Tag: cat

Caulking siding

On By CarynIn Coop

It has been rather warm here for the last few days (We hit 80 degrees!). As unlike the arctic freeze my friends and family experienced up north last week as you can get. We have day lilies peeking up through the mulch and the gnats and other bugs are resurfacing. The good and the bad of warm weather.

I took advantage of the warmth to caulk in the seams and screws on the siding on the coop.

Caulking in the seams of the siding

The caulk I used can’t be painted for a week, though, so it is probably good that winter is rearing its head again later in the week.

One wall caulked in

It was so nice and warm I had company as I worked. Sophie, the outside cat, curled up and nearly disappeared under a tree in a pile of leaves. I think grey calico is probably one of the best camouflage colors for cats.

Sophie sleeping under a tree
Spot the cat

And Izzy, our inside cat, enjoyed time in her hammock in her catio. As much as she would love to roam free, she did not grow up in these woods, and I have heard there are cat-killer dogs in the neighborhood. So she has a small outside area that she accesses through a window.

Izzy in her hammock

Our dog was out keeping an eye on me too. No picture for him today, too wiggly.

And now I will return you to our regularly scheduled winter program.

Cats

On By CarynIn Wildlife

Not really surprising that a cat will eat a chicken, or chicks given the opportunity. What is surprising is the number of outside cats that prowl the neighborhood. Our neighbors have a clowder of cats to keep the snake population down, especially the copperheads (yikes!). I’m all for those cats doing their job (although I think there is a speckled king snake on our side of the fence, and I hope he stays because he (or she) also keeps away the poisonous snakes), but it means that we have to plan on protecting the chicks and chickens both from stalking cats and slithering snakes. Here is a photo from the trail cam.

One of our neighborhood snake patrol agents. His name is Rusty.

Cute, but deadly! Hence “Chicken Fort Knox”. We are planning on putting 1/2″ welded wire along the bottom of the runs and skirting the coop to keep the smaller critters out, and 1″ welded wire along the upper sides and top. We will also bury welded wire mesh all along the outside of the coop and runs to deter digging.

We’ve had a gray calico adopt us as well, so we really want to make sure we protect the chickens and still be able to enjoy our outside felines.

Sophie, who decided to adopt us.