English Shepherd as Poultry Guardian

[centrarchid]

Half of a plastic culvert donated by neighbor. Most are kept on ground for broodies to use as shelter.

 

[aart]

Half of a plastic culvert donated by neighbor. Most are kept on ground for broodies to use as shelter.

Hmmm it looks huge ..and see thru...not what I think of as 'culvert'.

 

[centrarchid]

I think it is designed for larger gravel where some flow comes in through side of culvert along its length. It is a very strong plastic. Contractor neighbor I got it from used it only for special situations.

 

[aart]

I think it is designed for larger gravel where some flow comes in through side of culvert along its length. It is a very strong plastic. Contractor neighbor I got it from used it only for special situations.

You're using it as run? Closer pics if you get the chance.

 

[scottcaddy]

It would make for a good hillside french style drain above a roadway.
Scott

 

[perchie.girl]

You must have several acres of pasture per head. Forage appears very sparse.

Here it takes about a hundred acres to feed one cow. The high desert has some grass but it strips out very quickly. So you have to be judicious about allowing grazing. I plan on cross fencing the three to four acres that surround the house for goat access. And Horse exercise. I have eighteen acres at about 3000 feet elevation so we do get snow as part of our precipitation.

Normally we get about nine inches of rain per year. The past couple of years we have gotten about three. desert plants are resilient and will go dormant during low rain years. Grazing during that time can mess with the eco system.

I have never lived in an area that has year round forage. I feed Baled Bermuda for my horse and Baled Alfalfa for my goats. I put one bale in a feeder for my four goats and it feeds them for ten days. Here our bales are three strand and run about 125 pounds. My goats were Nigerian dwarf and Pygmy. That is in an area where there they have stripped the forage completely. It doesn't take long. It will be down to dirt in just a few days.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

Half of a plastic culvert donated by neighbor. Most are kept on ground for broodies to use as shelter.

Quote:

I think it is designed for larger gravel where some flow comes in through side of culvert along its length. It is a very strong plastic. Contractor neighbor I got it from used it only for special situations.

Quote:

It would make for a good hillside french style drain above a roadway.
Scott

Looks to be something called an Infiltrator which is a newer style leach field.... The ABS construction takes less space than a regular leach field. They are very strong. you dig a trench drop them in and fill along the sides with gravel....

I was looking at them a while back when I found out my old leach field was dying.

deb

 

[centrarchid]

A major setback today. I lost 16 chickens to dogs. I thought mine at first upon finding 13 American Dominique dead or wounded just outside the core perimeter. It took over an hour to police up the doms with help of my wife. I was not a happy camper. I really got riled when I found several game pens either pulled about or in tatters. Two games lost with two more dinged up. Closer inspection of pens showed dog(s) cut their mouths up while trying to work on pens. Upon seeing that I went to check on my dogs and could find no damage. Pup was involved on tail end as a live pullet was found in front yard in pups possession. Damage to pullet minimal. Birds that survived ran away from core perimeter with most going towards house or to woods. Attack occurred early based on feeders still full and bodies cold and covered with fly eggs. Birds in damaged pens were moved to intact pens that were placed closer together and near hotwire. Surviving American Dominiques were moved to pens surrounded by poultry netting in apple orchard.


Tomorrow morning I will keep my dogs penned and sit out with a rifle posting a position where I can monitor traffic coming into the cockyard that is opened up on east side to allow access to construction equipment. This coupled with a very wet spring and early summer makes this year very close to a write off on the chicken side of things.

 

[scottcaddy]

Sorry to hear this bad news.
Scott

 

[beginnergirl]

So sorry. What a terrible loss. Wonder if another breed of dog would defend against other canines. Maremma, Kuvasz, Great Pyrrennes?