Building Chicken Runs
William asks…
Daycare Regulations?! PLEASE HELP.?
Hello.
I have some questions regarding rules/regulations for daycares in the state of California regarding animals. It's not my own daycare, but here is the problem: I have lived in a home for 16 years, and have never had issues with rodents/pests. The house next door has always been rented, and about three months ago a family moved in. This family runs a daycare, but has built a few chicken coops, & owns around 15 chickens. All of a sudden, we have gotten ALOT of rats, not mice, but rats. The only conclusion we can come to is that the rats are drawn to the chickens because they eat the eggs and they are residing in our house. My question is, is there any regulations against running a daycare and also having chicken coops? because we have complained to the city about the chickens in general, & there are apparently no rules against having them in a residential area, but i'm not sure about the daycare + chickens. Any ideas?
Building Chicken Coops answers:
No. There is no law about in home daycares and chicken coops. Set out some poison.
Nancy asks…
My litter of mice are doing well... but..?
I'm hand rearing mice.
I was helping out on a building site and we accidentally killed the mother.
We were moving some bricks one fell and yeah... The litter wasn't that far away. We left them until the end of the day to see if it wasn't the mother we killed. We did so I took them home.
Anyway. They have been feeding well. I've been encouraging bowel movements with a damp cloth and it all seems normal. I assume they are about a week and a half old.
I was originally going to keep them, but I'm working a lot on the site, I have a horse, 2 dogs and 4 fish tanks. etc so I'm releasing them into the horse field
How can I encourage wild behaviour so they have the best chances for survival?
I was going to some how build like a small outdoor run out of chicken wire so they can forage. Then bring them in after an hour outside? or even tipping an old fish tank upside down. drilling some holes in the top and bringing them in after an hour. It's a 55 gallon tank and I have 2 so I can separate the boys from the girls. It's a large littler of 20. So I have my hands seriously full and I've had no deaths yet.
Building Chicken Coops answers:
Their wild instincts will kick in on their own. You can encourage it by interacting as little as possible with them. Do not give them domestic items such as wheels and water bottles as they obviously will not have this in the wild. The following paragraph is from the link I gave you on another answer giving complete instructions on hand-raising orphan wild mice bubs:
"Whatever you do...whether you raise them from pinkies, or from weaning....do NOT offer them commercialized pet-foods, try to keep them on wild bird seed and insects, and do not give them wheels or water bottles. Do not interact with them except to feed or clean them, so not try to tame them or pet them. You want to try to keep them as wild as possible and as not used to people as possible so that they can survive easier in the wild when you set them free. There aren't water bottles in the wild, or wheels, or dishes. Sprinkle their seed (if they are old enough to eat it) wild mice hunt and root for food. Feeding them mealworms and crickets (live) helps them hunt and will be a great asset in the wild. Not taming them ensures a healthy sense of self-preservation."
http://forum.thefunmouse.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12871
You can start weaning them at 2 weeks old. Offer them bird seed and foods they are likely to find in the wild. The above link offers suggestions. While domestic bubs are typically weaned at 4 weeks old, wild mice may take another week or so to be completely weaned. Continue with your plan to separate the genders at 4 weeks old as that is the earliest a mouse can get pregnant. Usually you must separate the bucks one per house at 4 weeks old so no fatalities occur due to fighting, but since you are letting them go shortly after it may not be necessary. (Keep it in the back of your mind, though, that it is recommended the bucks be solo at 4 weeks.) When you get ready to release them, pick a day with the weather clear and no signs of a storm in the forecast. Mice are crepuscular. This means they are primarily active during twilight hours: dawn and dusk. As such, it would be best to release them as close to dawn as possible so they have a chance to find shelter. The park is ideal as there is ground covering, bird activity and no buildings. The ground covering assure they can find a home. The bird activity assures a food source is near. No buildings assure they will not enter someone's home or structure and get caught in a trap: humane or inhumane.
My mouse friend that rescues wild mice uses the above approach to release wild bubs once weaned completely. She has never had a problem helping them establish their natural behavior when she plans to keep them wild.
Donna asks…
How can I get a six pack and a toned built body??
I am 6'0 foot about 150lbs, and I'm trying to get a six pack and toned body. I asked the same question not to long ago and everyone told me to eat 6 small meals a day so that is what I am going to do. Here is a daily routine I am starting today.
8:00 a.m. eat 260 cals (oatmeal, eggwhites, 6 bit size canteloupe)
9:00 a.m. Workout with high reps low weight
10:00 a.m. eat 260 cals (1 cup skimmilk/1 cup shredded wheat cereal)
11:00 a.m. run treadmill (7.0 for 30 minutes no stopping)
12:00 p.m. eat 260 cals (piece of cod fish and wheat spaghetti)
1:00 p.m. n/a
2:00 p.m. eat 260 cals (1 can tuna,1 apple)
3:00 p.m. n/a
4:00 p.m. eat 260 cals (1/4 cup walnuts and 1/4 cup raisins)
5:00 p.m. n/a
6:00 p.m. eat 260 cals (Piece of chicken and vegetables)
Am I on the right track? I also do about 30 pushups a day and however many pullups I can do....
Thanks everyone for all the help
,Steven
Building Chicken Coops answers:
Why would you eat oatmeal, then go workout, then eat an HOUR later, then run. Your stomach is going to hurt. Just eat then an hour and a half later workout AND run, then eat.
