What did you do in the garden today?

[Liz Birdlover]

I smell snake in the chicken run. It has to be underground in a mouse warren. I'll pick up the water pan tonight.
Any other ideas? I'd rather I catch it and take it for a car ride, but I can't FIND it.

The only time I was successful enticing a snake out was using eggs, and they were eggs I'd just collected, and I did slightly Crack one so the snake could smell it.
This came inside to my pigeon loft, where I have grated flooring & that sneaky snake was moving fast under grated floor...hard to see & impossible to lift a 4x4 foot grate faster than it could slither between the grates & get away. After trying that, with me & snake, going back & forth, through 3 pigeon sections & my back aching lifting grates, & getting my head whacked by flapping, frantic pigeon wings, I got an idea. So I set up the eggs & sat on an upside-down 5 gal bucket, not moving, & patiently waited. Only 10 minutes later, the snake popped its head up & the little tongue was tasting the air. He went over towards the eggs, I got ahold of the middle of him & as he tried to escape going upward along the wall, I just did hand over hand til I got behind his head with one hand & then I took him for a one way ride & release, driving 1 handed. It is the Only time I had a snake in this newer pigeon loft, (I had the big door propped open, while cleaning, & it just came right on in...only way I even knew was because my pigeons were flapping madly at the mere sight of him) and only time I had to try & lure one out. This was a little snake, they like eggs & hatchlings. Get yourself some eggs & a bucket to sit on, take some time & see if your little bugger comes out. Also, consider why snake is there...if not for eggs, you may have mice tempting him, so get rid of those varmints, too. Good luck!

 

[Liz Birdlover]

All the roosters in my bachelor pen have bite marks on their combs. Even the one who is separated by fencing from the others. There's some rat feces around the pen too... Wondering if the rats are attacking my roos?

One theory...it is spring, hormones rage & they're just getting annoyed with eachother right now. I have a bachelor section, every spring they get feisty so I have to add 2 pecking blocks & a few hanging cabbages to distract them.

or, could be mites

Mine had little scab dots on the combs...turns out they had mites so I had to dust them all by hand. All the rain made it quite difficult to dust bathe. I checked over the entire flock, only the Roosters & a couple of hens had mites. Hen mites were on their vent areas. Roosters had mites near the head & neck. The majority of chickens had no mites.

Anyway...check for mites & hang up some boredom busters.

 

[WthrLady]

The only time I was successful enticing a snake out was using eggs, and they were eggs I'd just collected, and I did slightly Crack one so the snake could smell it.
This came inside to my pigeon loft, where I have grated flooring & that sneaky snake was moving fast under grated floor...hard to see & impossible to lift a 4x4 foot grate faster than it could slither between the grates & get away. After trying that, with me & snake, going back & forth, through 3 pigeon sections & my back aching lifting grates, & getting my head whacked by flapping, frantic pigeon wings, I got an idea. So I set up the eggs & sat on an upside-down 5 gal bucket, not moving, & patiently waited. Only 10 minutes later, the snake popped its head up & the little tongue was tasting the air. He went over towards the eggs, I got ahold of the middle of him & as he tried to escape going upward along the wall, I just did hand over hand til I got behind his head with one hand & then I took him for a one way ride & release, driving 1 handed. It is the Only time I had a snake in the pigeon loft, (I had the big door propped open, while cleaning, & it just came right on in...only way I even knew was because my pigeons were flapping madly at the mere sight of him) and only time I had to try & lure one out. This was a little snake, they like eggs & hatchlings. Get yourself some eggs & a bucket to sit on, take some time & see if your little bugger comes out. Also, consider why snake is there...if not for eggs, you may have mice tempting him, so get rid of those varmints, too. Good luck!
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OH I know I have mice, which is why he's there, plus the water.
No getting rid of the mice.
This has to be a HUGE black snake, no chance on him getting eggs. I don't leave them out long enough, and he's no threat to the hens/ THEY"RE enormous.
This thing has to be down a mouse warren.

 

[WthrLady]

OH I know I have mice, which is why he's there, plus the water.
No getting rid of the mice.
This has to be a HUGE black snake, no chance on him getting eggs. I don't leave them out long enough, and he's no threat to the hens/ THEY"RE enormous.
This thing has to be down a mouse warren.

My guess was he had a nice place under the heated water pan all winter, and I took it away. I'll dig that up after lunch.
I'll disturb the ground and he'll be on his way.

 

[jerryse]

Weather app says it is raining but my weather rock is dry. Max Velosity says big storms today. More drama and little to show.

 

[Molpet]

Weather app says it is raining but my weather rock is dry. Max Velosity says big storms today. More drama and little to show.

And my weather app says no rain but weather rock has a few drops. Actually my weather head. I was mowing what I could of the flood plain and a few drops were hitting me. Left some ruts but it will grow back. One year I kept waiting for it to dry out and it was August before I could mow. Was taller than me.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Morning Gardeners where we be nothing but garter snakes.
I am ticked they claim we are in drought! We live before the climb on white pass there was normal snow pack there.
Okay so our water will be fine.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

OH I know I have mice, which is why he's there, plus the water.
No getting rid of the mice.
This has to be a HUGE black snake, no chance on him getting eggs. I don't leave them out long enough, and he's no threat to the hens/ THEY"RE enormous.
This thing has to be down a mouse warren.

Huge black snake...I forgot about the time, long ago, a large black snake did get into the old pigeon loft. One morning I saw a dead pigeon on the floor, it's head looked odd, like it was wet. When I looked closer, the neck seemed stretched & the dead pigeon's head, neck right up to where wings began, was...slimed? I was freaked out, what happened, then it hit me, something tried to swallow this bird & suffocated it. Sure enough I searched & found a large snake coiled up napping in a corner. That was my old coop & he slithered right in between the wire pen outside! (This was before I switched to half inch space welded wire). Took that fat thing for a long one-way relocation ride, too. The pigeon he smothered was a sweet special needs boy, a little simple minded but friendly as can be. I was so Ticked Off.

About mice...I had a bad mouse infestation once. As soon as I changed the pens to the 1/2" welded wire, no more mice came in. I caught the rest with the battery traps that zap, & zapped 34 of them. No mice since then. No snakes in the pigeon loft or coop or pens either. That small hole welded wire is great. I realize rodents can gnaw through wood if they really want to get in. I try not to let any feed be available. That works for pigeons as they eat what they need but chickens need to peck all day long. Their feed is in feeders inside the coop. So far, I've been very lucky. Mice or rats are nasty critters. The foxes hunt them & I see them pouncing & catching various mice, moles & voles, so I hope they keep up with rodent patrol. So far so good.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I got the new pea patch tilled and cleaned up ready for planting tomorrow. We weren’t supposed to get rain however it’s been drizzling on and off for the last few hours.

 

[Acre4Me]

If you (or anyone else) didn't know: If it sends up a stalk that curls around at the end in May/June, it's a hardneck variety. Cut the stalk (that sends more energy to the bulb; the stalk is its flower) and eat it! Those are called "scapes," and have a wonderful, mild garlic flavor. I lightly sauté mine in my stir fries. Very tasty!

Very good. Last year we had A LOT! we pickled several jars worth of scapes!

All the roosters in my bachelor pen have bite marks on their combs. Even the one who is separated by fencing from the others. There's some rat feces around the pen too... Wondering if the rats are attacking my roos?

Yes, rats will bite. But I don’t think combs are the usual first place, but no experience with them.

A friend has several animal types in a dirt floor barn and small chickens coop next to the barn, surrounded by farm fields, no neighbors next door. I’m sure there was a normal background population of mice/rats, but nothing obvious. Well, now, it’s really obvious. A couple months ago, the bins that feed was stored in broke, and that gave the rats an enormous food supply for a while until it could be fixed/replaced. Now some of the animals have rat bites, and I think a chicken or two. Not sure. But there are holes all over, with new ones popping up. They are scurrying through the walls too. It didn’t take long for an explosion of rats. They are having an exterminator over soon, but it sounds like a big job- friend mentioned holes throughout garden and yard too - thought they were moles, but without the classic raised dirt tunnels typical of moles, I think they might have a very large population of rats they didn’t realize until they became obvious in the barn (where the feed was stored).