The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[TeaChick]

My 'Night Shift' (Patterdale Terriers) takes care of all denizens of the night, including mink and weasels.

Just a note of caution: While coons are generally active at night, the sows are very active during early spring and summer days and nights, teaching and feeding their young.

Although the Patterdales are confined during the time chickens are loose, the Heelers kill or tree lots of coon during daylight hours. Usually when they tree, there is a whole family in one tree....easy pickins'. Sad in a way but it has to be done.

Great!!! Coyote breeding season is Jan-Mar, then the coons come out and start playing school marm!

I'll have to see if there's a schedule of predators in the Learning Center. It would be mighty convenient to just go to a chart and see whose menu my chickens are going to be on this month. KWIM?

 

[Leahs Mom]

Well...I think the schedule is January - December.

 

[TeaChick]

Well...I think the schedule is January - December.

some more

 

[hellbender]

Well...I think the schedule is January - December.

Yep...especially if you allow your birds to free-range, you must be ever-vigilant. I couldn't do it without dogs...not around here. My losses would be total. I would just s well start raising hogs....not many animals have the nerve to jump on even a half grown hog...except my Patterdales or other dogs of their ilk.

In fact, I sold one to a gentleman in Japan about 6 years ago that is being used to hunt wild hogs...and he is his lead dog!

I'll see if I can dig up a pic or two.

 

[TeaChick]

Well...I think the schedule is January - December.

I know. I meant which predators are active when.
Coyote breeding season (when they're most likely to hunt and more brazen in their attacks) is Jan-Mar.
Momma coons are teaching their "pups" (hellbender probably knows) day and night during the springtime.

There's never a night I leave my chickens outside of their secure little coop, and I don't let them out of it until my dogs are tied up outside (ready to watch out for hawks, buzzards, etc. and having peed all over everything deterring land predators and at least alerting us to whatever might be going on).
At the same time, we had a pack of coyotes come up to the yard in the middle of the night in the middle of Jan and we've altered our nighttime protocol some to accommodate the possibility of them returning (although they haven't yet, thankfully).
Does that make sense?
Anyway, I just thought it would be a good idea to know when to look for what.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: I knew what you meant....I was just being a smart alic.

(How do you spell alick anyway?)

 

[Scott H]

smart aleck. not in the BYC dictionary but in Websters. Wyandotte isn't in the BYC dictionary......

 

[CourtsCacklers]

smart aleck. not in the BYC dictionary but in Websters. Wyandotte isn't in the BYC dictionary......

I know.... about Wyandotte not being in there... I have silver laced and every time I type it.... it drives me crazy!!!!

 

[lazy gardener]

Tea chick: Did you know that if your tomato plants are disease free, you can cut off the tip of a healthy looking shoot and root it in water to make a new plant? Good way to propagate for you folks in warmer climates. I bet you could do the same thing with a cucumber. It would be a good experiment.

 

[marktoo]

Tea chick: Did you know that if your tomato plants are disease free, you can cut off the tip of a healthy looking shoot and root it in water to make a new plant? Good way to propagate for you folks in warmer climates. I bet you could do the same thing with a cucumber. It would be a good experiment.

This is how I propagate tomatoes for later plantings. Never tried it with cucumbers, eggplant or peppers though.