The Old Folks Home

[Wisher1000]

Wow, Chicka, that's tough. I'm leaning toward trampling/canibalism but no wounds is puzzling. How big is the brooder? How many birds in there? What do the live injured birds look like? Post pics of all sides of your brooder and the other birds, if possible. I also considered mink or rat but they would break skin. I know of no preditors that just kill and eat feathers...................

 

[chickadoodles]

Wow, Chicka, that's tough. I'm leaning toward trampling/canibalism but no wounds is puzzling. How big is the brooder? How many birds in there? What do the live injured birds look like? Post pics of all sides of your brooder and the other birds, if possible. I also considered mink or rat but they would break skin. I know of no preditors that just kill and eat feathers...................

Wisher the brooder has plenty of room it is 4'x12' and had 12 birds in it. it was given to us for free and we covered the chicken wire with hardware cloth and I put some tin in the bottom in the back as well as some 2x6 pieces of lumber for them to sleep on. I had two large feeders and two large water's. And my dogs sleep abt. 20' from this brooder. I have taken all the birds out of this brooder. But I and still getting birds for the next three weeks and I will need to use it. It also has hardware cloth all over the entire bottom of the brooder.












There is hardware cloth way up the side of this side so nothing from the ground can get them.

They were plucked from the bottom of the brooder! This shows the tin and wood in the back.





This is a close up of the wound on my Chantie also shows she was plucked.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

CocoBeach Body Fluids will be born!!

The adventure continues.

Can you get me some nice semen in a LaMancha for fall?

Now our most excellent adventure is over for this year. Kind of sad but it was a ton of fun. I said this last year and I say it again this year, anyone needing someone to go hiking with should invite SCG over. She is a great hiking buddy.

As is Dsqard. I'd say we had a most memorable time, even when our luck turned for the worse we couldn't stop laughing about it and we never got lost and needed my emergency pack to survive.

Dsqard also forgot to post the dino tracks we ran into on the last hike. This was neat to see:

Seriously,

I dont understand why more of you dont own a water buffalo

http://www.hobbyfarms.com/livestock-and-pets/yaks-water-buffalo.aspx

or atleast a yak for @superchemicalgirl

I can even ride it. I'll ask BF when he's in a better mood whether he'd like to take care of a yak or a water buffalo next time I fly off to the southwest. He is "absolutely exhausted" taking care of all the animals and plants while I was gone. He was so upset this morning to tell me one of our two poults died while I was gone (the mother flipped over a dog bowl waterer [that's supposed to be unflippable] on top of it and it froze to death). If that's the worst thing that happened while I was gone... success.

 

[drumstick diva]

SCG glad to have you posting again - long time no hear. I think your BF did very well and I hope he doesn't feel too badly about the fatal poult mishap on his watch. It wasn't his fault - you never know what crazy stunts birds are gonna pull.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

SCG glad to have you posting again - long time no hear. I think your BF did very well and I hope he doesn't feel too badly about the fatal poult mishap on his watch. It wasn't his fault - you never know what crazy stunts birds are gonna pull.

It seems like poults have some kind of death wish anyway at this house. I told him they die easily and not to worry if one of them died before I left. As it was, one of them already died once, I was just able to revive it. The way I see it, we're back to the number of poults we should have had.

 

[chickisoup]

Quote: weasel. pick a member of that family. the ermine I have running thru the woods (even had one little devil on my back porch) or a small mink could easily get wiggle thru the chicken wire on the bottom and terrorize your birds from underneath. My recommendation would be set traps underneath and bait with blood. If you want to live trap, use a squirrel trap otherwise use rat traps..

 

[chickadoodles]

weasel. pick a member of that family. the ermine I have running thru the woods (even had one little devil on my back porch) or a small mink could easily get wiggle thru the chicken wire on the bottom and terrorize your birds from underneath. My recommendation would be set traps underneath and bait with blood. If you want to live trap, use a squirrel trap otherwise use rat traps..

Thanks Chicki! I guess we will be getting a live trap this weekend.

 

[chickisoup]

Quote: outside chance could be a rat, even so, same procedure. I'm still bettin' on a member of the weasel family. The absolutely nastiest relative we have up here is the pine martin.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Thanks Chicki! I guess we will be getting a live trap this weekend.

May I also suggest you ask for a game cam for your birthday? I find that extremely helpful to identify predators and their "patterns." IE where they are coming from (so you know where to set the trap) or what times they are coming (so you can be out there with a firearm if that's safe for your area).

Pretty much anything with arms can reach into the chicken wire you have and "snatch" and "drag" to the edge of the cage.

 

[Highcotton]

Maddy and her favorite, Tinkerbell.

Cute!