Random Jabber Jibber thread

Ozumoz66

Well-Known Member
Just curious as I dislike horses but what is the bad mix of possums and horses?
The Amish around here let their horses drop apples along the roadway, so I too dislike their mess. The possums can carry a disease that spreads through their feces. If a horse eats in a pasture where the diseased possum has been, the horse is often rendered useless thereafter.

"Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM) is a neurologic disease in horses caused by infection with the protozoan Sarcocystis neurona (SN). SN infects horses when they ingest the organism in contaminated feed or water. The definitive host of this organism is the opossum, which passes the organism in its feces. Horses are considered a “dead end” host for SN, meaning that once infected, they are not a source of infection for other animals. Once the horse ingests SN, the organism can penetrate the gastrointestinal tract, enter the bloodstream, and then enter the central nervous system.

EPM presents with a variety of neurologic signs, depending on the infection. Signs can have a subtle, gradual onset, or be acute and severe. Most commonly, horses with EPM present with asymmetric hindlimb paresis (weakness) and muscle atrophy. Rarely, the first signs may be related to a cranial nerve deficit (blindness, facial nerve deficits) or a focal brain lesion (depression, seizures). "
 
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Ozumoz66

Well-Known Member
I get fresh ones for $2 a dozen now........chickens are assholes. They shit on everything....they get into the garden and fuck it up fast. They draw in other shitty animals (I don't have a raccoon problem anymore) they disappear.....sometimes forever.....sometimes just for two weeks....then you find her sitting on eggs......you can smell some of the eggs in that hiding spot you've never seen before......bad bad smell when it's in the 90°'s in shorts, barefoot, shirtless.....you feel bad so you pick her up, but she fights....... scratching you and then some of the rotten eggs start to explode like little genades full of sulphur jizz. Oh, and this was all in front of the cable guy....chickens are assholes :lol:
Yes, chickens are assholes but so are the two legged, motocross riding people across the road, making noise and spreading dust all day. I provide them with a secure coup for the night to protect them from the coyotes, possums and raccoons. A wooden 60's Coke box is used for a nest to lay their eggs in and no one gets free ranged till the laying is complete - no broody hens here. The 300 feet of portable fencing keeps them contained and out of the garden - I'd be pissed if they got into the garden.

Originally I got them to teach the Gkids something, but with the pandemic we've only seen them once briefly in September so there's not much being learned - they're 2.5hrs away plus their father works at the Windsor, ON hospital. Once Covid is under control, I'll let the chickens live out their natural lives and repurpose the coup for a grow room. :bigjoint:
 

MICHI-CAN

Well-Known Member
View attachment 4852844

I used to be disgusted by Opossums but after learning a bit about them I've decided to leave them alone.

1. Opossums don't really get rabies. Although theoretically any mammal can contract the rabies virus, opossums seem somehow immune to it. It's not really ever documented in the North American Virginia Opossum (the only possum that lives in the USA). This is thought to be because the possum has a below-average body temperature, in which the rabies virus has difficulty thriving.

2. They are a large part of the wild lands "clean up crew". Opossums eat dead animals, insects, rodents and birds. They also feed on eggs, frogs, plants, fruits and grain. Opossums also eat the skeletal remains of rodents and roadkill animals. They will also eat dog food, cat food and human food waste.

3. They are immune to many snake venom's. New research shows that the marsupials might be the key to developing an antivenom that could not only save people from snake bites but from attacks by scorpions and from plant and bacterial toxins as well.

4. (And the #1 reasons I like em around) Opossums are also notable for their ability to clean themselves of ticks, which they then eat. Some estimates suggest they can eliminate up to 5,000 ticks in a season.


...

Nature's garbage men. They perform a beneficial service and receive no recognition. Be nice to them people.
 

neosapien

Well-Known Member
I most certainly have a possum round here. I've seen it. At night. Scary as fuck. I knew about the ticks, so I just let it be. Also cuz it scares the shit out of me with its nightmare face. I still think it was a bird in the concrete though. It looked like only 4 feet things and they were small like sticks. Probably a piece of shit blue Jay. Fucking asshole. I got a ton of blue Jays, cardinals and little fucking birds.
 

MICHI-CAN

Well-Known Member
I most certainly have a possum round here. I've seen it. At night. Scary as fuck. I knew about the ticks, so I just let it be. Also cuz it scares the shit out of me with its nightmare face. I still think it was a bird in the concrete though. It looked like only 4 feet things and they were small like sticks. Probably a piece of shit blue Jay. Fucking asshole. I got a ton of blue Jays, cardinals and little fucking birds.
A skunk has similar prints only smaller. Also red squirrels here are close. And even smaller. And yet smaller are our 13 stripe chipmunks. All with very close foot prints. And tree rats hop two feet at a time. Rarely stride. A measurement would clear this up quickly.
 

DarkWeb

Well-Known Member
Yes, chickens are assholes but so are the two legged, motocross riding people across the road, making noise and spreading dust all day. I provide them with a secure coup for the night to protect them from the coyotes, possums and raccoons. A wooden 60's Coke box is used for a nest to lay their eggs in and no one gets free ranged till the laying is complete - no broody hens here. The 300 feet of portable fencing keeps them contained and out of the garden - I'd be pissed if they got into the garden.

Originally I got them to teach the Gkids something, but with the pandemic we've only seen them once briefly in September so there's not much being learned - they're 2.5hrs away plus their father works at the Windsor, ON hospital. Once Covid is under control, I'll let the chickens live out their natural lives and repurpose the coup for a grow room. :bigjoint:
6' high of fence did nothing but give me a chore the day I put it up. The only thing I wanted from them was the shit. I used a deep bed of straw and shavings in their coup and I still have a big pile of it. Just not having the chickens has been a huge reason Im not fighting a raccoon with a ski pole at 3am every night getting into my garbage. My kids liked them. But we also don't like to wear shoes as long as we can stand it. Finding chicken shit in my garage I think was when I started to hate them.....or was it the garden every damn year no matter what I did. And when you plan on leaving for a vacation or even come home at a later time.....you gotta ask someone to close it up. I don't have anything against anyone that wants them.....but when I hear someone say it's great and easy lol give it 10 years some don't mind it.....and for the first maybe 5 I didn't mind. $2 sounds great :)

The broody one had the nickname "stupid chicken" it was definitely at the bottom of the pecking order and I had to find her every night. LOL she was my favorite when she was a chick almost a pet. Since she was always the one that no matter what I did she was the one that got out or in or just stupid shit.

Once I had a raccoon every night trying to get in there. I'd run up and check no matter what time or weather. That bastard figured out how to open the door......... didn't get any before I got there....but I wasn't expecting to open the coop in the middle of the night face to face.

Another time I went to check on the count because I was late home and had someone close them up. Found a fucking skunk! LOL
 

manfredo

Well-Known Member
We had chickens and as a teen it was my job to feed, water, and collect eggs. Yes, they are a huge PITA and $2 a dozen is so worth it!! I remember when we butchered them too...and I remember when my parents gave the meat away because us kids refused to eat it, lol. Not because we saw them murdered...we were farm kids. They just tasted like crap!

I use to get stoned in the chicken coop every day before school though...Which is why I didn't mind doing it! :bigjoint:
 

MICHI-CAN

Well-Known Member
We had chickens and as a teen it was my job to feed, water, and collect eggs. Yes, they are a huge PITA and $2 a dozen is so worth it!! I remember when we butchered them too...and I remember when my parents gave the meat away because us kids refused to eat it, lol. Not because we saw them murdered...we were farm kids. They just tasted like crap!

I use to get stoned in the chicken coop every day before school though...Which is why I didn't mind doing it! :bigjoint:
In the 80's we had a family venture of 100 birds between 3 parties. Strictly meat for the freezers. I can never forget gas station styrofoam coolers full of congealed blood. Or the stench after the pre plucking dip in boiling water. Worse than wet dog by a mile.
 

Ozumoz66

Well-Known Member
In the 80's we had a family venture of 100 birds between 3 parties. Strictly meat for the freezers. I can never forget gas station styrofoam coolers full of congealed blood. Or the stench after the pre plucking dip in boiling water. Worse than wet dog by a mile.
Yeah, out of 6 kids I seemed to be the one operating the hatchet from age 14 till I left home. We never had chicken on the butchering days because of the wet feather smell still fresh in the nasal passage.
 

curious2garden

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