New England 2024 Warm Season Banter

[HIPPYVALLEY]

14 minutes ago, DavisStraight said:

Isn't wolf and brown spider the same? We always called them brown but to me they look the same.

Yeah, maybe?  I just always knew them as Wolf.   Doesn't matter as long as they stay outside. 

[amarshall]

from Facebook. winters of yore. 

[cleetussnow]

What do you all make of this? 

[kdxken]

4 minutes ago, cleetussnow said:

What do you all make of this? 

Wow that's pretty cool! It looks like a bobcat by the size but the tail is definitely not a bobcat.

[kdxken]

Hard to distinguish the size without a better frame of reference. Likely a house cat.

[cleetussnow]

7 minutes ago, kdxken said:

Hard to distinguish the size without a better frame of reference. Likely a house cat.

We are trying to do some science to establish size.  I know the property pretty well since I grew up on it.  I’m about 50/50 either way and thats pretty much consensus. More later.

[powderfreak]

36 minutes ago, kdxken said:

Hard to distinguish the size without a better frame of reference. Likely a house cat.

Yeah that tail looks like a house cat.  Hard to figure out what else it could be in that region.

[cleetussnow]

Check out what google lens thinks it is

[DavisStraight]

1 hour ago, kdxken said:

Hard to distinguish the size without a better frame of reference. Likely a house cat.

At first, I thought mountain lion but after a closer look, looks like a big house cat.

[cleetussnow]

12 hours ago, powderfreak said:

Yeah that tail looks like a house cat.  Hard to figure out what else it could be in that region.

BTW this is not in downstate NY in my sig, this is western upstate NY.  Moose and bears have been spotted in that yard so its kinda wild.  

[tamarack]

AFAIK, there's no hard evidence of a breeding population of mountain lions in NY/New England, but the road-killed animal in CT years ago was traced (by DNA) to west of the Mississippi.  The one confirmed (by hair DNA) mountain lion in Maine since I moved here 51 years ago was in Cape Elizabeth, perhaps the least wild community in the state.  Obviously a released pet; maybe its owner got tired of buying $100+ in meat every week.

Mountain lions are very reclusive, but there are enough hunters, hikers, foresters and game cams out there that a breeding population would likely be revealed, by sighting or by the species' characteristic treatment of deer kills.  (Or by the CT "method".)

[tunafish]

@dendrite

Lost 2 hens this summer (1 tumor, 1 internal issue unknown), got 1 left.  Noticed some black spots on her comb today, and some discoloration of her beak.  Also laid a shell-less egg.  Otherwise behaving normal.

What's your best guess - stress from being solo for a month or avian flu are my goalposts.  No idea.

[dendrite]

How old is she?

The beak looks like NBD to me. The little spot on the comb looks minor too. Her comb and wattles are vibrant so she looks okay to me.

I have some molting already so it's possible she's starting to hormonally shift into the molt phase and stopping egg production. But if she's your only one left then yeah, she's probably pretty lonely unless she was a loner to begin with.

How do you know one had a tumor? Necropsy?

A lot (not all) of my egg laying/reproductive issues diminished after switching to soy free feed. I do corn free now as well and supplement with a lot of mealworms, sunflower chips, and sardines, but yeah...$$$.

[tunafish]

Shes 3 and has always kinda been a loner.  She laid almost daily from Feb-Jul, then probably every 3-4 days since.

Other one had a lump, swelling, and didn't lay eggs.  Lost about a third of her body weight in a month.   No post-mortem to confirm.  Gotta check the feed, buy it's good quality I believe.  I'll up the mealworm intake (shell be stoked).  Always thought it was a treat, like scratch, not to overdo.

[tunafish]

We're making a French drain near the coop, it's possible she's scraping her comb accidentally on the rocks and now scabbing?  

There's been a neighborhood cat checking her out lately, too.  Maybe some added stress.

We have 3 other hens (born this spring) joining her in 2 weeks, from family in your neck of the woods, actually. I don't recall the breed.

She was never the top hen, generally keeps to herself, so hoping they adjust nicely.  

[dendrite]

4 minutes ago, tunafish said:

Shes 3 and has always kinda been a loner.  She laid almost daily from Feb-Jul, then probably every 3-4 days since.

Other one had a lump, swelling, and didn't lay eggs.  Lost about a third of her body weight in a month.   No post-mortem to confirm.  Gotta check the feed, buy it's good quality I believe.  I'll up the mealworm intake (shell be stoked).  Always thought it was a treat, like scratch, not to overdo.

I've always considered that fearmongering that started from feed companies. There's this myth that too much protein will make them fat or if you don't use layer feed they'll struggle to produce shells from lack of calcium. I think a lot of it is hogwash. Protein doesn't make any animal fat...it helps build muscle/strength. Let them free range 100% of the time and all they will eat is bugs/worms and vegetation. Soy is an incomplete protein and can disrupt hormones and corn is very low in nutritional density. Soy and corn are very cheap too so that's why these feed companies love to use it.

I give oyster shell on the side for the girls that think they need the extra calcium, but that's it. One of my 2 8 year olds is still laying...in fact she pushed one out today. 5 of my 8 7 year olds are still alive too...knock on wood.

[tunafish]

That all makes a lot of sense.  Same with humans, right?  Pack shit with corn.

My hens would rather eat from the yard than from the feeder.  Only really do consistently when the grounds covered.  We don't do oyster shells, probably should, but do give them crushed (cooked) eggshell.

[dendrite]

25 minutes ago, tunafish said:

That all makes a lot of sense.  Same with humans, right?  Pack shit with corn.

My hens would rather eat from the yard than from the feeder.  Only really do consistently when the grounds covered.  We don't do oyster shells, probably should, but do give them crushed (cooked) eggshell.

Yeah the eggshell works. I'm just too lazy to do that.

Hopefully the 3 integrate well. The sooner they interact the better.

[tamarack]

On 9/14/2024 at 8:04 PM, tunafish said:

That all makes a lot of sense.  Same with humans, right?  Pack shit with corn.

My hens would rather eat from the yard than from the feeder.  Only really do consistently when the grounds covered.  We don't do oyster shells, probably should, but do give them crushed (cooked) eggshell.

SNJ family read that feeding the hens their 'fresh' eggshells can lead to the critters eating their own eggs, so the shells get baked before going to the coop.  

[tunafish]

13 minutes ago, tamarack said:

SNJ family read that feeding the hens their 'fresh' eggshells can lead to the critters eating their own eggs, so the shells get baked before going to the coop.  

Oh yes.  We always bake them before feeding them back.

[BrianW]

On 9/14/2024 at 7:51 PM, dendrite said:

I've always considered that fearmongering that started from feed companies. There's this myth that too much protein will make them fat or if you don't use layer feed they'll struggle to produce shells from lack of calcium. I think a lot of it is hogwash. Protein doesn't make any animal fat...it helps build muscle/strength. Let them free range 100% of the time and all they will eat is bugs/worms and vegetation. Soy is an incomplete protein and can disrupt hormones and corn is very low in nutritional density. Soy and corn are very cheap too so that's why these feed companies love to use it.

I give oyster shell on the side for the girls that think they need the extra calcium, but that's it. One of my 2 8 year olds is still laying...in fact she pushed one out today. 5 of my 8 7 year olds are still alive too...knock on wood.

I was just in the lobby of my dentist reading the latest chicken magazine. The essential poultry publication... the receptionist said they get it sent there for free and I was the first person to ever read it. Haha

Learned all abut the marauders that can wipe out a flock.  Haha