Raccoon Problems

This post has information about how to trap and dispatch predators on your homestead. If you think all creatures can live in harmony, you should probably skip this one.

Everything is not perfect on any homestead. I found that out the hard way one night when a family of raccoon's decided they liked the taste of duck. I set out a trap and got one the first night. While they are cute, they are not to be taken lightly when you have poultry on your homestead. After I dispatched the first one, I had no other attacks for months. I got complacent and stopped locking the chicken coop door at night. Bad idea. I lost three chickens in one night. 

After that we started locking the door and letting them out in the morning. We forgot to lock the coop up one night and lost four more chickens for a total of seven dead. I constantly have the trap out and baited but these raccoon's are smart, I think they have been trapped before and let go. Please never do this. Once a raccoon learns what a trap is they will avoid them in the future.

 

It is illegal to trap and relocate raccoon's in the state of Ohio and many other states. If you want to keep poultry and you don't want to kill raccoon's and other threats to your flock, you have a problem. If you call animal control, they will come out and take them away to kill. And guess what, you get the bill. I know the price of .22 LR has gone up, but one round is much cheaper than a bill from animal control.
 
If you find yourself in a situation where the racoon you are trying to trap is avoiding your trap, try to camouflage your trap with just the front open. I am assuming you are using a Havahart trap or something similar. You can cover the trap with a cardboard box and cover that with leaves leaving only the entrance open. Use marshmallows as bait. This will stop you from catching cats with other baits like tuna or meat.

When you are faced with dispatching the animal you trap, you can read about many methods on the best way to do it. I researched them and came back to my initial thought, a single round of .22 LR. The animal is caged and it is easy to get a clean kill with one shot. Other methods are much worse. Some people throw the cage in water and drown the animal, I find this horribly cruel. Some people use car exhaust, basically suffocating the animal. This is unnecessarily cruel. One bullet is the fastest and most effective method in my opinion.

While we are on the topic of dispatching unwanted pests. Some people put out anti-freeze for cats and other unwanted animals to drink. Anti-freeze is sweet and animals will drink it thinking it is food. The main ingredient is ethylene glycol which is naturally sweet. The death these animals face is unbelievably horrible. The people who do this are some of the worse people. Please never do this.You can avoid accidental exposure by making sure the anti-freeze you buy has been treated with denatonium benzoate, a bittering agent added to make it unpalatable. Not all states require it to be added and most repair shops use professional grade coolant which is exempt. Please ask the question when buying anti-freeze or having your car serviced.

And We Are Back

Okay I know, it's been a year. I fell off of the blogging wagon. To be honest, I fell asleep at the reins, fell off and was run over but, I am back and ready to talk homesteading. This will be a quick catch up from our last adventures back in February. A lot has happened and changed in that time.

We were getting over a dozen eggs a day starting in the spring. We had so many we could not hope to eat them all so Dara started selling them at work. This was offsetting the feed cost for the most part, when Dara wasn't spending the egg money on snacks and coffee at work.

One of our chickens developed a limp and the other chickens started picking on her to the point that we had to separate her from the rest. Chickens can be real cloaca-holes. She was put up in her very own condo with her own food and water for about a week and half. She started walking fine again and was reintroduced to the flock with no further problems.

In other news, we have a duck that thinks she is a chicken and took over a nesting box in the chicken coop. Muscovy's are great mothers and when they go broody there is almost no stopping them from sitting eggs. The chickens didn't seem to mind and this was a good spot to get fresh duck eggs until I let her raise up some ducklings.

Here is the proud mama with her newly hatched ducklings. All total our two mature females raised up 18 ducks this year. They would have hatched more if I let them.We are down to 5 ducks now and a full freezer. More on that in the future.

Muscovy's love to play around in the water. When you have 20 + ducks on your property, you have to change this water everyday. The hardest part is making sure our border collie is no where around when I turn the hose on. He loves water in any form.

I put in a couple duck ponds around the yard. The only problem with a set up like this is changing the water every other day. If you have some elevated land and plumb the bottom of the pond with a drain hose, this would work very nice. I don't have any where to do that so I only dumped and filled this pond for a couple months. The baby ducks loved it.

I Know

I Am

Forgetting

Something...

So Many

Things Have

Happened

In The Last

12 Months...

Oh yeah, we got married in the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. We needed witnesses so we each invited our only siblings to bear witness. It was a great day and beautiful scenery. We both love the gorge, so it was an easy decision to get married in the wilderness. We are standing next to a 100 ft cliff, you know, just in case she got cold feet. 

We got another puppy. His name is Darwin and we thought we were getting a catahoula cattle dog crossed with a shepherd. At least that's what the pound said he was. Turns out he is a great dane mix and is over 100 lbs at 13 months now. He is a gentle giant and we love him.

Higgs caught the bouquet and promptly ate part of it. I want to thank Aaron, Dara's brother and Sharon, my sister for being our witnesses and dog handlers. 

Something

Else

Happened

Recently...

Let's see

Ducks

Puppy

Marriage

What am I missing?...

Oh yeah, so we had a baby. His name is Oliver and he was born in September. I was lucky enough to deliver him, cut the cord and gave him his first bath. In fact, he never left our sight the whole time. We were not paranoid about something happening to him, well maybe a little, but it just felt like the right thing to do was to always be there for him. "They" say children change you and you can't know how much until you have one, "they" are right.

This is Oliver's second trip to the gorge, his first post uterus. The Ergobaby carrier is awesome. We are on top of natural bridge. Oliver did just fine being hiked all over the place.

We are looking forward to being the best parents we can be. Ours lives are changing more than just adding a baby. I am leaving my cubicle jungle to stay home and take care of Oliver. The thought of strangers raising our baby at a daycare didn't sit well with us. It will be hard with the drop in income, but I know we will pull through. He is totally worth it. 

More regular posts to come soon...

Barley Fodder System

Who doesn't like to see some greenery in the middle of winter? I know I do and so do my chickens. I started a very simple barley fodder system in our spare bathroom. All you need is some small art bins from your local big box store, water and barley seed.

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is the hardest thing to find, but if you go to any feed store you will be able to pick up a 50 pound bag pretty cheap. Do not go to your local home-brew store and pick up roasted barley. Roasted barley has already been sprouted and will not work for a fodder system. If you have already made this mistake, make beer with it.

The bin on the left has about a cup and a half of barley seed and a couple inches of water. That is day one. All of the other bins should have holes, smaller than a barley seed, drilled in the bottom. After the first 24 hours, you do not want the barley to be sitting in water. Just make sure you have enough holes drilled to drain the bin. Mine take about a minute to drain.

After 24 hours of soaking your seed, you will want to transfer them to one of the bins with holes in the bottom. Once you do this, put new seed in the soak bin. This is day three. You can see tiny sprouts coming out of the barley seeds. 

You repeat this process everyday. I like to do it in the morning, which is the same time I harvest the end product for the chickens. I have a 9 day system going. The first day is the soak, then each successive day the sprouts get larger until they are big enough to harvest.

These are day 6 and 7. You have to soak every bin twice a day. Since I am doing this in my spare bathtub, sometimes I just plug the drain and fill the tub up a couple inches and let them soak for 5 minutes. Or you can just pour water in each bin. It is very important to do this twice a day, once in the morning and once at night.

Here is day 8 an 9. Once you get to this point, you can feed this to your chickens. If you want it to get a little bigger you can pull out the whole sprout mat and just lay it across your bins. You can water it when you soak the bins and it will continue to grow for days if you want.

Once you take it out of the bin, it holds together on its own. You can see how easy it would be to continue letting this grow outside of the bin. I will mention that I am growing this system in our spare bathroom that stays very warm with the door closed. It is about 70 degrees in this room during the winter with the door closed. Having temps above 70 degrees will help with germination and growing. You do not need light though. This bathroom gets almost no sunlight. Most seeds have enough reserves to grow for awhile without sunlight. Barley will do just find growing with no light for two weeks.

Our chickens love the barley grass. The ducks are not so impressed, but they will peck at it. If you are growing this for Muscovy ducks, be warned, they may not touch it. Chickens on the other hand will fight over this green treat in the middle of a gray winter.

Chicken Tractor's Final Move

As I alluded to in a previous post, the chicken tractor I built became a burden to move. I decided to park it and let it become a stationary chicken coop. I have three main reasons for this decision. The first being its weight and how hard it is to move. The second reason is shade. When I moved the coop in tractor mode, it would sit out in the blazing sun all day. The chickens would try to stay in the limited shadow the coop cast in the run. I decided to park it under one of my oak trees where it will get shade in the summer and sun in the winter. The final reason I parked it is pretty shitty. I will explain in a moment.

I had to make sure the foundation was solid. I decided to lay a bunch of 8" x 16" patio stones instead of pouring concrete, just in case I ever need to move it. The good thing about concrete is it levels itself passively with gravity. It took me a long time to level all of these stones. I used a flat shovel, a 4 ft level, a tape measure and some gin and juice. Eventually everything lined up. Note the position of the chicken tractor.

I started to arc the tractor towards its final resting spot two weeks before I put the stones down. Every two days I would move the tractor a little closer. Once I got it to this spot, the next move was its last. One of the reasons I choose this spot is it has electric at the light pole. I don't plan on using heat lamps, but you never know when you will want power for something. 

Back to the shitty reason to park the chicken tractor. When the tractor is moved, all the chicken shit is spread over the whole yard. When it is parked, you can do what is called the "deep litter" method. The principle is the same as composting your kitchen scraps. You just need to get your carbon (straw / leaves) to nitrogen (chicken shit) ratio right. The chickens will constantly scratch the straw and deposit nitrogen, efficiently turning your compost for you. It is amazing how fast a bale of straw turns into dark nutrient rich compost. I throw a lot of kitchen scraps and yard waste in as well. You can harvest this compost 3-4 times a year. I plan on letting it build up until the end of fall. I will harvest the compost and let it age on the garden beds over the winter. This will ensure the compost is not to "hot" with nitrogen when I plant in the spring.

Here is the final product, painted yellow of course to match the house, garage and dog house. The egg collection door is about 25 ft from the back door of the house. It is easy and convenient to collect the eggs everyday. We let the chickens out when we get home from work and on the weekends. Otherwise they are busy turning straw to compost. 

Supervised Free Range Chickens

After talking to some knowledgeable friends, I have decided to try letting the girls out on supervised free range expeditions. I hope this cuts down on my feed bill. Even if it doesn't, I bet the chickens will be happier and healthier.

Let me tell you, they love it! At first they just milled about the coop entrance, but as soon as the first adventurous hen decided to to try out her wings, they were all over the yard in minutes. When it was time to go up for the night 14 of 16 went straight to the coop and put themselves up. We only had to corral 2 of them. They probably would have figured it out eventually.

I am a little worried about the dog chasing them and some of them flying over the 4 foot fence. I had the puppy on the tie out for this trial run. They came right up to him and he just looked at them. But, when they run from him, his instincts to herd take over and he chases. It may be a while before I trust him around them off the tie out.

Our whole back yard is fenced with two large oaks and a few evergreens to give them shade and hiding spots. My other concern is hawks. I will only let them out when I can be in the back yard to watch over them. Supposedly the peahen is a good guardian. If she see hawks she will fluff up her feathers and dance around to ward them away. I have not witnessed this behavior yet, lets hope it is true.

 

EGGS!

Finally! We now have eggs! Only two of our hens are laying so far. None of the Araucana's are laying yet, we are just getting brown eggs so far. Can't wait to get some blue / green eggs!

How much do you pay for local farm fresh eggs? I paid about $800 for these two. Once the flock really starts laying, they will eventually recoup their cost and make us a profit. We already have a bunch of co-workers who are interested in buying eggs from us. Do you keep chickens? How much did your first egg cost you?

Getting Ready For Eggs!

Dara and Higgs are putting fake ceramic eggs in the nest boxes. The chickens will see these and know where to lay the real eggs.

These fake eggs look very real. Every time I open the nest boxes, I get excited until I realize these eggs are ceramic.

Some people use golf balls or plastic Easter eggs. I saw these ceramic eggs at the local Ag store and couldn't resist. If you have chickens, what do you use? How long after your chickens started laying did you leave the fake eggs in? Leave a comment and let me know.

Chicken Update

The chickens are pretty much full grown now. They are all healthy, happy ladies.

For some reason they always peck at my water boots when I go in the chicken tractor. Speaking of which, it is taking me much longer than I thought to write my blog post on building the chicken tractor. Look for it soon.

They don't seem to mind the puppy. He is more interested in eating their poop when I move the tractor than the birds.

The chickens love the dust bath I made for them. I have to keep filling it back up because they throw out the sand and peat every time they go in it.

Here is a sneak peek of the chicken tractor. I have a very detailed post coming soon on how you build one and how I really messed up!

Red Light District

There is an eerie glow in our backyard these days. It's like a chicken aquarium!

I didn't properly ween the chicks off of the heat lamp. Any night that goes below 50 degrees I have been turning the light on. I know it is probably not needed, but I guess I would rather be safe than sorry. These birds are probably the most coddled birds in Warren county. 

Has anyone had an issue with their chickens being afraid of the ramp out of the coop? Only about half of our chickens will skittishly flop down the ramp, the other half will just stair down it and not leave the coop. The chickens that do leave the coop, never go back up the ramp. Any suggestions? I am going to change my ramp design and see if they like a longer, wider ramp.

Homestead Update

We have a lot going on around the homestead. I always seem to have multiple projects going on at the same time. But, I have one project that needs to be done last week.

This is a teaser on my chicken tractor / tank. A full post will come later. It is turning out really nice. Just not fast enough.

These gals are the reason I need that chicken tractor done now. They are totally ready to get out of this brooder. They jump out all the time and run around the spare bedroom. Just a heads up, if you read that brooding chickens in the house is a bad idea because of the dust they produce, listen carefully to that sage advice. I swear there is a 1/16 of an inch of dust on everything!

The garlic is doing great. These are the soft neck varieties. I am never buying garlic from the store again.

These are the hard neck varieties. Once I harvest them I plan on building a raised berry circle in this spot. But that will have to wait until I harvest these, look for the berry post later in the year. 

Chicks Love The Worm

Dara and I have been pulling worms out of the worm bin to feed the chickens. While the chickens love them, I realize I am shooting myself in the foot, since I am trying to split my worm colony.

I went out to the compost pile yesterday and put a spade shovel in the ground around it. With one shovel of soil, I pulled out about two dozen earthworms. Here is a video of the chicks running around trying to eat their worm before another chicken steals it. Chicken pinball!

Here is a video of the chicks letting Dara pet them, mostly because I think they are looking for more worms. Either way, they are becoming more accustomed to being handled. Hopefully when they are adults, they will be friendly to humans. 

Bedroom Full Of Chicks

That's right, I have 10 girls eating out of my hand in the bedroom! These chicks have a ton of energy and don't mind sharing the same bed.

They are also a pretty cheap date. A little apple cider vinegar, garlic, water, a handful of grain and they are all yours.

Meet my harem. I brought home 10 chicks last night (Edit: I brought 6 more chicks home three days later), so with Dara and Guen that brings my harem of chicks to 18. I have:

8 - Araucanas
2 - Rhode Island Reds 
2 - Black Sex Links
2 - Silver Laced Wyandottes
2 - Isa Browns
1 - Dara
1 - Guen


In my zeal to finally get some chickens, I bought two of everything they had in the store. I want more Araucanas, and will pick up 6 more this week (done). I had never heard of Isa Browns. I bought them before I researched them. It turns out they are a Trademarked breed bred for high egg production. They stop laying quality eggs after 2 years. I have them now, and they are very cute, so I will keep them until they stop laying well.

Here is their luxury apartment. It is a 100 gallon galvanized stock tank. Add a heat lamp, bedding, water and feed and you get a chicken condo. I can't stop watching them, people warned me about this but I didn't know what they were talking about until now. 

I told Dara last night, "we haven't even had them for 24 hours, and I can't imagine not having chickens now".

Everyone should get chickens! And here is cute proof, Dara went camera happy last night.

Eat local when you can

We found a local producer of chickens, eggs, turkeys and pigs. This is a small family operation that started this past year. It is important to us to eat locally when we can and support small family farms in the process. The following pics are from Full of Graze Farm. Here are the links to their web presence. If you are local to my area you should consider contacting them.

http://fullofgraze.blogspot.com/

http://www.localharvest.org/full-of-graze-farm-M49229

These are the "meat" birds. They have access to clean water, NON-GMO feed and all the grass and bugs they can find. The chickens are put in this enclosure at night and sealed in to protect them from predators. We have been receiving two birds a month since July.

These are the laying hens. There is one roster and at least 40 hens, probably more, I can't remember. The hens have the same feed and clean water as the other birds. They also have access to pasture and bugs. I can't remember all the breeds but I believe there are some Rhode Island Reds in this picture.

Here are the nest boxes in the chicken tractor. Typically you can expect one egg a day from most of the hens. This number drops off a bit in the winter. Sean, the owner of the farm, has put golf balls in the nest boxes to encourage them to lay. 

Here are both of the chicken tractors. They are surrounded by electric fences powered by batteries. This keeps the chickens contained to an area for a week or so then they can be moved to new pasture. More importantly the fences keep predators out. The main predator problem on the farm this year has been birds of prey taking chickens. 

Here is one of the pigs, early in the season, out in the pasture. They also are enclosed by an electric fence. Sean feeds them NON-GMO feed. They can also forage on pasture which can be moved by changing the position of the electric fence. The plan for next year is to let them have access to the some of the forest, woodlot pork. 

The water come from a well that is pumped up hill and then gravity fed to the animals. I believe the hog chilling in the mud is the heritage breed Sean plans to have bred in the future. Your always going to have a farm smell when you have animals, but I found the pig enclosure to have a mild smell. Something you get use to in a couple minutes.

The hogs enjoying a line of feed. Sean and his family put on a pig roast for customers in September. It was a great time and we got to meet like minded people in our area. We really need more businesses who care about the most important part of a business model, the customer. More people starting small farms around the country will ensure our children will have food security in their life. We can't rely on pork being shipped in from China or tomatoes in January from South America. Food security is simple, start a garden, get some laying hens, breed some meat rabbits or support local people who can supply you with healthy local food. Quality, local, well managed food is on the top of our list of necessary ingredients to having a healthy, happy life. Thanks again Sean and family for taking on such an important endeavor.

And here is the final product. Delicious, healthy, sustainable raised food. The pork is fantastic, the chickens and eggs taste great and I can't wait until we get our two turkeys around Thanksgiving. 

If you are not in my area please do some research and find a local farmer that raises healthy sustainable food. Remember you are what you eat, seriously. Another great place in my area to find pastured food is Red Sun Farm in Loveland, OH.

http://www.redsunfarm.com/

If you want some great Texas Longhorn grass-fed beef in my area please give Merrell's Texas Longhorns a try. You can find his information as well as a country wide network of farms doing it right at EatWild.com

http://www.eatwild.com/products/index.html

I hope you will think about where your food comes from and what you are really feeding your family when you consider buying that factory raised beef or chicken on sale. Please do your own research and make informed decisions. 

P.S. ........mmmmmmm, bacon.