Food for tomorrow!
 

Just got back from the local Tractor Supply farm store. Bought 24 straight run chicks. Got 'em in a cardboard box in the other end of the house. Little guys funny to watch.

Hoping to get at least a 50% females from the batch, some food for sooner, some eggs for later.

A bird in the hand....

Re: Food for tomorrow!
 

makes a mess. Have they been vacinated?

Re: Food for tomorrow!
 

craps on your shoe...

Actually I'm excited for you. I've been wanting to do this for some time but I need consent from 80% of my neighbors within 100feet.

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We did this when I was growing up. I liked it. We had one heck of a time keeping the opossums out. I still remember us trying to catch a rare silver fox that would not stop it's invasions. It would eat through the chicken wire like it was butter.

Re: Food for tomorrow!
 

I like to toss 'em in the fridge for an hour or two...then pop off their little yellow heads and squeeze the cold salty blood down my throat like a fuzzy little yellow juice box!!!......That's refreshment..
OK..just kidding....let 'em grow....
Sorry ...couldn't resist
:no_ma:

Re: Food for tomorrow!
 

Reminds me of one of our best childhood stories:

Same scenario, something kept mauling the chickens, and it looked like whatever it was managed to grab the chickens and pull parts of them through the wire and them proceed to munch on them. Result: Mangled and dying, but not dead chickens.

After losing a few chickens, ducks, and turkeys, we decided to stay up with a shotgun and a light to see if we could figure out what it was. About 2:00 am we witnessed a really large racoon trying to grab the chickens from outside of the pen. We proceeded to try to get in position to shoot the coon, but the coon retreated to a nearby large oak tree. We then shot the raccoon.

My dad then climbed the tree to check out the hollow that the coon had made into a nest. To our surprise we found 4 baby raccoons. This is why she had been trying to get to our chickens, to feed the babies.

We then took the babies, bottle fed them until they were eating solid food and managed to sell them for right at $300. This of course paid in spades for any chickens we lost, and we had a lot of fun raising the baby coons as well.

I will have to tell my baby skunk and momma cat story later :).

Re: Food for tomorrow!
 

ok sir, I am now ready for the cat and skunk story.......

Re: Food for tomorrow!
 

Ok.. Here goes:

This was bout 15 years ago I guess. One of our neighbors came to our house panicked that there was something under her back porch. We went to check it out and managed to scare up a large skunk. As the skunk was trying to relocate, she dropped a very tiny baby skunk, eyes not open, VERY tiny. We didnt touch it hoping the momma skunk would come back and fetch it. She didn't and after a little while we decided that we might be able to help it.

So now we had a very tiny baby skunk with no mother and no clue what to do with it. We called around to several animal control centers and no one wanted to deal with a skunk. We lived close to a state forest and on a whim called the office. They said they couldn't help but they knew JUST the guy that could, an employee of the forestry service they called the "Skunk Man" because he loved them and worked to rehabilitate them.

We call and he rushes to the house, he is very excited but says the skunk is probably too little to save. About that time, he notices we have a momma cat with fairly new kittens. He relays the story that he head that some cats will adopt skunk babies and raise them as their own.

So we gingerly introduce the skunk baby to the momma cat and sure enough she takes the baby and starts to clean and nurse it. We were just amazed.
The skunk guy leaves (in his truck with plush toy skunks in the windows) and promises to check back in a few weeks.

The baby skunk nursed and soon started to play with the other kittens and other than the stripe down it's back, acted mostly like a kitten.

This was all well and good for a bout 4 weeks, skunk was cute and fun to play with. UNTIL the skunk's musk glad kicked in. WOW, that is some kind of smell!
Needless to say, a call the skunk guy was in order. He came out picked up the skunk and took it to his rehabilitation center.

It was the strangest thing seeing that momma cat adopting that skunk.


That was my GOOD skunk encounter story, I have a BAD skunk encounter story too, but I am tired of typing.

Re: Food for tomorrow!
 

Next, you'll need to build a "Chicken Tractor", which is a kind of portable chicken coop you can use to move around and fertilize your garden. Here's a website about them: http://www2.gsu.edu/~biojdsx/fowl/tractor.htm

Several years back we had raised some free-range guinea fowl that kept the bug population down near the house. We had about a dozen that roosted in a big oak tree near the house. At around 2:00 am in the morning we would hear a rucus and go out the next morning to see what happened. There would be a pile of feathers and one less guinea fowl.

We pondered what could get to them about 12 foot up on a tree limb? Skunk? Opossum? Coyote? We had no clue what did it.

After several of them disappeared over a couple of weeks. I set up a flood light system that I could flick on from a switch by the bed. Sure enough, the next night we heard a commotion again. I flicked on the switch and grabbed the shotgun. My wife looked out the window and said, "Oh! Look at that beautiful owl!"

It was definitely majestic, standing over three foot tall on the ground beneath the big oak tree. It spun it's head at us when it heard my wife speak, looking at us with eyes as big as silver dollars. Suddenly it took to flight and we saw one of our guinea fowl in its clutches. My wife then yelled, "Shoot it!" (Notice the sudden shift in demeanor as she recognized this beatiful bird of prey for what it was.) But I didn't. (Killing a bird of prey can get you some time in the pokey!)

The next morning I went to talk with the folks down at the feed store to see what I could do to protect our guinea fowl. They said that there were several things you can do to combat owls. Put wires in the tree, hang strands of metal foil, put Christmas lights in the tree, but by far the most effective technique is the "Triple S Defense". I said what is it and where do I get one? He replied, "It's simple. Shoot. Shovel. Shut up."

Needless to say, we lost all of our guinea fowl that year. I now have about half-a-dozen chicken tractors that protect the chickens from most predators.

Re: Food for tomorrow!
 

Here's a pic of Barn and Gooz. Cock and high hen of my flock.

Re: Food for tomorrow!
 

Funny Skunk Story:

Neighbors dog gets sprayed by skunk.....dog owners (guy and gal) go to local store to buy several boxes of female hygine products to wash dog...heard that it works really well......gal is up at check out and says to her husband...quite loudly in front of clerk...."I sure hope this gets the skunk smell out!"

I guess the clerk about crapped his pants...when the husband explained what she really was talking about....

Re: Food for tomorrow!
 

Speaking of chicken tractors. Here's a shot of mine. :bull-buddy-icon:

Re: Food for tomorrow!
 

I will need a more or less permanent coop of sorts, as the weather here can be brutal in the winter. With 24 chicks this year, I may have to build a couple chicken tractors for the summer. Probably wouldn't hurt to separate the males from the females as soon as they get old enough to tell which is what. I have the idea even 12 to one tractor will be plenty. Over crowding chickens and mixing in too many roosters don't work so good. I had 2 roosters with one small flock one time and they fought all the time. While we may keep one the rest will go in the freezer by fall.

My daughter-in-law wants to let them range, but I think it's out of the question with the wildlife we have around here. Coyotes and foxes even steal the strawberries. Raccoons and opossums attack the gardens. Hawks and owls in the tall trees out back. At least we've no known problem with large snakes.

Re: Food for tomorrow!
 

Great stories and pictures, everyone. Thanks for sharing. :wavey:

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Good luck getting any hens in the st. runs.

My experience has been maybe 1 in 5 or 6.

I guess it doesn't matter, I've never been able to raise a chick anyway, something always gets them. When I was free ranging, I had a hawk catch a full grown Leghorn rooster.

Re: Food for tomorrow!
 

Peeps are cool....

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Contrary too popular beliefs, eggs are the oldest currency ....

Re: Food for tomorrow!
 

Similar story here. I free range ours, we just let them go in the house at night and we lock em up. In the morning we let them out. Most of the critters you mentioned are nocturnal. Except for the hawks. I've lost a few to hawks. But you got to accept that if you free range you WILL lose birds. Set a "live" trap for the coons and possums. I did, first month I caught 11 coons, 2 possums, 1 fox, and 2 feral cats. Oh yeah, and 2 skunks. I'll never forget that!!!

All that said, I set the trap about 3 nights a month and don't catch anything now.

Right now only hawks are my problem.

SJ

Re: Food for tomorrow!
 

Jeep, I go by the user name of Wild Trapper on some other forums, so thanks for the info on animal damage control. I've a few live traps myself. As for skunks! I've caught a few in my legholds back in the days I trapped for fur, but also in a live trap. What I've heard works in live traps, is to cover the trap with something to calm the skunk down before removal, then just pick up the trap and walk away with it skunk and all. I did that and when I got well away from the house, I simply set it down and gently rolled the trap to release the door and let the skunk run free. With chickens around, I may carry along a scatter gun to handle the released nuisance.

OK BS-guy, eggs as money. I'll have to tell that one to my wife. An old retired preacher at church told how he remembered way back when he was a young preacher one Sunday receiving 14 dozen eggs in the offering. He said, "There is only just so many ways you can use eggs." I think he said they even ended up selling a few eggs to 'trade for cash.'

My wife came home last night and told me of a breed of chickens someone at work had said were better than the average. She had me look them up online and order some of those. Don't know what I'll do with all the eggs if all these chicks end up being hens. I wonder if the preacher likes eggs? :D

Re: Food for tomorrow!
 

I used to get skunks in the Havahart sometimes.
That's why God made little brothers:shocked_ma:.

Used to wrap him all up in raincoats and give him an umbrella and make him go let the skunk outta the trap.
Never has forgiven me.:D

Re: Food for tomorrow!
 

We have lots of hawks around here

So I worry bout them getting our chickens we are keeping them in the garage till they are grown

And we are getting the the large chicken breeds, maybe they will be too big for the hawks

Jersey Giants

http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/poultry/...iant/BLKJG.jpg

Re: Food for tomorrow!
 

I catch a lot of skunks in a live trap. I've never had a problem (Knock on wood!), I just pick them up and stay calm around them.

They usually want to keep their eye on you, which keeps the business end pointed the other direction. They give ample warning before they spray, raising their tail to let you know they mean business. The only ones that have even bothered with that were young ones.