Recent content by birdlady11

Flood lights have never helped keep bears away from our place (central Florida). They totally ignore them. They also learn to ignore loud music if they don't see human activity with the music. After having battled some bears who were determined to dig or rip their way into my chicken coop, I...

It sounds like your chickens have a life that most chickens in my neighborhood would bribe the armadillos to dig them out so they could escape their life and come join your flock! I started out buying several different purebreds almost 35 years ago. But I quickly started hatching my own new...

Only one of my chickens, Trumpet, does that. If I'm in the coop and she thinks I'm doing something with treat food and she wants my attention she gives me a really hard peck to my calf (I'm usually in shorts since I'm in Florida). It hurts like heck but it certainly gets my attention. I can...

This chicken looks exactly like my Wacky Whitey with huge comb and wattles. She had a comb which drooped to the right side and her sister's comb drooped to the left so of course we called her Left, but I digress. I don't see male saddle feathers at all (see eggsighted4life's excellent photos...

I've seen pigs catch, kill, and eat any chickens who jumped into the pig pen, especially since the pen was of a small enough size that the pigs could chase the chickens around easily until caught and killed. Loose in a yard together it is less likely the pigs could chase down the chickens...

At this point I'm sure he doesn't want to be stuck in your pool any more than you want him there. Being unable to escape your pool on its own, it would be nothing but cruel to "shock" the pool with a heavy dose of chlorine or any other chemical. Dumping chlorine in the water burn the mucous...

If you want action you need to get the public interested in your story your plight. The best way to do that is to contact all your local news organizations. It's a great human/animal interest story and TV stations will love filming a gator who has taken up residence in your pool. Add to the...

As a wildlife rehabber and a chicken mom when I need something that is bird-safe I used 8-in-1 mite and lice spray for birds. It is meant to be sprayed directly on birds to kill those particular pests. It is also perfect for any wasps nest I find in the wrong place. A couple of good pumps and...

I have ramps that lead to my nest boxes. I covered the top surface of the ramps with the kind of rubber mats that your would use at your front door to wipe your shoes on. As my girls walk up the ramp their feet get cleaned by the little bumps on the mat. It works great and its easy to hose...

After decades being a wildlife rehabber and having to keep babies of all species warm, I have found two things that work the best: a human heating pad and a reptile heat pad (NOT heat rock). Each has both pros and cons and you have to decides which works best for the situation. Both are used...

I think I would shoot for making ventilation "windows" near the top of your coop rather than trying to figure out how to rig your door to be safe when open at night. Heat in the coop rises to the highest point so by putting in several openings high up on the walls as close to the roof as...

I have only one comment and it concerns your meat hen. I started out with 2 purebred Partridge Rocks decades ago. I THOUGHT I would use their young for my freezer. That of course never happened. One ended up being an good mother ("Brown Mom". Yes, I know - not very original). She took a...

Everybody gets a name but it's all about the individual personalities..... El Chopo because she is always escaping her pen (I think she's pays the armadillos and gopher tortoises to dig her out) Bag Lady because she'll leap up and rip the bottom out of any bag you're carrying in the hopes that...

I'm sorry to hear you lost two little ones. It's heartbreaking when something like this happens and we wish we'd listened to that little voice in our heads. You cannot beat yourself up; you can only live and learn. I have always separated my hens to an adjoining run separated by hardware...

I always have a problem with snakes (rat snakes mainly) eating my eggs. I solved the problem by collecting eggs a few times a day and never letting the eggs sit in the boxes overnight as rat snakes will visit both day and night. I had one uniquely marked rat snake (a six footer) who learned to...