LGBTQ+ Poultry Keepers

[Sally PB]

Has anyone heard from @JacinLarkwell recently?

 

[fluffycrow]

It really is an ongoing battle and we just do what we can to patch up holes when we find them. The edges of my coop doors have been reinforced with pieces of metal. It’s brutal stuff. My sister got a barn cat since then (I don’t agree with outdoor cats, but we genuinely tried to keep her indoors but it wasn’t possible. She’s lightning fast and she’s going to get out no matter what you do. Also it’s ultimately up to my parents. My birds live on my parent’s property, as me and my partner rent), and the cat seems to at least reduce rat activity. It also rained like crazy this year which was terrible for my horse, nonstop thrush and rain rot all winter that I couldn’t do much about, but I think it drowned many of the rats because usually things would be crawling.

That’s what we’re doingn as well. The “coop” and half of the run aren’t on dirt, so it’s only the newer half of the run that they can dig under. Even so, all the walls are reinforced with cement under the soil, so they would need to dig a fair bit before being able to access it. The small holes on the wire is an ongoing issue.

We had quite a stable population of feral cats in the forest below, and for years we had no rats, and no foxes.
About two years ago, boars moved into the forest and scared the cats away, I imagine (our guard dog also HATES cats). Since then we have nothing predating on the rats, and the foxes have been making a comeback. I can’t free range anymore, as the fox visits daily, if not multiple times a day. She doesn’t have an appetite for rats, though

 

[fluffycrow]

Has anyone heard from @JacinLarkwell recently?

No, unfortunately. Was thinking about it this week, Jacin hasn’t posted in a while.
Clicking on the profile you tagged, it looks like mid January was when they last visited the site.

Hope Jacin is ok