Join us as we share our homesteading journey, focusing on our chicken flock. From tackling predators and pests to investing in a luxury coop, we have some exciting updates!
##Summary of Post
We are making significant strides in managing our chickens, driven by various challenges such as predators, pests, and some adventurous hens. We are encountering a variety of predators, including a massive hawk, iguanas, lizards, wild cats and dogs, and even some feisty neighborhood roosters. Pests are also a concern, with tarantulas, ants, and termites making their presence known. We also discuss our experiences with a broody hen and a squatter. Lastly, we reveal our decision to splurge on a luxury coop, ensuring our chickens have the best home possible. Join us as we navigate the ups and downs of homesteading life!
##Natural Predators and Pests
Predators – the largest hawk I’ve ever seen, a few iguanas and large lizards, wild cats and dogs, and a handful of aggressive neighborhood roosters.
##Pests – termites, tarantulas, and ants.
##Termites
We had a coop that we built only a few months ago for our 2 roosters and 4 hens. It was already getting a little wonky and one leg was almost gone. They were not even using it anymore. Lesson learned about termites and ants with this first coop. We built it with tree limbs we had cut down, old chicken wire and tin we found on the property, and pieces of a closet rack we kept from the girls’ bedrooms. We keep everything because we don’t like to be wasteful and we love repurposing things that would otherwise end up in the landfill. The only cost for this coop was the nails we used to put it together.
Here in Puerto Rico, termites are everywhere. Boy did they have a feast on that poor coop! Thank the Lord our house is concrete. They still try to come in. They are cardboard moving boxes, pieces of mail, and even part of one of the girls’ yearbooks within the first month or two of moving in. We found the mound and used a method to get rid of it that a local jibaro friend taught us (another article to come for this topic) and treated around our house inside and out that was safe for us and our pets. This is one we bought at a local box store.
##Tarantulas and ants
Tarantulas and ants are a problem here too. This is more true when it rains. We are on a tropical island so it is no surprise it rains here a lot.
Tarantulas
Tarantulas are really scary-looking, but they really aren’t that bad. They are fuzzy and really are not aggressive. We had so many tarantulas here when we first moved in… We find them in our vehicle, our beds, and even wake up to them crawling on us. How do you get tarantulas to relocate? How do you get the numbers under control? Enter the chicken. They don’t just eat chicken feed, your favorite plants, and food scraps. These amazing little animals eat bugs! They truly are tiny T-Rex. Our original flock of 6 has taken the number way down. They are taking these pests and turning them into homestead gold for us. Eggs and Fertilizer.
##Ants
We learned that used cooking oil on top of ant piles makes them leave the area. We had some piles that were so large we needed to burn them to get rid of them. Not my favorite thing to do because ants do serve a purpose. However, we need them to live somewhere a little farther away. When we do need to, we put some gasoline or diesel down in the center of the pile so it goes down deep into the mound. We light it on fire and allow it to burn out. This will kill many of them but also encourage the rest to leave. The encouragement just runs a little deeper into the mound with this method.
I know there are other better methods we can use, such as mint and other herbs to do this. We had to move fast and we chose to go this route. Side note – We have a project in the works involving this, so be on the lookout for that post. If anyone has recipes or plants for natural bug and pest deterrents, please share them in the comments below.
##Broody Hen
The predators and pests led to us needing to fix that coop. We also had another good reason to build another coop. One of our laying hens became broody and decided that behind the old grill of my Jeep was the perfect spot to sit on the eggs rather than in the coop. We knew we had to do something quickly so the babies would not all disappear. Papi quickly wrapped scrap tin around where she had created her makeshift nest. He used rebar to stabilize it.
We provided food and water for her. Within a week or so all 7 babies hatched. They were safe, but we had to get moving. A friend has the babies at his house where they will safely grow until they are big enough to join his flock and ours. She is now in the fixed coop.
##Squatter
The same day we also learned a lesson about leaving our doors propped open when we are not at home. We have a marquesina (a type of porch with metal railing around top to bottom) that stays locked when we leave. This makes it easy to leave the windows and doors open to let the cool breeze from the mountains flow through the house and everything is still locked up and safe.
##Comfort is the Culprit
However, our chickens are so comfortable with us, that it is easy for them to let themselves inside to lay eggs in random spots on the porch. A milk crate, a box, some fresh towels we just folded, everything under there was fair game. One hen decided that since I moved her egg the day before she would rummage around when we left to run errands.
She left us a few presents in the dining room floor, she also found a perfect place to lay an egg. When we walked in our daughter’s room, one of our Rhode Island Reds was snuggled up in the bed as if it were her room. Reaching in to the bed to take her out, we found that she had just laid an egg. She didn’t seem too concerned with the egg so we took it and put her out into the coop with the other momma hen. This is a whole new twist on the term “you made the bed, you lay in it.”
##Luxury Coop Splurge
To keep the squatters at bay, we decided to build another coop. Splurging a little, we bought treated wood to keep the termites at bay. We know it won’t keep them away for long. We will treat this coop and the old one with used motor oil. A friend at the Fereteria (think local feed store or tractor supply) told us this trick. Let me be the first to say, this one is a Cadillac compared to the first one. The one after that was long, the extended escalade version. When my husband gets on a role, he goes all out. One full week of our time is invested in this coop.
##Kikiriki – Bantams
We were gifted 4 Kikiriki (Bantam) chickens, 1 hen and 3 roosters. So the small coop we had intended for our big chickens would now be their home. Because they are new to our homestead, they need to stay in there to get used to life here with us. The others are already here and sticking around. The new girls from Salina have joined our 2 lonely little guys. Now all of our little roos have their wives.
##Rocky and his girls
Papi’s coop-building streak continued, he built a 4 section coop for our larger chickens. Our young roo, Prince was in the old coop with the larger chickens and one of our smaller hens that we caught. Within a day, he had found a weak spot from the termites we missed and let himself and our little dark hen out.
Boy was it hard to catch him. It was by pure luck my daughter saw him in a corner when she was walking home from the bus stop. She grabbed him up. She is by far the best of all of us at catching the chickens when she’s calm. We still haven’t caught our little girl. She’s wandering around with Rocky and Goldy. Those 3 are determined not to go in the coop now. They are super smart and watch our every move. To this day, they are still out. They come up to eat and then take off into the tall brush.