Washingtonians

[VelvettFog]

Getting old sucks!!!

However, it beats the snot out of the alternative.

 

[Nikki99]

When mine started laying I confined them to the run and coop for a week. Now that most of the girls are laying I don't worry about it because they all see each other laying in the "designated" spot and I don't worry about yard eggs anymore. Could you lock yours up for a week to train them to lay where you want them to?

If you can, keep them confined to the coop and run until about mid-day. Most of the hens will be done laying by then (its not like they can just wait you out). When I let my gals out and take care of their immediate needs I collect the eggs, usually 5 to 6. Then later about 3pm I check and sure enough one more egg will be there. Apparently this hen likes an empty nest. Although from time to time I check the yard for eggs I haven't found any, thankfully.

I could keep them confined inside the critter castle (aka chicken/duck/soon to be goat house) but that would mean no access to the great outdoors at all, we don't have a smaller run attached, just a big, fenced area. If I confined them to the inside of the chicken house, would that be ok for them to not have any access to outside for a full week? Normally when we go down every morning to let them out, we open the door for them that leads into the chicken yard. Then we prop the door open just enough for them to go in and out of their house as needed.

All 3 dogs were retired racers, adopted from Greyhound Pets, Inc. Fish (raced as Bass Fisherman) flunked out of racing in Colorado. I can't remember Spirit's racing name or track. Izzie, our last one, raced as Isleen in Tijuana and was fairly successful. Greyhounds have also taught us about tick borne diseases. Fish had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Izzie came with Babesia. If I ever live in an area with ticks, I'm going to keep a flock of guineas just to eat them!

Jennifer

Racing life can be so hard on them, it's so sad to me the way many of those dogs are treated. I know sometimes what they have to deal with isn't legally considered neglect or abuse but it's still very sad when you get a retired racing dog in and it's terrified of people b/c it's never been properly socialized, it doesn't know how to maneuver stairs or walk on different types of flooring b/c they've never been in a house, not to mention all the health problems that come along with many of them.

It always makes me smile when I see or hear about someone who has adopted a retired racing greyhound.

 

[justbugged]

Very interesting about the shorter lived tarantulas, I will have to take another look at them. I don't currently have the same ideal set up that I once did, but that doesn't always seem to stop me. Thanks for the ideas, the male could be a very good fit for a first tarantula.

 

[VelvettFog]

I am constantly impressed by the differences in humans. To me, a spider as a pet makes me go

 

[justbugged]

Well I looked over at the counter just a bit ago, and discovered that the parents left their meds here. So now I have to go to the Post Office and get the meds back to the parents.

I had been hoping that I could stay home all week and not spend any money.

 

[JennS]

Psst .. ticks are everywhere ...

I've never seen a tick in my yard. We've lived here for 8 years now, and my dogs and cats have not needed flea or tick treatments, except for the time my cat had to stay overnight at a vet's office (oh yeah, he had to have radioiodine therapy for hyperthyroidism, too...) and came home with a flea. We treated everyone with Advantage for a couple of months, and it was done. We only rarely make it out to the forest to hike, so we don't have much opportunity to encounter ticks. But every time we visit family in Texas, we see dogs, cats, and chickens crawling in fleas, and the dogs often have ears full of ticks. Bleah. And our families wonder why we don't want to move back "home"!

Jennifer

 

[VelvettFog]

I've never seen a tick in my yard. We've lived here for 8 years now, and my dogs and cats have not needed flea or tick treatments, except for the time my cat had to stay overnight at a vet's office (oh yeah, he had to have radioiodine therapy for hyperthyroidism, too...) and came home with a flea. We treated everyone with Advantage for a couple of months, and it was done. We only rarely make it out to the forest to hike, so we don't have much opportunity to encounter ticks. But every time we visit family in Texas, we see dogs, cats, and chickens crawling in fleas, and the dogs often have ears full of ticks. Bleah. And our families wonder why we don't want to move back "home"!

Jennifer

Where in TX are you from?

 

[FirewifeJess]

Waaaaaaaaa! Vthats me crying because I basically flea sprayed myself in the face. Burning eyes and throat and sneezing and burned throat for the last half hour even after washing thoroughly and drinking a ton of water. The can of spray I was using locked into the open position and I had to scramble to maximize its usage before it ran out and was wasted. I hate fleas!!!!!,!!!!

 

[lovinchickypoos]

I used to have that attitude until my neighbor got bit by a hobo. I quickly developed a terrorizing fear of anything that looked like one. If I know it's a garden spider, or a spider that has striped legs, I leave it be. Jessica probably saw the two spiders hanging above my Japanese maple when she came over. They're "good" spiders, and they are welcome to stay.

Of course this could be an urban legend... a friend told me about a house where they bombed the house, all the good spiders died. She said the hobo will not die in a bombed house. The hobo population took over, and the house ended up having to be abandoned and the hobo spider population supposedly continues to grow in the abandoned house.

I do know, when a friend and I talked to a few exterminators on the phone, one of the exterminators said if there are hobos, we do not want to bomb the house.

Makes me wonder if there is some truth to the story above.

I actually watched something on Animal Planet or Discovery about a house in central Oregon where that happened!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Quote:

Yeah, I had to work late, we were SUPER busy last night...went to bed right after I posted.