Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[bigzio]

I was lucky enough to save my hens from a red fox yesterday afternoon around 5pm. Heard the commotion and screamed hey, hey, hey, at the fox about 30 yards away. Feathers everywhere, but my large hens were more than a mouthful for the fox. I'm sure if I wasn't around, he would have kept trying until he had a meal for the pups. The flock was a tight group the rest of the day until lockup.

Stay Safe ...bigz

 

[TOR]

I think that you hit the nail on the head.
Guinea fowl looks exactly like the feathers. I'll have to check with a neighbor up the road and see if they have any or lost any.
It's beyond amazing why they don't eat my chickens. I let them all out in the yard everyday and the den is easily within 50 yd. And they have been there for at least a year that I know of.
However, they are locked up tight as a drum for the night.

Well hopefully the fox will keep thier food supply some place else. maybe better the fox just eats Guinea fowl, maybe they taste better than chicken?

 

[Debbie292d]

Maybe you have the problem cured and maybe not.
Feathers won't grow back until the next molt ... if the problem gets worse then it's not solved .... If it doesn't get worse, then you might be ok.
In regards to feather loss. If a rooster creates a bare back, they won't regrow until the next molt ... same with other mite problems too.
I always, and this is my method for avoiding mites of all kinds 100% of the time..... A small amount of 5% sevin dust in their dusting places eliminates them all .... It must be 5% sevin and don't overdo it ...like salt on your food!
It used to be recommended for this use, however nowadays with all the tree huggers it's an off label use. Sad part is, it actually works, and the chicken suffer now because of the correct folks in control now. They think DE is a cure all ... wrong!

Stay Safe, ... bigz

We've used Food Grade DE for over 20 years in our macaw parrot cages to keep fruit flies and pantry moths gone.

Then, when we got ants, around the house and no more ants.

It's not a cure-all for sure, but since we got chickens were advised to use it in our coop and dust baths as a prevention, so we did. 8 years of no mites other than the SLM three times now. (Vaseline 2X and Ivermectin the 3rd time).

It's purely a prevention and we manage to keep our coop mite and lice free even though they free-range with the squirrels, chipmunks, and wild birds. It's asking for trouble, yup. But they're happy.

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

Finally we got some apples starting on our tree. But they are quickly dying along with the leaves. The rain started a fungus. So no apples again this year...

 

[Debbie292d]

Finally we got some apples starting on our tree. But they are quickly dying along with the leaves. The rain started a fungus. So no apples again this year...

Wouldn't spraying something on those help?

I've already sprayed neem oil (a few tblsp neem oil, a few drops of Dawn, the rest water) on all of our trees in hopes to beat the Japanese beetles as we've not seen one yet. We have two small apple trees that seem okay.

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

Wouldn't spraying something on those help?

I've already sprayed neem oil (a few tblsp neem oil, a few drops of Dawn, the rest water) on all of our trees in hopes to beat the Japanese beetles as we've not seen one yet. We have two small apple trees that seem okay.

Im spraying some things on it
Plain dawn dish soap and water has always helped our grape vines through the japenese beetles.

Ill look into neem oil.

 

[Debbie292d]

Im spraying some things on it
Plain dawn dish soap and water has always helped our grape vines through the japenese beetles.

Ill look into neem oil.

If I recall, putting a little neem oil in there helps to keep the dawn on the leaves longer, smothers anything on the leaves, but doesn't hurt the leaves. I sprayed my rose bushes too.

Those beetles never went for our grapes much, but they really liked one particular young birch tree and the raspberries the most. They pretty much were everywhere though.

We bought 3 traps this year and I grew 4 o'clock flowers from seed. We're experimenting. We'll have a Japanese beetle welcome station on the edge of three sides of our property.

 

[EagleEyes]

That seems like a good spray to have around, thanks for the heads up.
I do know that a couple years ago when i had beans in the field behind me there were a lot more beatles.