Washingtonians

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Quote: Good to hear.
Most of my hens were making it hard on the pullet and he wasn't protecting her yet, so I moved three of the worst offenders out for a few days.
I am rehoming two for sure, but wanted to try to keep one of my personal favorites.
Well he definitely figured out he was head honcho while she was away.
I went up there this morning and watched for a little while and he is still a little hostile towards her, but the only time he really got after her is if she and the Fav pullet got into it.
I will watch closely and hopefully they will work it out soon.
She does know who's boss though.
I was just suprised when all was said and done last night he was the one with the a little blood on his comb and she barely had a feather out of place.
Wich told me he wasn't really trying to hurt her. But it was a little scary.

And it made me think of you putting Eddie in with your hens that didn't know him.
Was there issues at the very start? Did they work it out pretty quick or did they just go ok this is the new boss and were fine with it?

Edit to add- CL, he found his voice last weekend. It's still pretty funny and not a complete crow, but he's trying.

LOL I love it when babies start trying to crow!

I was actually surprised how quickly the girls accepted Eddie, because he was still just about 8 months old when I put him in there, and some of the girls were coming on 2, AND he had never been "in charge" of a flock before. There was a bit of chasing / pecking at the beginning, but they figured it out really fast that he was in charge.

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Quote:
Yep. I was amazed. Didn't think it could be that easy! First night out and I have already caught the one. Let's see if it's friend comes back tonight...
Don't stop after the 2nd one...remember, for every rat you see, there's at least 10 more that you don't see....

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

Living in Seattle, rats are simply a part of life for us. Every night at dusk we see rats start to scurry around on tree branches, power lines, even occasionally in our chicken pen (which is designed to keep dogs out but the chickens have to have the good sense to stay in there if the dogs are outside). It doesn't really bother us. If I caught a rat, that would simply make less competition for all the others. All we can do is lock up our feed at night and make sure we collect all the eggs from under the brush before nightfall because the rats will steal them all once the sun goes down. We have no choice but to live with all the beings who want to take advantage of what the city has to offer.

 

[Hinotori]

I'll be trying the bucket with the BOSS. We have field mouse issue. Well HAD a big issue, my GSD killed more than I trapped. She's very obsessive on checking for them. Chickens also got any smaller ones that came out in the daytime. So it's down to just one or two living near the coop. I'm glad because I hate their dang tunnels.

They are much dumber than actual rats and easier to catch. If they stayed out in the grass by the pond, they would be fine. I don't bother the ones out in the marsh, the resident hawks eat those, and ignore my chickens. Had one hawk freak me, and the chickens, out. Came swooping down and landed about 20 feet from my chickens out in the tall grass. Came up with a squeeky snack.

 

[SadieSue]

Quote:
Yep. I was amazed. Didn't think it could be that easy! First night out and I have already caught the one. Let's see if it's friend comes back tonight...
Don't stop after the 2nd one...remember, for every rat you see, there's at least 10 more that you don't see....

Will I ever be able to sleep again without them in my dreams? Sometimes ignorance is bliss...

 

[mikeyb]

Quote: Oh c'mon now. Clean up is a prob? Look, take a post hole digger (clamshell) if you have one. Dig a hole about 24" - 30" deep. Pour water, rat and all into the hole. Fill hole. End of cleanup/problem. No post hole digger, well you hav to get a shovel then, and thats more work.

 

[PNWGirl]

Oh c'mon now. Clean up is a prob? Look, take a post hole digger (clamshell) if you have one. Dig a hole about 24" - 30" deep. Pour water, rat and all into the hole. Fill hole. End of cleanup/problem. No post hole digger, well you hav to get a shovel then, and thats more work.

PLEASE SEE POST 81763. yes, I was a jerk and I wish that I could take everything back and start over.

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

Thank you so much for your kind words of wisdom.

That being said- as I have already stated on this thread- I am d i s a b l e d. I can not dig a hole two inches deep, much less the 24 to 30 inches that is, clearly, so easy for you to do.

Currently I can barely get out of my bed to get to the bathroom, so excuse me if I don't think that your idea is so wham, bam simple and effective FOR ME.

Sheila

I don't think you can reasonably expect everyone here to already know that you are disabled. Most folks probably haven't read all 8K+ posts, and sure as heck don't remember every single post they've read. He was just trying to help. Best of luck.

 

[PNWGirl]

I don't think you can reasonably expect everyone here to already know that you are disabled. Most folks probably haven't read all 8K+ posts, and sure as heck don't remember every single post they've read. He was just trying to help. Best of luck.

No he wasn't. He was being sarcastic and condesending.

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Quote:
Yep. I was amazed. Didn't think it could be that easy! First night out and I have already caught the one. Let's see if it's friend comes back tonight...
Don't stop after the 2nd one...remember, for every rat you see, there's at least 10 more that you don't see....

Will I ever be able to sleep again without them in my dreams? Sometimes ignorance is bliss...

Sorry Dana!