Sunflowerparrot, I also am glad that you're doing your research before getting a GP. I know of one case right now with someone who got one & didn't research it first & now a year later are struggling about the best thing to do for the dog. It's not the dog's fault that they didn't do their homework first, but she is the one who ultimately will end up with someone else having to adjust to a new environment & new owners. I agree with checoukan, yes GPs bark, but only when they need to in order to scare off an unwanted predator. I do hear mine bark at night, but it's not constant barking like HeChicken said all night long, they bark when they need to. It comforts me to hear them also because I know they're doing their job out there when I hear that & I can sleep better knowing that. If you have only one predator attack & lose several birds like I have you would know that it's so worth any amount of barking or going through puppy stuff to keep your flock safe. It was after I lost half of my guineas & a hen that I decided enough was enough & I needed a livestock guardian dog. I ended up with two because they work better with more than one, but at any rate it was after the fact that I got them just like HeChicken. It's heartbreaking to see the carnage left behind by a predator or predators after you have put time & money into buying the birds & raising them. It's also true that there are other kinds of things you can try first other than a GP if you're not comfortable, but the donkeys are only effective against some things. I have a friend who has one & still lost birds to other predators other than coyotes. KarenS has electric fence & still had a fox attack & lost birds, so you have to think about whether the method or methods you end up with are going to keep all the predators away or just some or if you're willing to chance losing some of your flock. The predators are getting worse this year, they're hungry I think due to the drought & less food sources, so they're getting bolder. I hear almost every day on the sites I'm on on FB about someone else losing birds, some of them have been wiped totally out & had to start all over with new ones.
We had a pretty good day with my granddaughter yesterday. We ended up taking her shopping to get some school clothes to get her started out. My son had a bad month expense-wise & had told me he couldn't give her any money for school stuff, so we decided to try to help out some. She was pretty good for us & we got her quite a few things since they had quite a bit on clearance at JC Penney. It will be hot to start out, so warm weather clothes will get her going for awhile at least. We did find some cute things & she was happy with her new stuff. She even found a couple pairs of jeans, which if you knew this child you would know was a flat out miracle. She is the strangest child when it comes to pants of any kind, they have to fit her just right or she throws fits & won't wear them. She has been that way since she was a tiny little thing, it's the strangest thing I have ever seen. I made her try everything on & make sure they all fit right & she could move around the way she wanted to in them. She squatted down in one pair of jeans & said yep my butt can breathe, strange! She is the same way about underwear, we have had just horrible fits over those. It was too hot to be outside too much, but my DH took her out a couple times for brief periods. We mostly stayed in & watched a movie & TV other than the shopping. She didn't want to go home until really late, it was like 11:30 when we got her home & we were tired.
Danz, have your blue slate turkeys started gobbling yet? Now that mine started they gobble at me every time I come out the front door. This morning they were really talking wanting me to come feed them.
I have found someone to buy the last of my little Welsummer chicks that live in Arkansas City, so I guess I'm going to make a run down there to the hardware store this afternoon & meet them with the chicks. The lady is getting them for her granddaughter as her project, so I hope the child doesn't decide in a couple weeks she doesn't want to take care of them any more & dump them on grandma. That will leave me with just my own chicks to deal with. I have the little Cream Legbars still in a dog crate & the tiny little Swedish Flower Hen chicks, they're so cute. The Cream Legbars are going to have to move outside before too long because they're growing & will be too crowded. I've got to get out there this afternoon & work some more on that pen for the Ameraucanas & I think I'm going to put the Salmon Faverolles in there for now too so that I have more room in the grow-out pen for all of the smaller chicks I need to put in there. It's always a juggling act to have places to put birds in different stages. I have one egg left in the incubator that comes out this Weds. It's my last Cream Legbar egg, I sure hope it hatches.
Try to stay cool everyone & have a good day!
