- Jun 10, 2009
- 106
- 1
- 109
I am so sorry! Please get a good pen fixed quick!
My Heart Aches
- Thread starter 4hooves&featheredfriends
- Start date
Oh goodness, that's terrible
I have lots of predators in where I live (in the middle of the woods - raccoons, coyotes, foxes, hawks and every once in awhile a bear, bobcat, or mountain lion that's wandered a bit far south) - and I've come to accept that, while my plywood nighttime pens are good and secure, there's no outside run that I can make completely safe. So far, I haven't lost any of my ducks - but I'm seriously looking into getting a livestock guardian type puppy to raise with my birds next spring. I've been combing the shelters in my area - I stumbled across the most perfect Akbash puppies on petfinder, but they're in Utah - a bit far from me.
I have lots of predators in where I live (in the middle of the woods - raccoons, coyotes, foxes, hawks and every once in awhile a bear, bobcat, or mountain lion that's wandered a bit far south) - and I've come to accept that, while my plywood nighttime pens are good and secure, there's no outside run that I can make completely safe. So far, I haven't lost any of my ducks - but I'm seriously looking into getting a livestock guardian type puppy to raise with my birds next spring. I've been combing the shelters in my area - I stumbled across the most perfect Akbash puppies on petfinder, but they're in Utah - a bit far from me.
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I'm so sorry! That first loss is so awful. I remember the sinking feeling.
I have, unfortunately, lost many in the last couple years. I've gotten better at protecting them, but it's always a game of staying one step ahead of the latest smartest predator. In the end, I've come to accept that I'm just going to have losses from time to time, even though, obviously, I keep trying to make their enclosures more secure and my management practices safer. They do free range, and I occasionally lose one during the day, but I feel like it's preferable to having them shut into a straw-bedded pen all the time, and most of my losses occur at night anyway, even through the security measures I have in place for them.
Annarie--if you find a dog in another state that you want, you might be able to get it anyway. When I was looking for a dog, I almost adopted one from Ohio (I'm in NC), and I managed to locate someone, through *their* local craigslist, who would transport the pup for me for barely more than the cost of gasoline, and a night's lodging in our city (we invited him to stay with us--but we could have put him in a motel instead--we have a guest room with walk-out access and on a separate floor that can be locked from our side, so it is convenient for us and we feel good about offering lodging even to virtual strangers). He had advertised his willingness to split the cost of gasoline with anyone who wanted to go somewhere, just because he likes to drive and travel. It turned out, he was a dog lover too, and agreed to do our transport. The dog ended up adopted to someone local there, but ever since then I always consider that type of situation for transport when I need/want something and neither pick-up nor shipping is an option.
On the other hand, while I really admire and agree with the mentality that says to adopt needy dogs rather than purchasing, sometimes I think it's a good idea to purchase. I fully support individuals and organizations who breed responsibly for the improvement of the breed, because without them the only dogs available would be backyard breeder and puppy mill dogs with health & temperament problems. So if there's something specific you need and you can't find it among the "needy," I see no problem with purchasing from a responsible breeder.
One other thing, though--do check your local animal control regularly. I am amazed at the animals that get abandoned at our animal control. 400 dogs a day. Yes EVERY DAY. Charlotte is actually one of the worst cities in the nation on that score, and of those 400, only 20% make it out alive. The others--gassed. Every day. It's despicable. My dog is a pound rescue, but I was looking for an adult dog and had no specific breed in mind. Even so, she took a while to find because I *did* want a small dog, and they tend to get adopted quickly. Also, puppies are adopted quickly. So you may have to go in every morning for a while. Check to see if your animal control has a listing on-line though--ours lists them before they are actually available for adoption, so I would check every day and if one I was interested in was close to being available, I would start going in to check every afternoon.
In the end, my dog actually came from a neighboring city's animal control. They also had her listed on-line before she was actually available.
Anyway, that's my long-winded two cents.
I have, unfortunately, lost many in the last couple years. I've gotten better at protecting them, but it's always a game of staying one step ahead of the latest smartest predator. In the end, I've come to accept that I'm just going to have losses from time to time, even though, obviously, I keep trying to make their enclosures more secure and my management practices safer. They do free range, and I occasionally lose one during the day, but I feel like it's preferable to having them shut into a straw-bedded pen all the time, and most of my losses occur at night anyway, even through the security measures I have in place for them.
Annarie--if you find a dog in another state that you want, you might be able to get it anyway. When I was looking for a dog, I almost adopted one from Ohio (I'm in NC), and I managed to locate someone, through *their* local craigslist, who would transport the pup for me for barely more than the cost of gasoline, and a night's lodging in our city (we invited him to stay with us--but we could have put him in a motel instead--we have a guest room with walk-out access and on a separate floor that can be locked from our side, so it is convenient for us and we feel good about offering lodging even to virtual strangers). He had advertised his willingness to split the cost of gasoline with anyone who wanted to go somewhere, just because he likes to drive and travel. It turned out, he was a dog lover too, and agreed to do our transport. The dog ended up adopted to someone local there, but ever since then I always consider that type of situation for transport when I need/want something and neither pick-up nor shipping is an option.
On the other hand, while I really admire and agree with the mentality that says to adopt needy dogs rather than purchasing, sometimes I think it's a good idea to purchase. I fully support individuals and organizations who breed responsibly for the improvement of the breed, because without them the only dogs available would be backyard breeder and puppy mill dogs with health & temperament problems. So if there's something specific you need and you can't find it among the "needy," I see no problem with purchasing from a responsible breeder.
One other thing, though--do check your local animal control regularly. I am amazed at the animals that get abandoned at our animal control. 400 dogs a day. Yes EVERY DAY. Charlotte is actually one of the worst cities in the nation on that score, and of those 400, only 20% make it out alive. The others--gassed. Every day. It's despicable. My dog is a pound rescue, but I was looking for an adult dog and had no specific breed in mind. Even so, she took a while to find because I *did* want a small dog, and they tend to get adopted quickly. Also, puppies are adopted quickly. So you may have to go in every morning for a while. Check to see if your animal control has a listing on-line though--ours lists them before they are actually available for adoption, so I would check every day and if one I was interested in was close to being available, I would start going in to check every afternoon.
In the end, my dog actually came from a neighboring city's animal control. They also had her listed on-line before she was actually available.
Anyway, that's my long-winded two cents.
BTW..what kind are they? Blue swedes?
I'm sorry
I am so very sorry. That is terrible. (((HUGS)))!!
Sorry about your duck.
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