The Old Folks Home

[ChickenCanoe]

Sorry about your loss. I'd be looking up recipes for weasel.

I skin predators, grill them on the fire pit and feed them back to the chickens.

Cat. The other, other, other white meat.

Hi everyone

weasels and cats, wow. No weasel attacks here, thank you Lord, but my neighbor lost several hens a couple years ago. As for cats, we had a new family move in down the road last summer that thought it was just fine to let their animals roam. The second time I chased the cat out of my garden run (after intentionally totally terrifying the poor thing) I took a drive down the road and informed the neighbor that the next time kitty was going to take a ride to the pound in town (35+ miles away) and they would receive a bill for any damages as well as whatever the pound would charge them for licensing and vaccinating and would probably get a visit about their dogs too. My friend (same one that lost the hens to a weasel) had been chasing the cat off too and I informed the owner that her hubby was planning to shoot it if caught harming their hens. Her eyes got big on that one and no one has seen the cat roaming since. I hadn't planned on being so harsh but as soon as I said "hi" she copped an attitude which let me know I was not dealing with anyone who was interested in being a good neighbor.
I don't believe in destroying pets because of their owner's stupidity, but I also won't tolerate them causing trouble around my place either.

I had the benefit of being able to build my coop from scratch with full fore knowledge of what predators we had roaming about so my coop is literally a fortress once the girls are locked inside. It's double wall construction with the exterior covered with steel siding making it impossible for anything to be able to climb to windows that are 5+ feet off the ground, double paned, side sliding with internal locks, screened, and with added heavy gauge hardware cloth secured over the entire unit. The door is solid wood but I plan to cover it this summer with steel as well to further deter any bear. The floor is double sheathed as well and covered on top with vinyl flooring. The coop itself is sitting 2 feet off the ground with more steel sheeting extending several inches into the ground. Both the pophole and the main door are locked at night with the kind of shed latch where the flap goes over another piece that turns to secure it and has a hole you can put a padlock thru to lock it. Just to be sure I outsmart any industrious raccoons, instead of using padlocks and have to worry about losing keys, I clip carabeiners thru the latch and just have a ring nearby that I clip them onto in the daytime. I must admit the run needs to be made more secure but that will get done very soon. Right now hubby is putting up new, more secure fencing around the girls "play yard".
We literally have every major northern predator either passing through, or living on, our property except the grizzly and the northern lynx (we have the black bear and bobcat instead). That's the price we pay for living where we do. Our 65 acres back up to literally thousands of acres of state, federal and national forest land.

I'm in the burbs of a large metro area and have every Midwest predator except black bears (closest are 100 miles away) and cougars (closest is 40 miles away)
...

I actually leave the gate open, and, the door open at night. Haven't had a problem here in yrs. A couple of years ago had a neighborhood cat get one of my birds..in mid day. A ferral cat no one was taking care of. Probably from a litter then let go outside to fend for itself..it was hungry. Found it eating the pullet behind our shed. :/ I live in a neighborhood..no woods here.
That one I found in my live trap as soon as I put it out, with a full can of tuna.

I had trapped out vermin for a while and became lax about locking up. Hadn't lost a bird in a couple years. Then I lost 22 in short order. Mostly raccoons.

Glad that family is 'moving up' a bit. I bet you could play a mean game of charades. You don't often have to speak the same language to get stuff communicated.

Got my weasel traps baited. Here, weasel weasel. BF thinks it's a fisher cat. If so I am going to have it stuffed and mail it to my dad.

You must be a fast typist too!

Thanks for the Story. My coop is very predator proof--but I have no predators! Better safe then sorry though.

I think raccoons are everywhere except high elevation Rockies.

maybe you guys should get one of these for each corner of your coop



the SGR-1 is basically an armed guard robot that can either be column-mounted or attached to a set of tank tracks. It's currently being used to patrol the border between North and South Korea. It comes equipped with a 5.56mm belt-fed machine gun and CCTV / thermal imaging cameras in two independently pivoting groups (secondary camera is used to seek out additional targets)
Read more at http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/samsung-sgr-1-the-autonomous-self-aiming-turret-robot#DSZsJhDRKmslWQA5.99

its only $300,000 each so $1.2 mil and no fisher cats

I love that.

Regarding your new workforce, my apprentice lost his phone and totaled his car so hasn't been here is weeks. Shame because he was a good worker. I was so jazzed that I would have a good productive garden AND get some of the house restoration done.

I need to plan on at least 3 apprentices next year. Maybe it's not too late to recruit for this year.

I have cottontail rabbits getting in my garden. I hear they are delicious. I just got a new 12 guage single shot.

Larger and much easier to clean than squirrels.

Sorry, Oz. We are just not the proud owner of a weasel pelt this morning. The traps are sprung and flipped, however, and the meat in them is shredded. None of this triggered the game cam.

dog proof leg traps are much more effective than live traps for those type predators with small paws.

My hens have been so hot and panting like crazy so we got them a pool to cool off in and they love it. I put one in both runs.

Quote:

She did jump in. lol they were hot.
I kept ice blocks in there water buckets last year and it helped keep them cool plus I sprayed the hose or hooked up the sprinkler and the turkey love it and so did the chickens.

I use those big thick rubber feed bowls for summer foot baths.

 

[CanuckBock]

I had typing in freshman year of high school. Christian Brothers College was an all boys private Catholic military institute. The teachers were all either Christian Brothers, retired military officers or other mean stern men. Not a pushover in the bunch.

You know, I am just amazed any of us oldtimers survived school with the teachers we had back when. We had funny ones I remember fondly and ones that were reportable...

One bio teacher was a funny one...he'd wear plaid suit coats and cords...grey beard and glasses...sort of a distinguished professor kind. Once I came to class and handed out gum to everyone...including him. We all got in our seats, pens poised to jot down notes...it was a lecture day. He's up at the front, at his desk and nothing...not a word. Finally he reaches in his mouth and removes the gum and simply states, "I can't lecture and chew gum at the same time!" Another time we are all writing furiously on a test and half an hour in, he loudly announces to everyone, "PENS DOWN!" Which we all do and I am thinking..."CRAP...not completed and gonna get a bad mark!" We sit there in silence looking at him expectantly and he begins giggling to himself..."I knew I had the POWER!" and then says, "OK....back to it!"

Loved one sub teacher--and man we would always give the subs the worst time ever...screw them over because we had a set of twins that looked the same and confuse the heck outta the subs by telling them the wrong names, or taking our wooden rulers and "air band" them on the desks...etc. annoying things 'cause we were down right jerks! The one sub we never bothered with much was the one for French 12...the real teacher was a very kewl lady but her sub, well she was basically shipped straight out from France so our culture was totally foreign to her. One time I had one heck of a head cold and I brought in red cough syrup in a bottle. Sat thru class sipping it so I would make it to the end of the day. Course when class was over, I got up to leave and she says to me in her heavy French accent, "Don't forget your Brandy!" "BRANDY! I can liberally and openly drink Brandy in French Class! RIGHT ON!" Beats the heck outta sneaking a beer in the bathrooms!

The Chem teacher was an idiot...for a quick visual on him...skinny man with flapping arms...he wore pink shirts and wooden clogs and his wife use to run his lunch in in a paper bag to the school, door would open a crack and PLOP would go his bagged lunch on the floor (never did see what she looked like). The main reason I never warmed up to him is he'd be writing out some Chemical formula and you are going along "yup, yup, yup!" and suddenly half way down the board he'd freak over a mistake he made earlier and rub out the formula some 1/3 of the way back...and I'd groan because I thought I had thought it was going along smoothly with me understanding the progression. I just gave up as I simply could not trust anything I was learning from him was going to be correct ten minutes later.


We had a teacher that would give warnings...he'd be standing at the blackboard writing and his ears would turn red... I would usually take cover immediately because he was a terrible shot...and that chalk would go flying...he also welded a mean yardstick too...yeh...only the stupid ones disobeyed his strict classes.


Another, a tall drink of water music teacher would do the "eyes on mine" thing...most bizarre ever...he'd have us line up outside the classroom, military style and march inside...bizarre man.


The worst one tho was a woman...my grade one teacher. Out in a portable which had a cloak room. She was freakishly psychotic...if she was wearing the blue or black dress...good...if it was the red or purple ones...icrumba! We were in for a day of crank!

There was a very poor boy in the class named Joey. Man alive I felt for that kid. He would show up to class in filthy clothes, shoes barely valid, and dirty hands. She would FREAK on him. Inspect his hands and because they were DIRTY--natch like the rest of him...she'd loudly announce him as "Joey NO SOAP" and banish him to the cloak room where he was told he was to stand and hold his hands out, straight out from his body until she came back and told him otherwise. I was too young to realize that behaviours like this from a teacher were to be reported and most of us were terrified beyond reproach over this Mrs. Logan. I truly hope she is dead now and in the hot place serving her sentence for what she did. Joey made it thru that year but his family moved away...I often wonder what ever happened to him...but man live...talk about kicking someone that was already down and out, eh?

This is an old running joke but totally sets the scene on differences I see now in schools.

​

It was all because of another Bio Teacher that just retired recently that I ended up teaching Canine Colour genetics. He was an old style teacher with a keen mind. He loved Biology and it oozed from his pores. I did my presentation and then he invited me outside with the rest of the class to see this one student that had coloured in all the muscles on her real live trailered to school HORSE in the parking lot! He was always enabling people to go that extra mile and do something to the fullest extent of their abilities. He WAS A TEACHER!

I still laugh because Rick and I and the dogs went thru the A & W drive thru one time and the kid at the window called the dog on my lap by name...had been in one of the classes we had taught at. Could not remember MY name but knew the dog's! Not everyone learns thru the same methods...what makes a teacher awesome is one that realizes this and teaches in many methods so the students GET IT.

I was only aware of 5. Curly, then Shemp, then Curly Jo.

Supposedly there was 6 to 7 Stooges...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Stooges :

I think it should be a bougainvillea. They come in an amazing array of colors. I grow them outside and bring them in for winter. I know someone around here that has one planted outside. They cover it and mulch it heavily and it comes back each spring.


Or dracaena fragrans.

Given enough light they'll both flower.

The Bougainvillea is stunning! I am hoping to find a variety in RED without the thorns! Hee hee...

BOUGAINVILLEA - NEGATIVES...Thorns & toxic sap.

The accompanying photo to this page below...

Which makes me howl with laughter as it IS a doorway...yes?? Very pretty mind you...an attractant, inviting you in to what? Stab you with thorns and sap to make you break out in a rash.

GORGEOUS eh?​

http://www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dictionary/vine/bougainvillea/ :

:

CORN PLANT

http://www.plant-care.com/dracaena-fragrans-corn-plant.html :

Cannabis

Good try BD...I already stated "nothing illegal" and I have no documentation for hemp...growing it or the use of it.

My understanding is you need a prescription to use it for "medicinal" reasons (having cancer and it allowing you to have an appetite seems reasonable) and you need a permit to grow it.

Neither of which interests me (using or growing). So why bother? It is tall and green and supposedly (never been around growing plants) I am told it smells?? The novelty of it being legislated don't make it any more pretty...green plant...yeh, so?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_history_of_cannabis_in_Canada :

Hemp stem from 1998​

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/00-067.htm :

Introduction
Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa) is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world. For centuries, its fibres have been used to make ropes, sails and clothing. The species was banned in North America in the 1930s because its leaves and flowers contain a hallucinogenic drug known as delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). It was banned internationally in 1961 under the United Nations' Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.

In 1998, Canada created Industrial Hemp Regulations under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. These regulations allow for the controlled production, sale, movement, processing, exporting and importing of industrial hemp and hemp products that conform to conditions imposed by the Regulations.

Under the Regulations, industrial hemp seeds must be of a variety listed in Health Canada's List of Approved Cultivars. Plants and plant parts may not contain more than 0.3% THC when sampled and tested in the approved manner. Products made or derived from hemp must not contain more than 10 micrograms of THC per gram. Industrial hemp stalks, with leaves and flowers removed, and non-viable hemp seeds (grain), are exempt from the Act.

Anyone found in possession of hemp plant parts - other than the stalk and non-viable grain, without the appropriate licence - is in possession of a controlled substance and may be charged under the Act.

Industrial hemp may only be grown under licence from Health Canada. Leaf or seed residue found in vehicles or machinery, without the proper licences, may constitute possession of a controlled substance in Canada or elsewhere. Thorough cleaning of vehicles and equipment is required under the Industrial Hemp Regulations.

I personally have huge issues with pot use--any drug abuse use. While putting myself thru college & university, I had to work with a fella with an everyday needed it to get by habit. When his supplier could not supply...MAN ALIVE...talk about Mr. Depression...it was horrid and everyone that had to have interactions with him, just referred to him as "Mr. BLACK!" His addictions made our work place miserable and near impossible to get anything done properly. I considered it a selfish addiction that compromised others.

When a substance causes you such a mood swing and you rely so heavily on it for simply being able to make it thru your day...I say it is a problem and an addiction you need help overcoming!

The way people inhale pot causes cancer...worse than a coupla packs of cigs a day habit. The depression they seem unable to avoid (everything has a cost) bites...and it is illegal without the proper paperwork. If it allows certain health issues to be overcome, by all means go for it...but then you require a prescription. There are enough idiots driving drunk and killing innocents that the last thing I want to see is people driving stoned legally.

I do not like the overboard and overkill attitudes on anti-drug enforcement and the way that society has made the growing and trafficking of it so profitable for those that should not be doing it. I think that all the money spent there would do better focussed on ending world starvation and bringing about world peace. But I don't have any answers to fix the issue.

I have cottontail rabbits getting in my garden. I hear they are delicious. I just got a new 12 guage single shot.

Uh...I am not that gun savvy but wouldn't a "12 gauge single shot" put a lot of pellets into a rabbit carcass? Maybe I am just ignorant...I think they use shotguns to hunt birds...so maybe a shotgun don't put pellets in the meat...anyone wanna give me a quick and slick lesson about 12 gauges and using them for hunting for meat for consumption?

Canuck Bock....all I can say is that you are a talented writes and a fast speedy typist. Keep up the good work!!

And...I KNOW I belong in the Old Folks Home

Thanks MCN...I know I belong here also!

we couldnt get canuck off her topic with cash bribes

i bet if you had a diary thread, you would have a huge following. (not implying they dont belong here)

a lot of people would not read your stories here because they would not want to venture into the old folks home for fear of admitting they belong here.

Oz, I am not interested at all in fortune or fame.

FORTUNE - Other than money keeps the place running and buys things you need to get by with or replace because you wore it out...I find less and less focus on money. The constraints here seem more on things like hours in a day (time), room for more fun things (space), and get up and go to do all the things I want to see done in that day (energy). I guess you could buy more land, hire someone to help, and make more buildings but I don't see the point in expansion. I figure I am happiest when I am the one that did all the somethings that day. When I can't do what I do, then it's gonna be time to cut back on the some of the fun stuff.

FAME - As far as getting more people to read my stories..."Nah. What for?" It takes two people to have a conversation and often if I am alone, I'll just talk to myself (and answer back...it is scary getting on!)! A bigger audience don't make it better, in fact, sometimes more is just a crowd. I prefer smaller more intimate groups where we get to know each other enough we can tease each other...bug, bug, buggers!

Diary thread would kill me on a good day...I usually just post the stuff that stands out for me...that is memorable past the regular routines. I doubt I could do what I do in a day and record it too. LOL

Here is a sample of what I happen to notice enough to snap a pic of over the last two days...

Tufted Buff Geese and Crested Ducks - out for a jaunt in quarantine​

Partridge Brahma Bantam natural hatched
​

Piper and Pearl snacking on Romaine



Swans and Ruddy Shels - Pearl flapping​

Oldest of Rick's pond fish



Largest of the pond fish - takes out the GATOR!​

Foamy snacking on the last of the snow CONE piles here​

Red Golden Pheasant hen - gone setty in the Cabin - the beaty eyes & tail straight up ROCKS!
​

First flowers here from Haskaps / Honeyberry - this plant's flowers can withstand -7C (19F) and still bear fruit.

Pretty little yeller flowers followed by long purple thimble-like berries...I have never seen a berry as I have NO cultivator -- I suppose one day I should bring home two varieties and see...no idea what variety this one is though, was not labelled past Honey Berry.

​

Jacobs on pasture at the point - love the mouthful of grass on the far left ewe​

Above are the parts I stopped to click a pic of...this is what I see and what I see everyday here is beyond comprehension for many.

I post pics because I know nobody would believe what these eyes have seen...and it is EVERY SINGLE DAY like that.


Yesterday was no different than any; I grocery shopped, fixed fences and picked rocks (yeh, never ending duties those), hauled more garbage out of the soon to be Hatch House, hauled out more bathing water for the birds, did my morning and evening regular regiment of maintenance chores, made lunch and did dishes, packed firewood to the porch box, did laundry, watered plants, raked up more debris, took photos of fence portions for another thread I need to update, photos of some of the birds, played with dogs, did up BQ chicken and new potatoes with corn, made Rick's lunch for the next day, and drove bus, fueled and caught up on some paperwork and oh yes, I replied to a few personal e-mails from friends that were beginning to pile up.

Anyone needing a nap yet 'cause I'm tired just thinking of it...


I am totally happy with the parameters that Wisher set up here.

I was searching for a thread that I could relate to. I noticed that the really active threads were the kids' threads. That's fine, but I really enjoy chatting with people my age (old.) Then I noticed the active state threads, but MY state's thread is hit or miss. I love the hatch-alongs and the swaps but those can be sporadic.

I really wanted to find a thread where anything and everything (within BYC rules) can be thrown out and other middle aged folks could relax and enjoy each others company. I want to have a thread where we can keep up with old BYC friends, and make new ones.

If that appeals to you, regardless of your age, please subscribe!

For any person that would be uncomfortable reading the OFH &/or posting to it...probably not a person I am interested in anyway. LOL

Keep in mind...twice a day during the week...I drive the crewl bus...

While I love the kids and all...my mind HAS to turn to mush to relate to their worlds. Besides, I need some ADULT conversations past being with my spouse.

Here I don't have to explain who the Three Stooges are...we just flow into a topic on just how many of them were there? That SHOUTS OUT good times, eh?

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

PS Fishers...saw one out by our mailboxes a few years back...frightful shiny coated kewl looking beast...glad it chose to keep on truckin'. Looks powerful enough to be quite dangerous and a handful if it wanted to be!

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I skin predators, grill them on the fire pit and feed them back to the chickens.

The four remaining survivors are so jumpy now, they won't let me near them without a large panic attack. One has a flesh wound but I am nervous that it will hurt itself worse struggling when I catch it that I'm going to leave it alone today and clean it again tomorrow, instead.

I've got one of the "live" traps out there now in a cardboard box to better protect it from side action, and bf just built a weasel box.

 

[CanuckBock]

The four remaining survivors are so jumpy now, they won't let me near them without a large panic attack. One has a flesh wound but I am nervous that it will hurt itself worse struggling when I catch it that I'm going to leave it alone today and clean it again tomorrow, instead.

I've got one of the "live" traps out there now in a cardboard box to better protect it from side action, and bf just built a weasel box.

Open to other suggestions fer sure but for wounds, I clean first few times with peroxide (which foams up and dries the surface) and coat with honey (raw is best but any old kind will do) because bacteria don't grow in it (plus if it is a chicken and it passes, well you are half way there to making dinner--sorry, sicko humour, I stress in weirdo ways when dependents get harmed!).

I have also put Vit E on mammal wounds (that includes humans too) and this helps inhibit scar tissue. At work, Rick took off part of his thumb with an exacto knife (long story for another day...he was off to hospital fer stitches but the piece never took so it came off... etc., etc.)...we soaked his bandages in Vit E and you can't tell which thumb he trimmed!

I hope things settle down to a dull roar for you and the birds...sigh.

Tara

 

[bamadude]

Maybe try cannabis indica in ur flower pot.


Mo
Rattlesnake ranch
Cat chow and giggety giggety

 

[chickadoodles]

The four remaining survivors are so jumpy now, they won't let me near them without a large panic attack. One has a flesh wound but I am nervous that it will hurt itself worse struggling when I catch it that I'm going to leave it alone today and clean it again tomorrow, instead.

I've got one of the "live" traps out there now in a cardboard box to better protect it from side action, and bf just built a weasel box.

I hope you catch the varmint and that your chick with the wound will heal quickly.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Nothing in the trap, traps not even touched last night, and nothing on the game cam which was moved into the tractor so there was no visitor.

Will rebait tonight.

I generally clean wounds with saline and then scrub with chlorhexidine, then cover with triple antibiotic ointment and/or blue kote.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

That's a good approach. It's important to get it clean.

I just posted this yesterday on our local chicken site for a raccoon attack.
"Keep her warm. Clean the wounds with saline solution, then rinse with betadine. Some Campho-Phenique will help too. It is an antiseptic and pain releiver.
Finally use some triple antibiotic ointment. Use the eye type since it melts at body temperature and will get deep into the wound.
Do this a couple times a day. Since it has been a couple days and healing has begun, don't use hydrogen peroxide since that will also destroy newly growing cells.
HP is ok to use the first day and a good idea but after the first day, switch to betadine or any organic iodine. It will do the same thing but without the tissue damage."
Betadine is the treatment of choice for cockers around the globe.


While the OFH is on the subject of cannabis. We had a 3' tall plastic cannabis plant used for drug training in our artillery group headquarters. We stole it, took it to our illegal apartment and decorated it as our Christmas tree. It was Christmas after all.

 

[Wisher1000]

Up until about 1995, the secretary in the local narcotics squad office had a "potted" plant on her desk. It was the division joke, until the Mayor came in one day and said, "Isn't that illegal?" Well, duh.........

 

[Highcotton]

Hi! I'm an empty nester who decided to make a "new" nest! I don't get to see my kids and grandkids often as they live far away (or aren't currently speaking to me ).... I literally have ants in my pants waiting for the chicks my sister in law is keeping for me and the coop that is supposed to be delivered Wednesday and the chicks coming next week! I can't sit still! ...can you tell I'm just a little excited?

Welcome to BYC. None of us are empty nesters.