Washingtonians

[Chickielady]

Well, it looks like the Building Inspector is here (finally) been on pins & needles all morning waiting....so I gotta go & have to catch up on posts later............

 

[DeesHens]

UE- Glad for a good report this morning on your hen.

I am almost certain now that whatever rodent is living under the coop is also stealing eggs when the hens aren't around. We've already gotten 6 eggs today before 11am, and I've gone to check 3 times. I'm keeping the gals locked in the coop and run for a few days to see if that's the problem. We did a major family easter egg yard search yesterday and didn't find anything, which leads me to believe my theory even more. I am going to try and discourage the rodent under the coop from going to the chicken run for food by adding hardware cloth under the coop, hopefully this week sometime, and closing up the lid of the nest boxes on the sides that are open due to me raising/tilting the lid. Hopefully that will solve this problem. I may even shove some poison under the coop and add cement blocks all the way around it so the chickens can't get to the poison but the rodent can.

Hi.
We are also having a rat invasion. Never like this before. My DH bought some big rat traps with the spring action. He tried the bucket & water idea but no go. Anyway, he places a wire cage around the set trap and uses a piece of cheddar cheese for bait. The wire cage keeps any other larger animal from getting its nose or paw snapped. He has killed 5 rats so far.

Not sure if you have thought of this scenario with the poison so thought I'd throw it out there for you to mull over. When a rat eats the poison it may wander out into the yard or nearby to die. If a dog or other animals finds it and eats it the poison may kill the animal and/or severely injure its internal organs. Recently this happened to a dog breeder I know. Her AKC champion got off her property when a breach in the fencing occurred from a tree falling on it in the wooded section of her property. She didn't know it until she went hunting for her missing dog. Tragically the dog found and ate something... vet said probably via poisoned mouse or rat. After agonizing weeks she had to have her best dog & friend put down. Since this story is still vivid in my mind and broke my heart for her I needed to warn you about this possibility. Anyway, just some food for thought.
~Dee~

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Quote:
The PNPA show in Salem next weekend.

I'm kind of excited about it now that I can go. Usually DH isn't one to go to animal shows.
Remember yer $$$$ !!!

While admission to the show is FREE it is EXITING that can be costly. Because we all know yer gonna find some birds ya just gotta have. And maybe some metal art work from Iron Imagery aka CR aka Rob aka ME!!

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Fainting at the idea of buying good hay for erosion control? Me too.

The road widening project between Martin Way and Steilecoom Road used alfalfa; it's coming up in all the cracks and in the planting strips, and my fingers itch every time we drive by: I'd love to have it to feed to the chickens!

Why in the world are they not using straw ??
They really do enjoy spending our money !!!!!!!!!!!

It was a private contractor doing private work (development of adjacent property requiring road widening, not the huge mess that was widening/bringing roadbed up to modern standards that came later, and had no slop in the budget, which was scraped together from public and private sources).

Bad hay is usually cheaper than straw; when we were making square bales, we often had cruddy bales from the edge of fields that hadn't been mowed for a while (on contract cuts of other people's land) that were sold as erosion control hay. Of course these days square bales are all gold, they use so much more fuel and labor to make (unless you're a big-time hay farmer with eight or sixteen row balers and autostackers).

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Quote: Or what about the speedway/fairgrounds?

 

[Chicken Rustler]

WOW I see WE HAVE A VERY SPECIAL visitor !!!!! What an honor.

Nice to see you drop in Nifty hope all is well.

 

[hallerlake]

Quote: I read an article about using herbs in coops and nesting boxes. Mint and Lemon Balm were listed as rodent deterents. It couldn't hurt to try. Both should be cheap since they have take over the world tendencies. I wonder if mint gum would work.

 

[Farmin Momma]

Quote: Or what about the speedway/fairgrounds?
Ya know, I did not really think about any of those ideas. I don't think we have any strip malls going up around here at the moment, so I would have to search a bit on that one. I think I will call the city and see if they would want to buy it for the Mill Creek town center right across the street from us, the library or the park next to that. Those are great ideas, but I would love for it to go to the speedway, I will have to dig threw my numbers and find the one for the owner. Thanks so much to the three of you for your GREAT ideas!

 

[Justahannah]

UE- Glad for a good report this morning on your hen.

I am almost certain now that whatever rodent is living under the coop is also stealing eggs when the hens aren't around. We've already gotten 6 eggs today before 11am, and I've gone to check 3 times. I'm keeping the gals locked in the coop and run for a few days to see if that's the problem. We did a major family easter egg yard search yesterday and didn't find anything, which leads me to believe my theory even more. I am going to try and discourage the rodent under the coop from going to the chicken run for food by adding hardware cloth under the coop, hopefully this week sometime, and closing up the lid of the nest boxes on the sides that are open due to me raising/tilting the lid. Hopefully that will solve this problem. I may even shove some poison under the coop and add cement blocks all the way around it so the chickens can't get to the poison but the rodent can.

Thank you, I appreciate the kind words. And we're dealing with the same issue right now, re: rodents stealing eggs. Only problem is ours lay all over the yard so there's really nothing we can do. Hopefully when we get the final coop/palace built, the nest boxes will be more appealing than the yard. Then all we have to worry about is keeping squirrels out of the coop during the day.



Good luck.

I read an article about using herbs in coops and nesting boxes. Mint and Lemon Balm were listed as rodent deterents. It couldn't hurt to try. Both should be cheap since they have take over the world tendencies. I wonder if mint gum would work.

I have extra mint if anyone wants to come dig up some plants

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

So happy for you and Salma!

It is in the air. Betsy Barr Rock is eating her dry feed this morning more aggressively than since her big shock & illness.

Plus she is talking to me again. Her voice sounds a bit smaller, but hey... it is so cool after her being mostly silent for all these weeks.
I believe she is on the upswing. Her poo is a little better which to me is a good sign. Maybe the krill oil helped cleanse her crop??? I dunno.
Yes, I do totally agree these diet changes do affect their poo. I am still giving Betsy a little electrolytes, vit. & min. supplement in her water. Just at much lower dose.
Keeping my fingers crossed for Salma & Betsy.
~Dee~

So glad to hear about Betsy!! You are a better woman than I am - I don't know if I could keep this up for weeks and weeks. It has been so draining just doing it for three days! If we had full-time jobs poor Salma would probably be dead by now. I've got my eye on her in the crate and she actually just started nibbling again right now! Yay! All my love to Besty!

I read an article about using herbs in coops and nesting boxes. Mint and Lemon Balm were listed as rodent deterents. It couldn't hurt to try. Both should be cheap since they have take over the world tendencies. I wonder if mint gum would work.

Yes, I was just about to to start in on the rodent deterrent project when the raccoon attack happened. I had not heard of mint and lemon balm. I had heard of dog/cat/human urine as well as hot pepper powder. I think only one of my two Leghorns is laying, and she had been laying in coop, which is where the squirrels were stealing the eggs from. Now that my BF is spending all day every day working on the coop, I have no idea where she's laying or if the eggs are getting stolen. I thought for sure we'd spot her laying somewhere, but nope. It's pretty frustrating.