PLANNED POULTRY GUARDING DOG

[centrarchid]

I need to find way to tell Trueman that items passing through intact have little or no nutritive value and are therefore fiber at best. He needs to chew more but marbles might be a bit tough for that.

 

[centrarchid]

KILLED AN ADULT GROUNDHOG

Scoob and Lucy killed an adult female groundhog near southeast corner of property shortly after I got home from work. The animal was "bluish" like a blue-tick hound rather than the reddish-brown I am used to in the same species occurring in southern Indiana. The rodent does not pose a direct threat to my birds but it could be a problem if burrowing under buildings. Scoob I think did most of the killing although I could hear Lucy "chopping" as I approached.

 

[scottcaddy]

KILLED AN ADULT GROUNDHOG

Scoob and Lucy killed an adult female groundhog near southeast corner of property shortly after I got home from work. The animal was "bluish" like a blue-tick hound rather than the reddish-brown I am used to in the same species occurring in southern Indiana. The rodent does not pose a direct threat to my birds but it could be a problem if burrowing under buildings. Scoob I think did most of the killing although I could hear Lucy "chopping" as I approached.

This critter will dig under anything and alot of other critters will use the path they have made. I have had to jack up corners of outbuildings and redo the footings that this critters dug under!

Good Luck
Sott

 

[aart]

Had to oust a juvenile ground hog from under the deck and in water garden filter pit, couple days of flooding did the trick...it hadn't dug far yet.

 

[centrarchid]

They are easier to shoot than most critters. Around here all you have to do is sit off to side in lawn chair and wait for one to come out. They are also not as solitary as many people think. In the state capital you can see multiple "hogs" at once and some appear to retreat to same burrow. They do put hurt on some house foundations and sidewalks. What is cool is how they effectively garden their forage areas. What is not cool on foraging side is what they can do to beans. We used loose an acre per "hog" when they got into soybeans when plants still small. Those were killed more often than not with tire irons.

 

[centrarchid]

LUCY AND FRONT PORCH FLOCK BLOCK ROADWAY

This demands a picture which will be acquired later. Each morning I run into town to get supplements for breakfast. Scoob has to go as well so he can do meet and greet. Scoob is a sweet dog off property. Scoob rides in passenger seat so he can see what needs to be seen and whiff what needs to be whiffed. Lucy stays back in front yard during the 20 minutes or so Scoob and I are gone. Lately when Scoob and I return, Lucy and bulk of front porch flock are out in roadway with birds catching insects trying to catch early morning sun on gravel and Lucy sitting right in the middle looking for the return of Scoob and I. As we pull in Lucy and front porch flock follow car to house. This morning Lucy also had at her feet the biggest three-toed box turtle I have ever seen. It is probably as old as I am. Interesting changes in forage base is causing ranges of flocks to shift making job for dogs change as well. Most bird ranging is shifting towards house where grass is shorter. This I think is due to all the rain we have been getting lately and possibly chiggers.

 

[centrarchid]

OH CRAP KIDS, A HAWK!


Today after getting home from work dogs came in house for meet and greet. After about 5 minutes dogs boiled outside barking. I went and could here front porch flock making all sorts of racket while dogs looked about. Alarm calls said hawk but it took a while for me to spot it. A juvenile male Coopers Hawk was perched on powerline near a pole. Brownie moved her brood up with dogs and hunkered down. After about 5 minutes hawk made a C-shaped flight that took into a dying crag. It remained there for a good 20 minutes and chickens made low intensity alarm calls the whole time. The chickens kept themselves in positions where they could see.

Brownie watching hawk. She is looking paste blue bucket.


Hawk watching Brownies' chicks.

 

[centrarchid]

TODDLER TRUEMAN ABUSES HEN

After feeding penned birds I brought balance of feed back in 5-gallon bucket. A game hen jumped in and consumed feed as I carried all back to house. She was still feeding so I put bucket down. Trueman came outside to see hen's tail sticking out of bucket. He promptly walked over and grabbed her by the tail and pulled her out. He then began carrying her about for a couple of minutes before I forced him to release her. Scoob watched with great interest.

 

[centrarchid]

SCOOB GOT BUZZED BY A NIGHTJAR

Scoob and I were out predator proofing against Great-horned Owls. They usually start to visit with regularity about the time the heat to summer breaks and persist until about Thanksgiving. While working just before twilight a Nightjar, Whip-poor-will or Chuck-wills-widow, zipped by just above ground and Scoob barreled after it. I seldom see the bird so thought it was worthy of mention. Soon the relatively short-winged ground huggers will be following the related nighhawks south for winter. They do have the ability to fly very fast.

 

[gryeyes]

Just spent most of last night before bed and all of this morning reading every single post of this thread. Fascinating. The embedded nuggets of humor made this task all the more worthwhile.

I am purchasing an 8.28 acre parcel of land just into escrow JUST for (most of) my flock but keeping my home, so I will need some sort of poultry guardian dog. (My two dacshunds are decidedly not suitable, as one is elderly and both are me-centric companions.) Your detailed experiences have been very informative and helpful in my learning about what will be necessary for my situation.

Unfortunately, the parcel is very "rugged," not flat nor covered in pasture. Predators include the usual aerial ones, fox, coyote, bobcat, mountain lion and of course loose running dogs. Certainly challenging, but the flock will be contained in a very large fenced pen when I am not present. I will use an automatic chicken door on the not-yet-constructed coop, controlled by a light sensor.

I was considering Anatolian Shepherd but Scoob and Lucy have now widened my search criteria.

Thank you!