Professional Mouse Removal (video)

You may not want to call the Chicken Nanny if you have a mouse infestation (or even if you have chickens that need to be taken care of).  I am sure there are professionals out there that don't think that mice are cute, but really, this little guy was adorable.  I shrieked whenever I saw one, and I am still willing to kill them, but still...  I think I could really like them, if only they didn't spread disease and get into houses (and coops) and poop everywhere.  A healthy diaper wearing mouse in a cage would be cute, though.

You're Fired, Chicken Nanny

I tried, unsuccessfully, to trap "the mouse" last night.  I made some "boxes" to put the traps in, using items found in my recycling bin.  I took the feed containers out of the coop to encourage "the mouse" to find the traps.  My Chicken Nanny Apprentices helped to get everything set up.  After an hour or so, I ran back over to check on them, and the chickens had knocked over the boxes and set off the traps.  We reset them and tried again, but no luck this morning. 

Since Beth got home late last night, she officially took over with the chickens.  It was very hard not to bust down her door to check on them.  We waited patiently (okay, this isn't true -- Alex was jumping up and down on the couch in the front window, waving his hands, yelling "Wake up Esteban!!").  As soon as we saw signs of life across the street, we descended.  Despite my best efforts to fight the urge, the words out of my mouth were "how are the chickens?".

Beth took the news of our furry little friend(s) in stride, requiring only one cup of coffee to get through the news (the Chicken Nanny might have resorted to something a little stronger).   This afternoon, we decided on a plan to try to clean out the coop.  The boys played in the house while we got ready.   

The  Mouseketeers

We started by taking out all of the old bedding (pine shavings) in the top part of the coop with a snow shovel.  Then Will started pulling the paneling off.  We heard some frantic rustling in the wall.  I started to get a little nervous.  I was worried about baby mice and a nest falling out and not knowing what to do with it.  That wasn't what happened.

The Chicken Nanny ready for battle

Instead, mouse after mouse fell onto the floor, scuttled around looking for a way out, while Beth and I screeched.   Ten mice in all made their way out of the coop from behind the left panel.  Yes, TEN.  Who knows how many more were living there but heard the commotion and escaped before we got to them?!  Equally impressive was the home that they had made for themselves.   They had burrowed through the thick Styrofoam layer to make tunnels behind the panel.

So it seems that my once amazing power of observation has completely failed me.  It appears that there has been an infestation in this coop for a long time.  Yet I did not see any evidence of anything other than chickens living in the coop until the last couple of days -- no rustling sounds, no Styrofoam until two days ago. 

We removed all of the Styrofoam from the walls, seeing at least ten mice.  It was nasty work, and Will did a lot of it (I owe you honey!!).  Beth sprayed everything down with a dilute bleach solution and will put new bedding out tomorrow after it's had a chance to air out.  After we were done cleaning, we found two dead mice in the area of the coop (not from our efforts, these mice had been dead awhile). 

In conclusion, I kept the chickens alive... with an added bonus of at least ten disease carrying vermin.  Oh, what's that?  I'm fired?  Sigh.

Multiplying mice

Just got back from the coop, and now there are rustling sounds in both sides of the coop, simultaneously.  On the left side, there is new damage to the insulation panel.  It looks the mouse is chewing through the panel.  What I thought was one mouse appears to be at least two, maybe two (or more) families of mice.  I will continue to post what happens for my followers, even though I officially hand over my chicken nanny duties tomorrow!

Chickens Love Styrofoam!

Notice the Styrofoam balls stuck to her beak.

I thought I had cleaned up all the Styrofoam, but apparently I missed some.  The good news is that I researched it online, and all chickens love to eat Styrofoam (and it apparently doesn't kill them). 

The Rodent Problem

I have about 24 hours left as the chicken nanny.  I know, that makes my followers very sad (both of you!).  And wouldn't you know it, we have a problem...

For awhile, I've been noticing mouse poop in the feed bowl in the lower part of the coop.  I assumed the mouse was living nearby and stopped by occasionally to have a snack.  A few days ago, I started noticing poop in the feeder in the upper part of the coop.  Yesterday I heard a rustling sound between the layer of insulation and the exterior wall of the coop. 

The mouse has moved in behind the silver panel.

The white stuff is the Styrofoam.
I bet you can guess what the brown stuff is...

Today there was poop along the wall, which is gross, but not as troubling as the pile of Styrofoam balls.  There is Styrofoam in the insulating panel, and the mouse is knocking it all into the coop when he scurries around making himself at home.  You may wonder why this is such a problem, especially if you have never had the fortune to be a chicken nanny.  Chickens eat anything, and little Styrofoam balls look like scratch to them.  I'm not sure if eating Styrofoam will hurt them, but it can't be good for them.  The balls ended up all over the coop and spilled outside.  I cleaned everything (which was harder than it sounds!), duct taped the space in the panel where the balls fall from, and have been researching rodent control.  Apparently rodents are common problems with chicken coops.  They eat a lot of feed, and can spread disease to the hens.  So we will have to get rid of them and figure out a way to keep them out.  Taking off the panel is going to be gross.  At least Beth will be home soon to help me figure out what to do!

While I cleaned the mouse crap,
the boys bonded with the girls.

Spring Break

Today was the first day of Spring Break for our family, and we have had a great day so far.   I loved these pictures of Alex with the chickens today, and thought I would share them.  Only a few more chicken nanny posts, I've got to get them in while I can!

Chicken on the Roof

Happy April Fool's Day!  

"Chicken on the roof" is code for a dead chicken.  The chickens are actually fine, don't worry!  We've had a lot of fun playing tricks on each other today.  This one is for you, Beth!

Attack Hen

Alex and I were playing upstairs when we heard something outside.  I think it was a dog barking, but we ran outside to make sure it wasn't the chickens.  (Yes, periodically we run across the street to ensure the safety of the chickens).   They were fine.  They escaped from the netting once again, and they were happily exploring the yard.  We decided to check for eggs, and as we walked back, Sandie flew up at my head.  For a split second, I thought she was attacking me for cracked corn.  Instead she landed on my shoulder and roosted there.  Alex was laughing uncontrollably.  He took this picture with my phone. 

I decided it was her way of saying "thank you."  I think they're going to miss us.  I know we will miss them when Beth gets home and we don't see them two (or ten) times a day. 

Chef Alex feeding the chickens, once again.

Why you shouldn't put chicken eggs in your pocket

I'll start  off by saying this could have been worse.  Also, I knew this was a bad idea when I put the egg in my sweatshirt pocket, but I didn't have anywhere else to put it.  We were in the back yard with the chickens, trying to figure out how they keep getting out of the netting -- Alex calls it "doing our research."  This included Alex chasing the chickens into the netted area and me bribing them to escape with cracked corn.  By the time we got home, I totally forgot about the egg.  We started playing with play doh, and I leaned over to pick up something and crack, the egg rolled out of my pocket and onto the floor at Alex's feet.  Alex thought this was hysterical.

If Will were home, he would have scrambled it for a snack, citing a five second rule.  It wasn't easy to clean up.  I'd like to say that I learned my lesson, but that remains to be seen.

We only have about a week of Chicken Nanny duty before Beth and Esteban return. Time sure flies!

This is Alex feeding the girls
(screeching "they're pecking me" and giggling).

Very wet chickens

We had a thunderstorm this afternoon, and I decided to go over and check on the chickens.  I was worried about them, and something told me I should go over a little early and check on them (let's call it my amazing chicken nanny intuition).  I ran over in the pouring rain, expecting to find them in the coop, warm and dry.  Instead, Sandie was running around in the yard (completely outside of the netting), and Brincolin was stuck in part of the netting that I had fenced off.  She must have jumped over the fence and wasn't able to get back over.  I have no idea how Sandie got out.  I guess they really wanted to get out earlier and found a way, but then got stuck and couldn't get back in when it started to rain.

They were both freaking out, and totally soaked!  I got them in the coop, and they headed straight to their food bowl and chowed down.  I am going to check on them again tonight to make sure they dried okay and are still fine.  Poor girls.  I told Will I was worried about them being all wet, and he said "Carrie, they're chickens."  He's probably said this to me about a million times since we started nannying.  

Alex is so worried about the hawk, so I'll have to figure out what happened to make sure they stay in the netting, at least until we get some leaves on the trees to give them some more cover.  The weather hasn't been nice enough for them to really want to be out, until now, but now their little chicken brains are determined!

Spring is here!

Chicken Nanny bonding

Spring is here!  The chickens love this weather as much as we do!  They try to escape from the netted area as soon as we come over.  Will informs me that I am not a good "chicken herder".  He got a good laugh watching me chase them around to put them back in the coop for the night.  But he made up for it by helping me fix the netting with his staple gun (my twist tie technique was only temporary).  

It may be hard to see, but the very last of the snow in
Beth's yard is in the center of the picture.

For those of you that wonder what Alex does when I'm taking care of the girls, here are a few pictures.  Sometimes he tries to pet them (and he is much, much worse than me at trying to "catch" them).  Usually, they see him coming and they head for the coop. 

This is him pretending to be the Captain.

And now he's a pirate, Arrrrr!

 

Finally, we have the chicken dance.

Green Eggs (and a Ham)

Alex not eating his eggs, and hamming it up

For St. Patrick's Day, I made green eggs for breakfast.  The white stuff is cheddar cheese cut into a shamrock (or at least it was my best attempt at a shamrock).  Alex ate one bite and said it tasted "too green", and asked for waffles.  Funny, the Shamrock Shake from McDonald's was just the right amount of green.  Hmmm.

For Beth, with love from the chickens

Thanks for the video for Alex, Beth! 

Since I know you're missing your chickens, here is a video they asked me to post for you.  I'm not sure if you'll be able to view it with the internet connection you have in Mexico, but I hope it works!

This happened right after they "escaped" from the Aviary.  I opened the fence to check on them, and they bolted for the yard.  I let them run around for awhile, and they were so happy to be out.  Alex was worried about the hawk, so I stayed close but we didn't see it.

Poetry in Poultry

What to do with Alex in school?

I think I need a job

The clock is a tickin'

Better watch me some chicken

So I don't turn into a slob

Okay, so I am no poet, but I could be a chicken sitter professionally...Check out this article:

http://www.countryliving.com/homes/country-chic-0311-chicken-sitters

Thanks, Becky, for sharing this article!  Loved it!

Security Breach

I mentioned in my last post that we got a lot more snow.  This time, I didn't shovel the snow from the roof of the coop.  I meant to, but laziness/stupidity took over.  It warmed up a little, and then froze again, and the snow turned into a huge sheet of heavy ice.  The giant ice block slid down the sloping roof (how did I not see that coming?!) and collapsed/tore the netting.  It was a huge pain to clear the ice from the netting so I can repair it.  I may have to bribe CNA2 to help me when he gets home from work.   For now, the chickens have to stay in the coop so they don't become hawk food.

Notice the icicle hanging from the netting.  It's really hard to
clear the ice without tearing the netting even more!

I got smart and shoveled the ice that was still on the coop.  It broke off
in HUGE sheets and was very heavy!

I was glad that the ice fell while the girls were in the coop for the night so that it didn't fall on them.  It was really heavy!  I'll head over there later with some twist ties and "stitch" the netting back together.  Next time I will be sure to shovel the snow right away!

Wind, Snow, and Poopsicles

We had really strong winds earlier last week, and part of the plywood on the coop that protects the girls from wind/rain/snow blew off.  I had my handyman fix it.

Actually, Will fixed it, but it Alex brought his hammer along too.

Then, all the snow melted and we were left with a whole lot of mud and chicken poop.  All the frozen poop-sicles melted and it became quite a mess.  It was almost like spring for about two days, and then we got another 8 inches of snow.

Meanwhile, I have been worried that one of the chickens had frostbite because of a black spot on her comb.  I looked it up online, and in the books/magazines I have on chickens.  There is a wealth of information on the subject, but varying opinions on what to do (ranging from nothing, to antibiotic treatment, to surgical removal of the comb).  Finally, I called my dad and asked him what to do.  (My dad has had over 80 chickens in the very cold UP).  His advice?  Kill the chicken and have soup tonight.  Thanks, dad.

Now I think it wasn't frostbite.  I think it might have been a peck wound.  I might have to stop giving them the chicken mash, because maybe they're fighting over it.  Alex gave them a stern talking to about learning how to share and playing nice.  I think he put Sandie in time out for a few minutes.  I am sure that will help.   I'll keep a close eye on it and hope it doesn't return. 

Happy Valentine's Day

The chickens gave me a Valentine's gift (well, two of them), and clucked "I love you" to me and Alex.  We decided to make the most of our eggs today.  Here is how we used their gift:

Scrambled eggs for lunch

Making peanut butter cookies.  Alex had to add the egg!

Seriously yum.

And pancakes for dinner.

Only backyard chicken eggs were used in the creation of the above (i.e., made with chicken love).  We will be making a heart shaped patty of chicken feed mush for the girls!  (I'm just kidding, I think).

Crazy Chickens

These chickens are crazy.   They are over the frozen water grudge.  Now I am The One that feeds them. 

They eat some sort of dry commercial feed.  They have access to two full bowls and can eat as much as they want (but never seem very excited about it).  I also give them some cracked corn when it's cold to give them something to do to warm themselves up.  And they have a bowl of water (that is almost never frozen).  They get excited about the cracked corn, but you should see them when you mix the commercial feed with plain water.  It makes a paste that looks like cat food (uck), and the chickens go crazy over it.  Tonight, one of them pecked my hand to get at it.  Out of control chickens, here in Lansing.  Since I started giving them the mush, I have become very popular.  They practically attack me when they see me carrying the Styrofoam cup I use to mix it up.  Here is a picture of them eating the mush; notice they eat it off of a plate.  Nothing but the best for these girls.

Blizzard 2011

On Wednesday I  had a lot of shoveling to do.  I decided to shovel the chicken coop roof so as not to have a roof collapse.  The snow was heavy, and I wasn't sure how much weight the coop roof could handle.  Here's a picture of the coop before I shoveled.  As you can see, we got a decent amount of snow.  The chickens didn't mind.  When I opened the coop door, they ran out and explored the Aviary.  It was cute to see them waddling through all that snow.

 

I also got my first frozen eggs this morning.  I am guessing that they were eggs from yesterday and they froze over night.  I am not sure how I missed them last night, but it seems unlikely that they froze this morning -- it isn't that cold!

 We had two snow days because of all of the snow.  We spent only a little time outside in the snow ("it's too cold, mom"), but we did build a snow fort and have a snowball fight.  Will got caught up on his grading, and I took three naps.  Gotta love snow days!  Alex drew this picture, so I thought I would share it.  I think you can tell it's a chicken laying an egg, but you decide.

Chicken Attitude

These chickens have serious attitudes! 

Last week, their water froze.  Before you call PETA, it was only for a few hours and they were fine.  Totally fine.  But they have major attitudes now.  Who knew that little bird brains have the space to hold a grudge?  They have been so mad at me.  I have been bribing them with extra cracked corn, but they are still mad.  They strut around, crabby as can be.  Only Alex can cheer them up.  He is more generous with the cracked corn, so they are big fans.  And, let's be honest, he is adorable -- who can resist his charm??   When their water was frozen, I left him in the Chicken Aviary while I ran across the street to grab water (the water at Jose and Beth's is still off due to The Pipe Misfortune).  Not entirely comfortable leaving my three year old with only Angry Birds to watch him, I was trying to hurry.  I wore my snowy boots in the house and was rushing, and my slick boots and the polyurethane on the floors were a bad combination -- I flew up in the air and landed on my back.  I was glad Alex wasn't with me, since I came up with a creative and incredibly memorable string of curse words.  After the concussion wore off, I was able to stumble back to the chickens with fresh water.   There was a squirrel in the Aviary.  It had gotten in somehow, but it couldn't figure out how to get out of the netting.  The chickens were going crazy, Alex was laughing, and the squirrel was freaking out!  It finally found a gap in the netting and made it over the fence.

This is Alex offering them some coffee.  He thought they might be cold.  Just kidding.  It's cracked corn, what else?

Turns out that the water bowl came unplugged, which is why the water froze.  My brilliant husband, Chicken Nanny Apprentice 2, diagnosed and solved the problem for me.  Whew.  Just it time for the blizzard of the year.

Still getting one or two eggs every day.  I'll post some awesome egg recipes soon!

Brrr, it's cold!

I have been in charge of the chickens for two weeks, and they are great.  Despite my worries about the cold, they seem to be dealing with it just fine -- much less whiny than I am.   In temps below zero, chickens can get frostbite on their feet, combs, and wattles.  If it gets any colder, I am going to try to put Vaseline on the susceptible parts.  That should make for good dinner conversation.  Other than the cold, so far, so good.  No raptor attacks, no crazy bird illnesses, no problems with poop.   I have more eggs than I know what to do with.  Actually, I made fantastic scrambled eggs with zucchini and bell peppers for dinner, and good ol' fake American cheese.  Yum.

The best part is having Alex help take care of them.  He absolutely loves them.  Every night, he goes over with me to sprinkle cracked corn.  For chickens, cracked corn is like crack.  They love it.  They go nuts when they see the cup of corn.  I let Alex carry it out, and he thinks they just really like him.  He tells them jokes (usually really, really bad ones that make absolutely no sense), and they cluck and carry on.  He thinks they are laughing at him, which makes me laugh, which further encourages the joke telling.  :)

Don't Blow a Head Gasket, and The Pipe Misfortune

First let me say that the chickens are fine, so for those of you only interested in the chickens, no need to read on... 

1. Don't Blow a Head Gasket

Awhile back, I went through a period known as The Heat Gasket Calamity.  Some of my followers will remember Ruby, my first "real" car. I loved that car. I would spend weekends vacuuming her, Armor-alling her dash until it shined. One evening, I decided to go to Detroit, the big city, to see some friends. Now, I am from a very, very small town so big city driving would make me nervous (aw, shucks y'all). On the drive, a huge van was following closely behind me and started flashing his lights at me.  He rode my bumper for miles.  I slowed to a reckless 65 mph to get him to pass but to no avail.  After a few minutes of the light flashing, he rolled down his window and started waving his hand at me, indicating I should pull over.  He pulled up next to me and gestured for me to roll my window down.  I grabbed my cell phone and waved it out of the window, as if to say "look, I've called the cops, so go away you depraved murderer".  Eventually he gave up and exited the highway.  I was convinced that I narrowly escaped a gruesome fate, grateful for my reliable car in this land of psychos.   I made it to Detroit with no other problems and headed home the next afternoon.  I stopped once to add coolant to my car after the dashboard light came on, suspiciously eying all the people at the gas station, surreptitiously looking for the van that had been following me.  By the time I got to Allendale, the coolant light was on again.  I called the Ford dealer and they said I could bring her in any time.  I made it about a mile down the road before the engine seized.   I got the car towed to the dealer and they called me a few days later.  The head gasket had cracked, and my engine was ruined...blah blah blah three thousand dollars.  The dealer said he was surprised no one noticed the coolant spewing from the back of my car. 

Let this be my official apology to the good Samaritan that I had pegged as an ax murderer.

My next car was also a Ford.  My sister and I went on a road trip to North Carolina to go white water rafting with a group of friends from grad school.  We were in the mountains, surrounded by confederate flags, when blue smoke started billowing from the back of the car.  I figured, "we're almost to the camp ground, it'll be fine".  No check engine light, no coolant light on the dash.  But, the engine seized yet again.  Are you kidding me?  No.  I hadn't even made half of the payments on the piece of junk.  I don't remember exactly how we got home.  I vaguely remember riding in a tow truck with a man with few teeth and a very thick southern accent, animal skins strewn about his truck.  And, we somehow escaped ending up in someone's freezer yet again. 

Nevertheless, my cars have all been Toyotas since The Head Gasket Calamity.

2.  The Pipe Misfortune/Thermostat on the Roof

This is the year of The Pipe Misfortune.  Many of you know that we had a slight problem with our pipes that ended up with us moving out of our house for a month while they fixed our ceiling.  Now, my bad luck has infiltrated my work as Chicken Nanny.   Yesterday, when Chicken Nanny Apprentice 2 (aka Will) went to check on the girls, he went in the house to fill the water jug.  He noticed the house was colder than usual and called me to ask if Beth and Jose turned off the water.  Uh oh.  Apparently the thermostat had died, and the house got cold.  It turns out that the batteries in the thermostat had died -- who knew that it would result in the furnace turning off?!  So the water in the pipes in Jose and Beth's house had frozen.  Major bummer.  CNA2 turned off the main water supply and turned on all the faucets in the house to drain the water from the pipes, in case a pipe had broken when they froze.  He got the heat working again, so disaster averted.  Hopefully, nothing is broken, or at least it'll be easy (and cheap) to fix when they get back.

Public Service Announcement:  Check the batteries in your programmable thermostat.

Joke of the Day

Joke of the Day:

There are two friends, Alex and Esteban. Alex asks Esteban to to watch his house and cat while he is away on vacation.  Alex calls Esteban to check in on his house and the cat.

"Hey, how are things?  House is still standing?  How's my cat doing?"

Esteban sighs and says,  "Well yeah man, your house is still standing.  Sorry to tell you this but your cat died."

"What?" Alex says.  "You just can't tell someone that their cat is dead.  You have to break it down to them gently. The first time I call you should say that the cat is on the roof trying to catch a bird.  The second call you should say that the cat lost its footing trying to catch the bird as it flew away, it fell and now it's at the vet.  The third call you should be to tell me that the vet says that it's not looking good for the cat.  On the fourth call you let me know that my cat died peacefully in its sleep.

"So," Alex continues.  "How's my Grandma?"

"Well, Grandma's on the roof playing with a bird."

My million dollar idea

The million dollar chickens have inspired me to come up with my next million dollar idea.  It's really a matter of perfect timing.  I have been worrying about the chickens in this cold weather, AND I just learned to knit (and by "learned to knit", I mean, someone showed me how to knit and I promptly forgot).  And the brilliant idea was  born...

Sadly, someone else thought of it, as evidenced by the image above.  No, I did not knit it, but IT WAS MY IDEA, darn it.  [Just like I thought of google, but their lawyers say I have no proof.  Sigh.]

I may have a whole wardrobe for your chickens when you return, Beth.  I'm thinking nice earthy colors, maybe a hat and four-toed gloves??

So far so good

The chickens have been in my care for more than 24 hours, and everything is going well.  Alex is totally excited about feeding "his" chickens and collecting the eggs.  I'm totally excited that three people are following my blog -- advertisers will soon be beating down my door.

The only problem I've had so far was trying to remember how to get Beth's back door to lock/close, and trying to sneak in the house without Dick seeing me and running over to ask for something!  ;)

Alex wanted me to share his favorite joke with "everyone", as if you haven't heard it a dozen times already:
Why do chickens sit on their eggs?
Answer: Because they don't have chairs.
(Raucous laughter)

I've been reading the book Beth gave me on Raising Chickens.  There is a very disturbing picture with the following caption: "An easy way to kill a chicken is to place a broom handle across the neck, stand on the handle, and firmly pull the bird upward until the neck snaps".   Um.....yuck.  Who uses their broom to kill chickens?  Do they sweep with the same broom?  I might end up a vegetarian again after I read this one, or at the very least hide my broom around chicken killers. 

We were eating chicken the other night, and Alex asked me why we call it chicken.  I told him that it is a chicken.  He laughed like that was the most ridiculous thing he ever heard.  At least he knows where milk comes from.  I guess we'll have to work on the chicken thing.

Day 0

Tomorrow is my first day as chicken nanny. Stay tuned for adventures in poultry.