there is ALWAYS someone slower...LOL!catching pics of hummingbirds is hard for me...their fast & I got the reaction time of a three-toed sloth...
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Birds.
- Thread starter birdsman
- Start date
hummers are gr8 n warblers too.
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NBE One !
...kinda wish I'd hadn't taken the green budgie back to pet shop,when a got back noticed the beautiful black and white budgie had a foot missing ! - She's not in any Discomfort too as he wasn't . There all very happy ...
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NBE One !
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Zebra Finches ! All is Cute , but theire so SOo cute! (-: - They don't really Stop ! - always hoping about, singing an' making teriffic Novelty Trumpet Sounds! ( the males have the red Cheeks. The females Don't Sing ) The Budgies are Bemused by 'em ! (-:
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NBE One !
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NBE One !
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NBE One !
St. Phatty
Active member
My place has been TAKEN OVER by Quail.
Nobody tell Dick Cheney !
Nobody tell Dick Cheney !
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NBE One !
For you,pinball '
[YOUTUBEIF]yiC6X94AVR8[/YOUTUBEIF]
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Lovely Pics Capt.Ahab
[YOUTUBEIF]yiC6X94AVR8[/YOUTUBEIF]
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Lovely Pics Capt.Ahab
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St. Phatty
Active member
A Quinceanera - or Bat Mitzvah - for Birds ?
A Quinceanera - or Bat Mitzvah - for Birds ?
Tomorrow these girls get some Quality Time with a young rooster.
I've been wanting to move them out of the coop, to join an older hen and the rooster.
But there's a price to be paid. The young birds get "protection" - sort of - hopefully.
In return, the rooster thinks they are now part of his Harem. And the rooster is sort of a beginner.
He pins his Betrothed in the middle of her back with his beak, then jumps on top. It is much more a wrestling move than a love-making move.
I've been resisting that moment, thinking the birds should be bigger before a bird 4 times their size tries to have sex with them.
On the other hand, they need to learn to love the great outdoors.
I'm hoping for at least a 50% survival rate.
A Quinceanera - or Bat Mitzvah - for Birds ?
Tomorrow these girls get some Quality Time with a young rooster.
I've been wanting to move them out of the coop, to join an older hen and the rooster.
But there's a price to be paid. The young birds get "protection" - sort of - hopefully.
In return, the rooster thinks they are now part of his Harem. And the rooster is sort of a beginner.
He pins his Betrothed in the middle of her back with his beak, then jumps on top. It is much more a wrestling move than a love-making move.
I've been resisting that moment, thinking the birds should be bigger before a bird 4 times their size tries to have sex with them.
On the other hand, they need to learn to love the great outdoors.
I'm hoping for at least a 50% survival rate.
Attachments
Holy crap St. Phatty, you've got more patience than me with the indoor chickens. My newest nine are about the same size as the ones in your pic and they went in with the other eight about a month ago. Mine were in a 6x6x6 cage and I got tired of two coops to clean.
We had two roosters when they went in with the others and they aren't interested in small chickens besides briefly chasing them away from food on the ground. The new chickens and the older ones keep to themselves mostly, young ones mostly move around as a group.
Lost three adult chickens a couple weeks ago. First one was just dead on the ground in the morning, we lost the same type chicken the same way so wasn't overly concerned. Next night lost another and it was half eaten and partially pulled through fence. Set up the camera, and a skunk was getting inside the fenced area.
I've got a good fence but it has four inch square holes above five feet so I'm guessing it climbed the fence pole and went through a square. After the second bird we came home a bit too late to lock the coop and the skunk got a rooster. Put another level of chicken wire up to keep the skunk out and got the electric fence working right again, plus the coop is fortified already, just need to lock it after dark.
We had two roosters when they went in with the others and they aren't interested in small chickens besides briefly chasing them away from food on the ground. The new chickens and the older ones keep to themselves mostly, young ones mostly move around as a group.
Lost three adult chickens a couple weeks ago. First one was just dead on the ground in the morning, we lost the same type chicken the same way so wasn't overly concerned. Next night lost another and it was half eaten and partially pulled through fence. Set up the camera, and a skunk was getting inside the fenced area.
I've got a good fence but it has four inch square holes above five feet so I'm guessing it climbed the fence pole and went through a square. After the second bird we came home a bit too late to lock the coop and the skunk got a rooster. Put another level of chicken wire up to keep the skunk out and got the electric fence working right again, plus the coop is fortified already, just need to lock it after dark.
St. Phatty
Active member
Picking up the pieces can be hard on the owner.
I have seen the same scenario repeated over and over, enough to conclude ... Chicken Coops are often death traps.
It's this nice cozy place where the chickens go to sleep. It's also Sunday brunch for Raccoons, Foxes, skunks, possums, etc.
But how often do those animals eat birds that are NOT caged, e.g. Quail or Wild Turkey ?
I've been trying to make an "open coop" - no walls - where a predator can bet in but not be able to reach the birds sleeping.
There are other factors like night vision, which a lot of predators have but chickens don't.
Basically I'm hoping that an attack will result in the death of one bird, at most, and that the others will be scattered wherever they flew to when the predator came.
Designing a chicken coop is a little like designing a Fight Cage for animal MMA. It may not be the original intention, but it's often how it ends.
Good point about coops, I've been thinking about getting guineas and let them have an open coop, they might have a decent chance of survival. Seems like they would get picked off, but probably just one at a time.
I guess I hate talking any losses though, so not sure if that would work out. Foxes are real active, on the game cameras almost every night. Plenty of owls and hawks too, then lesser amounts of everything else. Bobcats, bears and mountain lions come through, bears have done the most damage.
The coop is wood, about 10x7x7 tall, wrapped in hardware cloth 100%, two layers of 2x4 inch square wire fencing, with the door made of 4x4 inch inch wood and two layers of cattle panel and chicken wire. It gets padlocked now at night but was kept unlocked when the electric fence was working.( obviously it wasn't working last week, battery wasn't charging/ dying, it's a solar powered charger. 6,000 volts with the new battery.)
I saw a deer touch the fence with its nose two inches off the ground and it did half of a backflip, landing on its back in the brush. It's shocked me several times, really gets your attention, but no backflip.
The coop is within a 50x70 area that is fenced to eight feet, with netting overhead for hawks and owls. Same door as the coop.
Two inches in front of the fence is an electric fence, seven strands starting at two inches above the ground, with a couple ground wires higher up next to hot ones for climbers.
Skunk might have got through the overhead net, waiting to see if the camera catches him trying to get back in. He's been back twice but it seems like the electric fence is keeping him out now. Time will tell.
I guess I hate talking any losses though, so not sure if that would work out. Foxes are real active, on the game cameras almost every night. Plenty of owls and hawks too, then lesser amounts of everything else. Bobcats, bears and mountain lions come through, bears have done the most damage.
The coop is wood, about 10x7x7 tall, wrapped in hardware cloth 100%, two layers of 2x4 inch square wire fencing, with the door made of 4x4 inch inch wood and two layers of cattle panel and chicken wire. It gets padlocked now at night but was kept unlocked when the electric fence was working.( obviously it wasn't working last week, battery wasn't charging/ dying, it's a solar powered charger. 6,000 volts with the new battery.)
I saw a deer touch the fence with its nose two inches off the ground and it did half of a backflip, landing on its back in the brush. It's shocked me several times, really gets your attention, but no backflip.
The coop is within a 50x70 area that is fenced to eight feet, with netting overhead for hawks and owls. Same door as the coop.
Two inches in front of the fence is an electric fence, seven strands starting at two inches above the ground, with a couple ground wires higher up next to hot ones for climbers.
Skunk might have got through the overhead net, waiting to see if the camera catches him trying to get back in. He's been back twice but it seems like the electric fence is keeping him out now. Time will tell.
St. Phatty
Active member
The birds have a favorite area where they spend most of their "leisure time".
Basically an alder tree and a blackberry thicket that grew out of my compost pile when I wasn't watching.
I have a picture of the birds sitting on a Metro-imitation 6 foot high wire shelf. Basically they liked sitting on piles of old computer stuff in my workshop.
Anyway, I was going to put a shelf in the shade of the alder tree, and try and bribe the birds with favorite foods. Like raw hamburger. Hoping that they'll take a liking to the top shelf.
If they're 6 feet off the ground, I like their chances better if a predator comes sniffing around the compost pile.
Basically an alder tree and a blackberry thicket that grew out of my compost pile when I wasn't watching.
I have a picture of the birds sitting on a Metro-imitation 6 foot high wire shelf. Basically they liked sitting on piles of old computer stuff in my workshop.
Anyway, I was going to put a shelf in the shade of the alder tree, and try and bribe the birds with favorite foods. Like raw hamburger. Hoping that they'll take a liking to the top shelf.
If they're 6 feet off the ground, I like their chances better if a predator comes sniffing around the compost pile.
My neighbor has a couple dozen birds he lets free range all day, they are on the road often and everywhere else, they have no fear at all. He loses one now and then, but they are a smaller 3/4 sized chicken, a breed he had to get from some Laos people because that's where they come from.
Because of their size they can fly high into the trees when there is trouble.
He does have a coop on stilts that they sleep in at night, it has an automatic closing door and a timer on a battery. The birds raise a lot of babies, I'll probably get a few at least and give them a shot.
Turkeys do fine in trees at night, I guess quail do the same. Turkeys go pretty high though, not sure what the minimum height would need to be. Some of them don't wake up when I check them at dark.
Because of their size they can fly high into the trees when there is trouble.
He does have a coop on stilts that they sleep in at night, it has an automatic closing door and a timer on a battery. The birds raise a lot of babies, I'll probably get a few at least and give them a shot.
Turkeys do fine in trees at night, I guess quail do the same. Turkeys go pretty high though, not sure what the minimum height would need to be. Some of them don't wake up when I check them at dark.
St. Phatty
Active member
Last night I was trying to put the birds inside and they had mixed feelings about that.
One of them flew up to a piece of molding on the house, about 10 feet off the ground, and fluttered there for about 30 seconds, trying to find a place to put her feet. She then fell into a bush and was much easier to catch.
Anyway, I figure she showed me EXACTLY where to put one of their Half-coops. For today it will have to be 6 feet off the ground, not 10 feet.
It's also sort of animal meeting ground territory. It's in a group of bushes where one of my cats likes to hide, and also part of the bushes that the local quail like to live in.
One of them flew up to a piece of molding on the house, about 10 feet off the ground, and fluttered there for about 30 seconds, trying to find a place to put her feet. She then fell into a bush and was much easier to catch.
Anyway, I figure she showed me EXACTLY where to put one of their Half-coops. For today it will have to be 6 feet off the ground, not 10 feet.
It's also sort of animal meeting ground territory. It's in a group of bushes where one of my cats likes to hide, and also part of the bushes that the local quail like to live in.
Indoor chickens!!!! There so much of this world I know nothing about! The crazy thing is I don't think you folks are all on the other side of the world!haha gotta love it!
I learn so much here. The old lady stares at instagram and I swear..... she getting dumber by the day!haha I don't risk offending her writing this as I've been fkn telling her for a while.
She always laughs and says yeah, real rocket science your learning over there!
When she gets home from work imma find out wtf she knows about indoor chickens and what she learned today!haha
What time do doctors normally get home? I'm normally passed out when she does from all the learning I do so I have no clue?haha
Just kidding, she's not a doctor. Like I said... dumd as shit!haha love her but.....
And seriously...... wild shit you guys got going on in your pad! I'm gonna start posting pics of what I got going on because as crazy as it may be..... I ain't got a bunch of chicken in my house.haha
Fkn awesome!
I learn so much here. The old lady stares at instagram and I swear..... she getting dumber by the day!haha I don't risk offending her writing this as I've been fkn telling her for a while.
She always laughs and says yeah, real rocket science your learning over there!
When she gets home from work imma find out wtf she knows about indoor chickens and what she learned today!haha
What time do doctors normally get home? I'm normally passed out when she does from all the learning I do so I have no clue?haha
Just kidding, she's not a doctor. Like I said... dumd as shit!haha love her but.....
And seriously...... wild shit you guys got going on in your pad! I'm gonna start posting pics of what I got going on because as crazy as it may be..... I ain't got a bunch of chicken in my house.haha
Fkn awesome!
