And it happened in broad daylight. Never mind that I'd taken pains to fortify the coop and run to keep my hens safe.
Something had gone very wrong. It's taken me several weeks to fix the problem. In hopes of saving you similar trouble, here's what went wrong and what I did to make things right.
RAT PARADISE
My first mistakes? Locating my large compost bins too close to my chicken run and falling down on its maintenance. I'd generally kept my compost well-watered and turned until emergency surgery took me out of commission.
So, for a month or two, food scraps accumulated on top of the pile. This created a potential draw to the chicken run for rats.
I'd also gotten lazy with my feed. Although I kept my opened bag inside a galvanized trash can, I kept additional, unopened bags on my garage floor. Had I been paying closer attention, perhaps I'd have noticed that something had gnawed holes in those bags. A small feast of pelleted food had spilled out.
ASSESSING THE PROBLEM
That I saw a rat at all was bad enough. But that I saw it during the daytime suggested this was a serious infestation. Rats aren't only vectors for disease. They'll also eat young chicks. Their presence can have a chilling effect on egg-laying, too.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March - April 2023 من Hobby Farms.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March - April 2023 من Hobby Farms.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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Keep your land, animals and yourself in good shape this winter with this helpful advice.
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Soil Conservation
Often, outside of having a specific problem that needs to be addressed, soil conservation isn't something every farmer readily thinks about. Yet conserving the soil should be at or near the top of every farmer owner or manager's list of concerns because absent the prevention of soil erosion, we have the opportunity for another dust bowl.
Year-Round Lettuce & Salad Mixes
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