The Old Folks Home

[Peep_Show]

Perchie Girl,

Thanks for the link to Reefer Madness. Several score ago when I was in college they had it as one of the nighttime films on campus. I went with a boyfriend who, like the rest of the audience, brought out a doob. I honestly cannot remember much of the film after that, so at least now I know what I missed (not much). I'm trying to catch up on the films I attended -- but missed -- in college. Yes, it has taken me FOUR times to get through Apocalypse Now mainly because I kept falling asleep. Lesson learnt. I gave up smoking anything 30 years ago, but still have the aftermath of lost time and cinema to deal with.

And, truth be told, I probably have a better grasp of the film's impact now than then.... Life experiences, you know.

 

[vehve]

In chicken related subjects - Yesterday it looked like in addition to the two that were already broody, two more of our chickens had been induced to broodiness by the example leaving us with only one laying bird. Today when I came home, I was happy to find only one of the original brooders in the nest, along with one of the Alho's, but it seems Töyhtis is starting to snap out of it, and Virpi might not start the sitting at all. Hopefully Wilma will stop soon too, but Veera I fear will go through with her broodiness for another week still if she's like she was the last time. Only one egg today though. I think I'll have to buy some soon.

 

[ronott1]

I actually do have a problem, and I would like some suggestions on ways to solve it. I have moles tunneling under my coop. I don't know what they are finding there, but they are undermining the dirt floor and making it difficult to clean and causing my carefully leveled dirt floor to have pits. My coop is covered, has a dirt floor, and I clean it by raking and shoveling what is picked up (no litter as they only stay in there at night and free range all day.) I assume the moles are finding something - worms, grubs, etc. - to eat, but why are there more of those things under the coop than in the grassy or wooded areas just a few feet away? Last year, I added salt to the soil in an effort to break the reproductive cycle of the cecal worm. I then realized that I would be unable to compost the droppings and opted not to do that again. I added a layer of fresh sand in the coop and leveled it again. Then, the mole issue. It is so bad that when walking in the coop, sometimes my foot will sink into the floor to a depth of about four inches! This was a hard packed floor just last year. I don't want to poison them. Any experience or thoughts would be appreciated.

You have to kill them.

They are building homes. There will be multiple openings. What we did growing up was to find one tunnel, stick a hose down it and then shoot them with a 12 guage when the came out one of the other holes.

another option is to use a mole poison if they still make them.

 

[Peep_Show]

Coop update:

Got the frame finished and moved into place, then ran galvanized mesh under the skids to extend out a foot or so beyond the frame base. Pavers placed inside the frame bottom on top of the mesh (a bit of overkill, I know) to thoroughly deter critters and to elevate whatever is stored under the coop off the ground in case of dampness. Pavers will be placed around the perimeter of the coop after the final detailing is done, which will involved encasing the lower storage portion in galvanized mesh and lattice with a door for storage access.



Then nailed down the plywood floor and then glued down a bunch of lovely vinyl. (I am SUCH a Martha)
Enjoy it now 'cuz this is the cleanest it's ever going to be and, of course, once the shavings are down who's going to see it anyway?



And next the wall/window framing fun will begin......

 

[Peep_Show]

You have to kill them.

They are building homes. There will be multiple openings. What we did growing up was to find one tunnel, stick a hose down it and then shoot them with a 12 guage when the came out one of the other holes.

another option is to use a mole poison if they still make them.

Does Gopher Gas work on moles? That was always such fun to deploy. Kind of like playing GI Joe as you crawl up to the hole with your little stick of lethal gas... Plus you got to see which holes were connected by escaping vapors.

 

[hennible]

Hennible   I did love that cartoon.   My son used to watch that show.  Need more please,  take back   topics I can understand, or recipes , or funny stuff

I'm a cartoon junkie, futurama is one of my favourites. These days though I watch little guys programming like "caillou" more often...
Or the food network! Even my little guys like the food network lol.

Love the coops/runs.... My main coop is a repurposed outhouse (ha, a big outhouse)
The other is what used to be a cat run..... Now its a duck and chicken run.
Wanted very badly to build something new this year. But circumstances I have little control of said next year.

 

[Wisher1000]

I have a Jack Russell terrier who fancies herself a Rat Hunter. She can be set on the mole hills and will dig craters, but she rarely catches any.

She loves to catch them, though, literally. When she does manage to catch one, she "fleas" it.

You know what I mean? She gently nibbles it's fur with just her front teeth. She's such a Diva (no offense Nancy.) Maybe if I run them out with a hose like Ron suggested, she will gather them up for me and I can drop them in a bucket or something.

Sorry, Ron, I think the shotgun is overkill....

 

[bamadude]

I'd love to. Did you see the pictures of Keystone Koop?

i did. Thats a clever idea to use those canopys.

 

[bamadude]

Wisher: u can buy mole killers at ace hardware. They are spikey things that are placed on the tunnel. When a mole uses the tunnel the spring loaded spikes go POW and kill the mole quickly. They work really well.

 

[bamadude]

Peep: ur coop is looking nice. I bet the poop would wash right off of that vinyl