English Shepherd as Poultry Guardian

[JacinLarkwell]

As I pen all dogs up at night for last few days, the fox, a largish male is coming in and causing trouble. I am going to use the game with him to get the pups really into giving the fox a hard time. My son will be learning more on the trapping side as well. Bait rooster was supposed to wake me up early this morning when fox was after bait carcass. Rooster appears to have just watched fox that was only a few feet away for better part of an hour. Slacker.

I may have missed it, are your kids back home with you? Or are they still out of state?

 

[centrarchid]

I may have missed it, are your kids back home with you? Or are they still out of state?

Kids have been back with me since just after Christmas when I drove up to Missoula, MT to pick them up. We getting settled in although have some trouble as we adjust to each new season without mom. We have backed off with respect to chickens and gardening this year as we develop a more appropriate time management strategy. I am starting to acclimate to the sustained single parenting role which can at times be exhausting. We are getting a lot of help from school, church and from work. In return I have been investing a lot of my skills in the school helping instructors. It has become evident that single dads taking caring of kids is relatively uncommon around here.

 

[Perris]

good to see you back @centrarchid I'm glad to hear things are settling down in the new pattern, and that you're getting some support from friends and colleagues. Hopefully the kids will step up too sooner or later

 

[centrarchid]

Kids are doing just that. Son in particular is growing up real fast both mentally and physically. He will be bigger than me almost certainly, and much more respectable. Daughter by all accounts is a clone of her mother with some of my bad habits thrown in for good measure.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I'm glad to hear you are doing okay @centrarchid . I've been wondering.

 

[centrarchid]

Real busy with pup training, especially with Pup Pup. When chickens say fox she runs to pens and shoots gaps I left for her and runs fox off. Fox leaves very quickly now, I think because it knows chicken alarm means Pup Pup very close. Fox comes in at same time each day like clock work.


This morning a group of at least four dogs trotting down road. Pup Pup followed by Honey and Lucy engaged were they mauled to two. One, a Husky pup is currently penned next to a couple chicken pens and will not leave. She is in good weight with a pink color. I was able to call my dogs off. This better not lead to me having another dog. Huskies are a bit harder to train off chickens.

 

[centrarchid]

Just lost Ben to heat. He was grossly overweight pushing 100-lbs and had not shed any of his undercoat. Everyone else is doing fine.

We are now without a male and Lucy is too slow to do much.

Yet another loss for us.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

So sorry to hear that. It's been a horrible year with the heat.

 

[Perris]

for Ben.
Glad to hear that everyone else there is doing fine. How old is Lucy now?

 

[fisherlady]

I'm sorry to hear about Ben, What a terrible loss for you and the children. Hopefully the youngsters will step up to keep predators in check.