It seems that the coons were herding them into the corners after scaring them out of the night boxes and pulling them into the wire, tearing holes and then getting in the coop.

If raising the birds for fly tying purposes, about one of five or six comes out as a bird producing really good feathers for certain purposes. The males need to be at least two years old before producing good hackle feathers for dry flies. I just snip the really good feathers off just above the down when they are ready to molt.

I used to have a booth at fishing shows where I would take some of my birds to the show, snip off feathers as needed and incorporate some of the youngsters hair into fishing lures.
Anyone want a fishing lure out of your own hair and a few of your favorite birds feathers for an interesting addition to your hat band?

Jack

Do you make headbands for children to pretend to be indians? I can see that being really popular. Not realistic but fun for the little ones to play cowboy and indian.

 

[Scott H]

I just ordered two Ztraps from Ebay. Last coon I caught in the live trap had a buddy with him. Now none of them will go in. Had three of them sniffing around it last night. Sigh....

 

[lazy gardener]

Time for target practice.

 

[delisha]

Quote: This is just my opinion and experience..

You are over feeding all of your birds if you plan to keep them a long time. If you want to replace your birds every year or so ....over feeding will get you to that goal.

If you want your birds for years.....and healthy and productive....

A healthy chicken is a hungry chicken..a full chicken is a lazy, bored chicken..they should be looking for food all day long.
A chicken needs 1/3 cup of quality food daily..1/4 of that should be meat by hunting and scratching. In winter you do need to feed more..but only that small portion from lack of bugs.

Many people free feed chickens..I do not believe in free feeding unless you are feeding them out to eat ..or they are a breed that forages well like leghorn.

I do not feed my birds Spring, Summer and Fall and I do not have thin chickens..most weigh over 7lbs. I do plant for my birds so they have a ton of nutrition available. I also have worm beds for them and two compost piles. They can forage in the woods when the bugs get harder to find. Late fall till planting they have access to the garden...

My older birds are 6 and 7..I have several 5 and 4 years old and more as you go down in age. Most of my birds live a long healthy life once they reach adult hood. I have problems with hawks..I seem to feed them well and they like my farm..tons of baby's to pick from....grrrrrrr..

 

[wolfglen]

The temperature here has only been about 50 degrees the past few nghts.