Yes, I totally agree. I think perhaps your very best protection is a predator-proof coop. If you have poultry and nothing to protect them when they free range, you WILL loose birds to predators. Do right by your birds and provide them with safety and security. All it takes is one raccoon and your whole flock could be massacred. If you have a fear of dogs, I wonder if a GP would be right for you. They can be down right intimidating. I'm not afraid of dogs, but having two of my big dogs cirle me in the dark when coming in from hunting definitely gets my attention. "Buddy.... It's me! Yooohooo... Buddy...... It's only me.... gulp." Once they know who that person is walking out of the woods they are all fine and happy and tail waggely. Until they know, it's serious business to them.
Sounds like you got a lot done. We have had the flies really bad here, too. We bought some DE and I have been keeping up on cleaning things out and that alone has cut the population by more than half. We also put up fly tape. But even at that, they are bad this year! I don't remember having this problem last year! They have been eating up the horses too. I've had to spray them down every evening.Howdey all! Someone asked for our to-do lists: Mine is almost done, but so far today I've accomplished a lot in this heat!
- I cleaned out the coop and in the inner run & relocated the stinky fly traps and hung up vanilla trees all around the coops. (I'm afraid my neighbors are going to be more upset about the fly population I'm attracting versus the chicken and duck noises - but yet maybe they don't have flies at their place since they are all coming to ours!)
- I created a second nest box out of my kitties old litter box. Finally decided that I didn't need it around since our one cat left only uses "hers".
- Got lots of gardening picked. I'm jealous as to who got peppers big enough to eat stuffed peppers. My peppers are about the size of a lemon. They aren't growing well at all. The tomatoes however - I'm getting about 30 cherry tomatoes a day! I'm starting to give them away at work because there is only so much salsa you can make! LOL
- I got some homework done and going to start on dinner here in a few. We are having beef and barley soup. The chooks love these leftovers!
Got another egg today - in the nest box! I still can't figure out whose doing it. I've been watching that coop like a hawk and I sware that It turned by back for 30 minutes and someone had gone in there and laid! I've decided to blow out the first egg I got and make a christmas ornament out of it.
Stay cool everyone. Gonna be another hot week! My DH is going to an outdoor concert all day on Tuesday and I don't envy him at all!
We have someone in Winfield. I went to HS in Belle Plaine-- right close to Oxford. I'm now between Mulvane and Clearwater, so down that way.Wow - thank you EVERYONE for all your responses and information about dogsSo much information.. you guys are awesome
Tish and HeChicken - honestly, I'd be afraid of a fullgrown dog I'd not have grown up with. I've had dogs in the past as puppies (smaller/medium breeds), I do know a little about the whole puppy drama
I'm so glad I came over here to this community - anyone from Winfield or Oxford?
So sorry about your guineas, Danz! That is terrible. This summer hasn't been much better than last summer.
I think that will be my plan! I hadn't really thought about passing on the coat to my younger kids... ah well, I think it will be an easy fix.
I think we will change around when we do the Showmanship like what you do. If it's done first thing in the morning, then perhaps it will be before the sheep/goats are shown. That is where we are running into trouble (this year). And in years past, she said that their activities are at the same time, and so the poultry thing isn't something they consider. It's a shame. I think we need to do a Showmanship clinic this year, too so that kids will have some idea of what they need to do. We could probably do it with a stuffed bird at the 4-H building. Definitely too hot to double up on birds. I hope they do okay for you. We had two deaths.
Nice! Glad the venison was good! So funny about the pork! Wow, I sure wish our Walmart would make that mistake! I'd buy a ton of it, too!! I don't have any way to grind it down, though. But i love breakfast sausage, too.
The thought of that was off-putting to me too, to be honest. At my old house, my next door neighbors left their dogs out day/night in a small, enclosed backyard, and the poor things were bored senseless and barked all the time. It got very old to try to sleep at night with them sitting just feet from my bedroom window, barking throughout the night. So when I heard that GP's bark a lot at night, I wasn't that excited. My experience though has been that I rarely hear my dog, and when she does bark, I know she is barking AT something, not barking just to bark. Also, as someone else said, it is a deep, forceful bark, not a high-pitched yappy, just-want-to-hear-the-sound-of-my-voice bark. I actually find it comforting to hear her barking, which I know sounds strange and is unexpected to me, but when I hear her bark, I know "Tory is on the job" and I can go back to sleep without having to worry about waking to carnage in the morning.
x2. What works for one person isn't always a great solution for another. I really hate seeing people get pets on impulse and then when it doesn't work out, treating them like they are disposable. I would much rather see someone like yourself put a lot of thought and research into it beforehand, to make sure it is a good decision, before jumping in. As others have said, an LGD is not the only predator solution.
I like a good wheat beer but I'll try about anything. DH likes the dark beers and I'm thinking about trying a stout next, although it might be better to save that for the warmer months. Thanks for the offer on the hops. So far I haven't tried any full grain brews, sticking instead to the kits
