Java. the end.

[Quail_Antwerp]

I hope your DD does well at the fair this week!! Have fun!!

 

[emilosevich]

Maybe next year we will take some heritage turkeys. My 3 year old has been wishing for one She is a farmgirl at heart

My 4yr old DD has decided that she is going to raise Polish chickens. What interesting conversations we have with farm children. They'd rather have a turkey or chicken than a dog. LOL

 

[Javamama]

As if we aren't busy enough this week hanging out at the fair, a skunk couple has moved in under the chicken coop. The coop that is approx. 20 feet from our house. And we still don't own a firearm so a trap has been set. They tripped it already. I really don't know what DH will do if he catches them. Nuh-uh, I'm not touching them. I told him it was time to buy a gun.
Lord help us get through the week without getting sprayed and without any poultry losses

Do you think they would move out if I stuck the hose under the coop and flooded the area? It's my only bright idea so far. Once they are gone we will be securing it with buried wire.

 

[Javamama]

And a fair update...
I think we have the smallest fair anywhere. But it's pretty good for a county that is mostly urban. Horses are the most popular - having 2 entire barns!
Surprisingly, hogs are next most popular. Maybe because the folks only have to keep them for a few months and then they are done?
The dairy barn is disappointing. Not one jersey cow. DH grew up on a Jersey farm, so they interest us.
The goats are um...interesting? I really don't know how to describe them. Not very good quality from what I can tell, kinda scruffy looking. There is 1 nubian, 1 alpine, a couple of boers, a few nigis, and 1 odd one that I'm not sure about. It's really big and tall and has airplane ears. Biggest goat I've ever seen.

The duck show is tomorrow. I have no idea what they do when there is only 1 duck in a class. Should be interesting

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

hey! i was wondering how the fair went with all the weather that swung by the other nite! wow! good luck on the duck show


sorry to hear about the skunks...i'm not sure what you even do about them. pretty sure flooding them wont work.

but

there is a guy, trapper_josh, who is over on BYC who knows about this stuff. i think he works with the wildlife guys. he could probably give you some hints or recommend a service to get those stinkers out of there

 

[lalaland]

sksunks! I've had the best luck with putting obnoxious radio noise on for a couple of days straight - also, ifyou have a way to illuminate the underneath, do so, make it as open as possible if that makes sense. they have moved into and then out of under the porch after a couple of days of harassment.

I never was able to catch them in a trap - had no luck with that. But if you do, I hear you keep a blanket handy so you can cover them up before you try to move the trap, assuming you don't want to risk shooting them where you trapped them.

good luck!

 

[Blackbird]

We just shot a skunk minutes ago. Nasty sucker!

I know LupinFarm has a rope tied to their trap, then when they get a skunk they drag it to a stock tank and drown the nasty little.. skunk.

 

[Dace]

Bummer about the skunk.....we had one at the olds house. He found where the chickens liked to lay in the rosemary bushes and would show up every couple nights to see if I had forgotten to pick up eggs. He would be right under the family room windows and when it was warm out and the windows were open his being in such close proximity stunk up the house!

Good luck, I hope you get him before he gets your chickens.

 

[Javamama]

Thanks for the skunk tips! The trap seems to be a toy to them. They did not get into the poison that is supposed to be irresistible to them, and they seem very cozy in the corner where they have set up. :/ I'm going to turn on the obnoxious music that was suggested and turn the hose on them. We were told they could chew through the bottom of the coop to get in to feast. Great.

We did not place at fair. I didn't expect it. The judge seemed to dismiss ducks who did not have their mature feathering, which was most of them because unless purchase a year ahead and grow them out, it's almost impossible to accomplish on a drake.
The winner was a Khaki Campbell who had bad coloring and I kinda thought had no chance once the judge started talking.

So I guess for next year we will have to purchase our ducks in the middle of winter to get them grown out. There is no option for hatching and raising your own - they want certified hatchery papers in order to qualify for entry. Seems to me that kinda defeats the whole purpose of 4-H

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

- they want certified hatchery papers in order to qualify for entry. Seems to me that kinda defeats the whole purpose of 4-H

I had to provide paperwork to 4-H parents who bought from me this year, too, for the same reason. It's because ducks are tested for A.I. in NPIP flocks, so they want proof that the ducks were A.I. tested. That's a test that takes a couple weeks to get back.