OK ... sorry I've been away so long. I will fill in the details but basically I let it go. I figured neighbor's are more important than money or chickens. The dogs are now my friends ... and so are the neighbors. I can rebuild. I have 6 girls that survived and getting 4 eggs per day ... Not a...
I have several dogs ... very old now. Two are 17 years old ... Can't imagine how I'd feel if one were shot. Then again I would never allow one of mine to go off killing...
I want to come up with a way I can let my chickens run free and provide them security. I thought this was possible but this tragedy has me thinking it will never work ... Can you truly secure 10 or 20 acres and keep all predators out?
My birds were happiest ... I say happy ... produced the...
Yes ... this was a mistake. The building sits low to the ground at the back, higher on the door side. I never thought something would crawl under and try to dig through. The rocks are HEAVY and I thought surely nothing would move them.
Of course I only have pictures of 4-board fence ... the perimeter is wire mesh on three sides - 48" tall with 2 strands of barbed wire at the top on 60" posts at the back and one strand on the sides.
Front fence is 5 wire high tensile (on outside) across 6 inch posts set 8-10 feet apart, again...
This is a typical day in the neighborhood ... everyone set way back from the fence lines. My chickens lived free ... no medications, no antibiotics... natural selection. The greatest loss I sustained was to an owl that took three roosters before he was captured. I wanted my chickens to live free...
I see your point ... I think the mistake I made was ignoring the "domestic" threats. I should have eliminated them from the beginning ...worst thing I did was trust someone else would be worried about my animals. Lesson learned.
Regarding the fence ... My intent was always to raise "free...
I almost have to laugh ... Someone said "I should not have left chickens out in the field and tempted the dogs. I was 'asking for it'" ...
I had what was left of my birds in a stick built coop, surrounded by a chain link - dog kennel style - fence. The panels are 10x10 set up as there run. the...
I am not sure why the responsibility to provide fencing to secure my animals from someone else's domestic animals falls under the category of "my problem".
The area we are talking about is 11 acres in the shape of a "D" ... the entire property is fences ... 6" posts spead 10 feet apart. The...
The way I am looking at this: It will take me 6 months to recover to a point where I can produce eggs. The $875 covers the cost of the lost birds and feed to grow them to laying age. During that time I will not have any egg production - I do not understand what my cost has to do with revenue. If...