The Old Folks Home

[perchie.girl]

Deb, lynxes aren't that common this close to Helsinki. A fox, or "raccoon dog" (Nyctereutes procyonoides) would be more easily found here.

Alaskan, our chicken hawks have a wingspan of about 36-40 inches, think that's enough? I think it had started from the abdomen, but I didn't study it that closely. It was a bit dark. No need to be sensitive about it on my behalf, I'm pretty clinical about these kind of things.

Oh ok... we get mountain lions all the way Through the City of San Diego to the coast..... the same routs also bring bobcats and coyotes.... When food is scarce the dogs and cats in the city disappear if they aren't taken in at night.

San Diego is built on ridges and mesas and left the canyons alone.... we even see the occasional deer.

But youd be surprised at what a game cam would reveal of nightlife around town.... We had one town that had a mountain lion issue.... a little old lady put her foo foo doggie out to go to the bathroom.... 30 seconds she heard a yelp and it was gone.... game cam revealed a young mountain lion was "grocery shopping"

deb

 

[vehve]

Deb, in the Uusimaa area (most southern county of Finland) we have approximately 250 lynxes, which is quite a lot, but mostly they stay away from people. We have a couple of motorways that surround us on three sides a couple of kilometers from here, so that forms sort of a barrier.

 

[perchie.girl]

Mountain lions here have been known to kill joggers and drag them several hundred yards into the brush.



Our Mule deer can weight upwards to three hundred pounds.... and the mountain lion can take em up a tree to dine in private.

Here is a longer shot of the picture



deb

 

[vehve]

Here the lynx isn't really a threat to people, I don't think I've ever heard of one attacking a human. Wolves and brown bears are just about the only predators that could potentially attack a human.

 

[Alaskan]

We have had wolves kill and eat a few people in downtown Anchorage.


But if a lynx had killed @vehve's chicken, it would have run off with it.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Man up vehve! It's just a bit of poo!

A certain amount of rat feces is allowed in human food.

Of course, yummy.
Actually, kids that eat cow poop have fewer allergies.

Baby chicks get probiotics from eating a bit of the hen's feces.

Stupid thing where's my post! Ahg

Yup it exists...
Dumps you can't salvage from... The horror!
Some places weigh your vehicle on the way in and out to make sure.... Not here though, we even have a re-use shed at the dump full of treasure

I was tasked with doing some major repairs to metal buildings, fences and towers in Costa Rica. Try as I might, I couldn't find a scrap yard where I could find metal I could weld. I was told that all the junkyards only bought metal and didn't sell. Whether that was true, I couldn't decipher with my weak Spanish and in a Spanish only home.

At our dump you aren't supposed to go through the household garbage.....but there is a scrounge spot, where you are supposed to put reusable things.

There are seprate spots for all metal scrap, appliances, fishing net and fishing rope, and construction stuff.

The construction stuff is magnificent.... All the leftovers from building. Actually, everything that is not toxic, and will not attact bears, goes into the contruction trash spot. Lots of lumber scraps, and roofing scraps, etc.

Seems like every state is different - and for good reason. We don't have enough bears for that to get on city councils' radar yet.

Yeah some places feed them gummy worm scraps.... I kid you not....

I saw video of cows eating surplus gummy bears. I won't eat them so I pretty much don't want beef fed them either.

Its illegal to burn trash here.... flat out. I save anything not plastic for the fireplace.... Including paper towels. But no trash burning.... Even burning garden waste has to have a permitt. Its been a very very very long time since I have seen a burn pile ....

Matter of fact during the middle of winter up in around the San Fancisco area there was a complete ban on using fire places and outdoor barbeques. Zip Nada .... and some of those people were very very rural an depended upon their potbelly stoves for heat... Nope no exclusions....

the reason.... air quality.

deb

We can burn in a firepit most of the year.

...
I don't really have any place to keep boxes and cardboard stuff and if I try to save it, my hubby will grab it and throw it away. He doesn't like for it to pile up. It's nice if he would start a fire for that kind of stuff, we could go out and sit and watch it but some how, his mind just doesn't work that way.

The paper, cardboard stuff can go in the compost. I also use it to cover garden soil to eliminate weeds for new plantings.

I just think that if everyone is going to be having fits about how everything should be recycled, then those same people should be for scrounging at the dump.

Probably in these nutty days, they should make you sign a waver...but then of course you are spending more money for that paperwork, that paper, and the pens.

Talking of crazy.....I had chickens roosting on top of their coop door. -sigh- i knew that with my design that that was a possibility.

I am gonna have to figure out how to deter that, or turn the top into a 4 inch wide perch. That might be easier.

A little section of welded wire/hog wire fencing extending at the top will keep them from roosting there.

Well, we had our first loss to a predator, or possibly two. Then neighbor just rang the door, asking if it's a dead chicken in the front yard. Looks like Viiru has been mauled, and something ate all of her innards. Luckily it looks like she went quickly. Veera is still missing, I took the dog with me looking for her around the house, but couldn't find her, and it's getting too dark to see anything. Either she's hiding somewhere, or then she's been taken too. It's a shame. I think it was a hawk, that's the only thing I've seen around here, and to my untrained eye it looks like that's what dined on the carcass.

Awful.
Only guts missing around here would mean an opossum.

Well, some good news, Veera just showed up. I been checking the yard every 15 minutes, and Veera was standing in front of the coop, looking unharmed, waiting to get inside. But that means we just lost our most productive layer, Viiru. I don't think a dog would have gotten her though, but it does look a bit like it was a dog. The head was plucked clean. A dog would actually be good news, because that means the yard would still be safe, as long as I get the chickens to stay inside the fence. It could have been the neighbors dog, because the chickens had apparently ventured in front of their house. She is a bit slow though, so I don't see how she would have caught Viiru, who was an excellent flier. But I guess we will never learn what it was. I might have to go check on the neighbors dog though, she might need some antacids after eating a whole chicken, poor thing. If it really was her. But I'm happy Veera is home safe.

I've lost a lot to dogs and they usually just get a thrill out of killing and if they eat, it's just a little of the meat.

You may need a trail/game cam to find what's lurking.

I get hawks around here all the time. Usually the roosters are sufficient deterrent but when I hear or see one, I shoot a bottle rocket their way and they take off.

More likely a weasel type critter..... Mink or Ermine...? Do you have them? I know you have Fox. But the smaller predators go for the guts first.

A hawk would have to be a big one to get far with it.... Here a Red tailed Hawk could carry one to a place where it could dine without interruption...

deb

Mink and weasels rarely eat any of their chicken prey. They bite the neck and suck the blood while the heart continues to beat. I've lost 60+ to mink and have had none of the bird consumed.

Oh ok... we get mountain lions all the way Through the City of San Diego to the coast..... the same routs also bring bobcats and coyotes.... When food is scarce the dogs and cats in the city disappear if they aren't taken in at night.

...

X2

Being in an urban or suburban environment doesn't preclude predators. I often have coyote, fox, mink

, every night, possums, coons, owls and every day hawks.
Others in the burbs here have photographed mountain lions and bobcats. Bears aren't that far away. Luckily none here yet.

 

[vehve]

CC, these two were little jail breakers, they were wandering about outside the fenced in yard, and the roo respects the fence so he wasn't there to protect them. Hopefully Veera will stick to the yard now as she's lost her accomplice.

 

[bamadude]

Vehve: thats a bummer about ur chick. It may have been alaskans dw that made the kill.

 

[Peep_Show]

Okay... Inside of coop tour time. This is the cleanest it will ever be.

Slide out poop tray (outside view and inside view)


The roost is removable and can be configured for more and wider bars. But right now they're small birds, so just the one.


The waterer is located under the roost loft, so no poop will get into it. It is easy to grab from the main doorway



View from the front door



Nest boxes are covered at present with wire mesh to prevent sleeping therein.



And the residents! Pat (OE of yet undetermined sex) and the RSL's, 3 Cinnamon Queens (RIR x SLW) Edith, Mabel and Maude
(Note the rose combs on them)



I checked on them after an hour and they hadn't moved much...then I figured it out: They had never seen sawdust before, let alone walked on it. Last I checked, though, one had found something tasty in the feeder. At least they won't starve to death.

 

[ronott1]

Okay... Inside of coop tour time. This is the cleanest it will ever be.

Slide out poop tray (outside view and inside view)


The roost is removable and can be configured for more and wider bars. But right now they're small birds, so just the one.


The waterer is located under the roost loft, so no poop will get into it. It is easy to grab from the main doorway



View from the front door



Nest boxes are covered at present with wire mesh to prevent sleeping therein.



And the residents! Pat (OE of yet undetermined sex) and the RSL's, 3 Cinnamon Queens (RIR x SLW) Edith, Mabel and Maude
(Note the rose combs on them)



I checked on them after an hour and they hadn't moved much...then I figured it out: They had never seen sawdust before, let alone walked on it. Last I checked, though, one had found something tasty in the feeder. At least they won't starve to death.

It is so nice and clean!

In NM where yo live, does it get cold in the winter? Water in the coop in cold places and increase moisture in the coop--leading to frostbite.