Chickens for bug control and food recycling.

[catjac1975]

I've caught snakes I found inside my coop and gave them to a friend that wants them, I think the longest was five feet or so. She lives far enough away that they won't come back so I'm not worried about that. She's seen a timber rattler around her place and wants other snakes that might eat them. She worries about her dogs. I don't like to kill non-poisonous snakes because of all the things they do eat. But if they are in the coop they are after eggs or chicks, I draw the line there.

I don't like handling them at all. I've got leather gloves, a snake stick to pin them down, and a pillow case handy if I see one, right outside the coop door. I also have a garden hoe with a broken handle inside the coop for those I cannot catch. It's one of those things I don't like to do but I do it. I readily admit if a snake startles me I jump. That's a good test as to how strong your heart is. But I can recognize poisonous versus non-poisonous snakes. If it's not poisonous I calm down pretty quickly.

Bravest of the brave...

 

[Nyboy]

People eat rattlesnakes and copperheads they are not poisonous.

 

[Beekissed]

People eat rattlesnakes and copperheads they are not poisonous.

Depends on which end you eat...

 

[Nyboy]

Terminology[edit]
Venomous snakes are often said to be poisonous, but poison and venom are not the same thing. Poisons must be ingested, inhaled or absorbed, while venom must be injected into the body by mechanical means. It is, for example, harmless to drink snake venom as long as there are no lacerations inside the mouth or digestive tract. The two exceptions are: theRhabdophis keelback snakes have glands that secrete poison they ingest from eating poisonous toads, and similarly, certain garter snakes from Oregon retain toxins in their livers from ingesting rough-skinned newts.[2] This ability to sequester toxins and store them for defense renders these certain snakes both poisonous and venomous.

 

[seedcorn]

Update on my borrowed cat. It's a mama with at least two kittens.
Darn. Do not want to be in the cat business...

Which is why we have 7 neutered cats. Wife refuses to not feed stray cats so here they come. Lucky, our vet isn't too expensive.

 

[ninnymary]

Ridge, can you explain what a "clear" egg is for us city folks.

Mary

 

[Beekissed]

Ridge, can you explain what a "clear" egg is for us city folks.

Mary

Since he's not here right now, I'll oblige, Miss Mary. A "clear" egg is one that wasn't fertilized, so even with incubation it doesn't develop an embryo. When the egg is candled, one will not see any chick development such as blood veins, dark objects such as eyes(besides the heart, one of the first things you can really see on a chick as it starts to dance in there), or anything moving.

The most you'll visualize is the yolk and the albumen....like in this picture...

If an egg is fertilized, you'll see development happening in the egg....see the eyeball in that pic on the extreme right?

 

[ninnymary]

Thank you Miss Bee.

Mary

 

[baymule]

2 more days and we'll see how many chicks I get!

 

[baymule]

Incubator still says 2 more days, but I have 11 chicks so far!

Then I have to figure out how to change the days, so I can set Muscovy eggs.