Rainbow, Myrtle & Cockatiels

[Pajarita]

I would not consider allowing a fertile egg to hatch, Liz, it's way too late in the season for a baby to be born... But that's me. What I would do is switch all the eggs and start turning off their lights earlier in the pm and later in the am. Right now, I am turning on the lights in the morning at 9 am and off at 5 pm - everybody has abandoned the nests and is in molt.

[liz]

I have been lighting the birds at 9 am and off at 6 pm.

It is not the time of the year that I worry about since they are climate controlled year round.

Tweet has had multiple nests this year. I don't know if she did it before I got her. Rescues don't come with much info.

What I am thinking is to let her hatch one and get it out of her system. I know when I had two pair that the second pair helped care for the babies as soon as they left the nest. One year only 1 baby hatched. It was alone in the nest so it came out early. I called him Columbus. He belonged to Sweetie and Shadow but Lemone' claimed his right to be a nanny. I expect that this flock would do the same. If not Jackie has experience with babies and will help care for it.

[Pajarita]

The problem with the late season hatching is not the temperature, Liz, it's the amount of daylight hours. Babies cannot be fed enough when the day is short and, although you can keep the days artificially long for another four months (which is what it would take for the baby to grow large enough so it can go without food for a long night), this will get you hormonal birds and eggs in the middle of the winter (you had some last December, remember?).

I guess you could allow the egg to hatch but you will have to take it out of the birdroom in the evening and handfeed it yourself so as not to mess up the other birds solar schedule. But I don't know if that will work with the parents though, they might not accept the baby once you take it out. I really don't know, I have no personal experience with it and don't remember ever reading about anything like that been done. When I had the rescue, I got two pairs of cockatiels that were bred off-season and the father ended up attacking the babies (only one made it and he had wounds all over his head).

[liz]

I had been finding some kind of tracks in Jakes pen going to his water bucket. I let him out because of the storms and made him a condo in the tack room with the horses so he would not be afraid as much. The critters are still going into his pen.
For the last week I have been finding holes burrowed in the hay stored in there. I destroy the nest of whatever it is but there are always more the next morning.
Jake has two big bite marks on his back that I thought were caused by that knot head miniature horse but am now finding marks on Indy, the big horse.

We found a tortoise the size of a silver dollar in the road out here. I have rescued two big ones from going deaf with Jake barking at them. For some reason they can get in the horse pen but not get out. My son rescued a squirrel who drowned in a horse water bucket. He got the little guy to start breathing again and we had hopes he would recover but died 2 days later.
So far I have found 2 little snakes in my yard. Evelette the cat was playing with them. I always check a critter who is doing something I did not understand and she was hopping up and down outside the front door. The first one was a kind I had never seen but Charles told me he was harmless. The second one I found with her was no bigger than a pencile but had fangs.
I have also been finding scorpions in my yard and storage shed.

Since I am things here that I have not encountered before I am at a loss of what is living in the horse pen and tack room. I am in a semi rural area. There are no businesses in my area and this neighborhood has at least 1 acre per house.
Can anyone tell me what is making nests in the hay? I have never seen nests like that in the hay. I was raised on a 12 acre farm and thought I knew all the wild life but this place is new to me.

My son has put two big cages together so I can put the Amazons on the back deck for a few hours a day so they will have new things to see and yell at besides me. Now I wonder if it is safe to put them out there.

Please, can anyone inform me of what is unwelcome but living here? I close all the critters but the back yard boys in the house at night. I just do not have enough room to bring in Jake and two horses. What can I do?

Help !

[Wolf]

Most of the time burrows in hay are the work of mice and rats, but need more information, perhaps a picture or three to be able to say more.

As to the bites on the dog, Jake and on the horse, I would say that is the handy work of the pony. Ponies tend to be rather pushy and because they are smaller than a normal horse they can often bully the larger horse as they can move faster in close quarters than the larger horse can. Ponies are known for biting.

[Pajarita]

I have no idea... my first thought was rats, though. They could account for both the bites and the nests but rat bites are of a completely different size and shape from horses bites so check the shape and size of them -maybe you can look online for pictures of both and compare them...

[liz]

I suspected that the knot head miniature horse is causing the bites. One on Jake looks to be the size of his mouth.

The critter visiting Jakes dog lot has a younger one with her. I cannot tell by the tracks what it is but am thinking raccoon.

The holes in the hay are too big to be caused by mice or rats. They are too small for raccoons or opossums. I am beginning to think it is some kind of weasel.

[Wolf]

Pictures of the tracks, the contents of the nests as well as of the entrance to the nest or at least a measurement of the entrance could help to identify your visitor and pictures of the bites might help as well.

[liz]

My desk top computer is not set up yet so no pictures. The holes are the size of a fist and as deep as up to the wrist bone. It can't be a big animal for such a small hole. It is also a very neat hole as if it were punched in. Jake just isn't talking. He does not seem afraid of whatever it is. Since he is loose with the horses he does not have to stay where he does not want to.
I am at a lose with this one. The tack room does not have lights so it is quite dark in there before it is dark in the stalls. That thing could be there while I am and I would not see it.

[Wolf]

Based on the hole size I would have to say rats.