Second day of cat chasing. This time it was the big tomcat that we’re trying to get to adopt us. The roosters chased him off once and would have done it again if I hadn’t chased the boys off.
I repeat yesterday’s comment: roosters are assholes.
Category Archives: Animals
Was it Electra?
Thinking back to the rooster/car incident, I’m thinking that it might have been Electra that they chased off, one of the ferals we released. I hope that wasn’t the case.
It’s hard to tell if it was as there is another female cat around with slightly darker markings, but about the same size.
When brothers work together, they can be real assholes.
I was playing on the floor with Little Miss when I heard the chickens making noise outside. Luckily her big brother is taking a nap, so I scoop the little lady up and put her in her downstairs crib.
I rushed outside thinking there was a fox attacking. Gucy, the eldest of our two roosters, was by the back brush line by the barn, making a racket. I went over there only to see a small female cat cowering in the bushes. I tried to chase the chickens off, but the rooster followed the cat, chasing her from one hiding spot to another.
Once Amp, our younger rooster, realized I was outside, he took off after the cat too, assuming that I would keep tabs on the hens. So I end up having to chase the two boys and threw them away from the front brush line so the poor feline could escape. Took three attempts before the two roosters would actually go back to the flock.
They work well together, which is great! Yet those two can really be assholes.
(Gucy is on the left, Amp on the right.)
Hatch Number 1 Complete!
We are so excited here on our little homestead! Or should I say eggscited? ;-) Our first hatch – the one that started before our rooster, Gimp, was snagged by a predator – has gone really well. Out of the seven eggs that we placed in, one wasn’t viable and we removed it at day 10. Another was a very late death, around day 14 – 17. The other five were very fertile and are now VERY active little balls of fluff.
Babies 1 and 2 snuggling.
Baby number 3, our 1/4 Leghorn, 1/3 Araucana, 1/2 Rhode Island Red mix.
Little number 4 is a crazy bugger. He was hopping around like mad and kept bouncing around into the last two eggs.
Number 5 was the last, and smallest, to hatch. She was helped a lot by number 4, who kept rolling her egg and climbing on it.
All 5 of Gimp’s off spring!
Progress on the coyote front
Good news: shooting the coyote is now a back-up plan.
We found Animal Damage Control Agent Heath, a local from the area, to help us with our problems. We were able to pick his brain on a few things about the coyote, who we feel is most likely a bitch with a litter of pups, and have a solid plan for trying to keep her at bay until they move on to their winter den.
Agent Heath suggested using “human smells:” perfumes, soaps, cleaning chemicals like ammonia and bleach…things that the coyote would normally associate with people. We’re going to try picking up from dryer sheets – something we haven’t bought in nearly 6 years now – and see how that works. We’ll be able to tie them throughout the perimeter of the property, making a stinky boundary line. Based on his suggestions, we’re also going to try a movable scare-crow dosed in some sort of deodorant spray or some such.
As an absolute last ditch scenario, if the coyote starts coming out when it shouldn’t and proves dangerous, Agent Heath will come in and hunt it. He doesn’t believe in using foot traps in the area that we’re in for the same reasons we don’t want to use them: too many domestics, other wildlife, and children in the area. He also said that a live trap, while it can work in some cases, will probably not prove to be efficient.
This makes us feel so much more at ease. We have someone to work with who believes in putting animals first and doing everything necessary before removing them from the area. As much of a pain as it has been losing chickens, and it really hurt losing Edith, we know that we need to find some balance with the predators that are out there. This is part of finding that balance.
