Rachelsflock's Flock Journal

[rachelsflock]

Hello world!
I'm going to do a flock journal for my new flock. My family moved in February to a suburb of Nashua, or Boston if you prefer, in Massachusetts on six-ish acres. I chose to re-home and sell my last flock, so this spring has been one of setting up and getting a fresh start. My coop is an 8x8 box shed I designed that my dear,husband long-suffering husband built for me, and it has an attached, uncovered pen. So far I've filled my coop with amerikindas, whiting true blues and a couple greens, some leghorns, and 4 brahmas. No one is laying yet, but they are getting there. We are, however, fighting tooth and nail against hungry, lazy wildlife always hunting for a risk-cheap, slow meal. I'll keep this as updated as I can, and if you want you can follow along. Photos when I'm not away from home. Meanwhile, I will leave this here.

 

[HuffleClaw]

Awesome! Can’t wait for pictures.

 

[rachelsflock]

Today is a rainy day, but here's my lovely, unpainted coop. Just had to put up bird snow fence and sew pieces together because a hawk kept busting through and slaughtering and carrying off. We've lost about 10+ birds to him over 3 days since he started, but no casualties for going on two days. I kind of hate that hawk. Hope my roosters are the hawk-fighting and hen hiding kind once mature. I'll get bird pics when they aren't soggy. Roosterlings were singing today. It was lovely.

 

[rachelsflock]

Forgot to attach picture. Oops.

 

[HuffleClaw]

Forgot to attach picture. Oops.
View attachment 1853176

Lovely coop!

 

[rachelsflock]

Unfortunately I'm putting the journal on hold until I get a decent aviary run put on the coop. Right now I've got an 8' tall, 8' wide and deep run of hardware cloth in addition to the floorspace in and under the coop that is keeping the coydogs and hawks out and we have gone from 40+ to 26 during the week or so I was building. I also almost got bit several times. Fish and wildlife told me to go get a gun and shoot it, which here takes about 12 weeks. That was too many opportunities for near misses on my and my kids' safety, so now we have a great pyrenees to watch over us and the goats and are bringing in a puppy to be her backup against the coydogs, bobcats, cougars that supposedly aren't there, bears, mink, weasels, and fishers WHILE we wait on the state to let us have our $200 firearm licenses so we can go buy a $300-$400 gun so we can quickly learn to shoot and kill the coydogs that stalk us in broad daylight in our yard. So far the pyr is working, but I worry about her safety. Once we have our gun, if that particular coydog comes back (and he is bigger than our 120lbs dog, so we would know if he did) he will be killed. We are also working on putting up a perimeter fence around our 7 acres in addition to letting the goats clear out the unused woods so the dogs can get around, be loose, and fight better.

Massachusetts isn't using our many tax dollars they take to protect my kids very well, so I'm a little peeved. "get a gun" they said, "shoot it" they said (even after it started going after us). Give us 3 MONTHS and 200 additional dollars before you can even handle a gun the laws said. Police and animal control won't do anything either. So the dog, airhorns, and mace are our only defense until the state will allow us to be armed. I'm sure PD would shoot it after it mauls my kid, but it is as tall as my 4 year old (ask me how I know), so that could be the last thing my son sees.

Of the rest of the coydogs I only ask that they are invisible in daylight like normal coyotes, don't tear my fences, barn, and coop door apart trying to get to animals again, don't threaten me or my kids, and leave my animals alone especially in daylight when the whole world can watch them.

So basically we've had a bad run, and I need to spill some blood and spend a lot of money before my kids are safe to be outside and my animals are either in with the dog or on permanent lockdown. So there's really nothing to see at the moment.

I'm hoping to make another trip to home depot for more hardware cloth and pt 2x4 for a second and third cube. Pictures will go up when it's not a terrible eyesore.

Moral of the story-when in Mass, if something wild goes after you, have a gun and SSS because they will not get off their office chairs and help. And that is all they will tell you if you ask them anyway SSS anyway so I guess the last "S" isn't necessary.

Best part is if the out of touch, rich, hippie locals from the city hear you're defending your kids (gun shots deep in the woods?) they get very, very nasty when it wasn't them that could see the color of the coy-dog's eyes staring you down. Or if you hit or kill a turtle, which is another story.

So it's a little hostile here. But some of my farm neighbors have offered to help and give me contact info for more help if it comes back before my 3 month wait is up. I'm just worried that it will go after me before I see it (but the dog helps a lot in that regard, I guess)

So anyway, wish me luck. I didn't want to embark in this journey, but it looks like the only course of action (according to the authorities). Hope we won't be going to the ER for rabies shots soon. Also glad I've never suffered from any mental illness, because you are not allowed to have a gun ever in mass if you have (depressed people are coydog fodder, I guess).

I also hope everyone else that it's going after winds up okay. A lady down the road had this thing go after her and her 10 month old while they were sitting in their yard, by their house, during the work day. And they have no animals. Yes, it is that bad. She's one of 4 or 5 neighbors that have gotten in touch with me privately, said it has gone after them and informed me that they will let me know if they shoot it so I can relax too. There's just one really big, german shepherd sized, fearless coydog that isn't even afraid of car horns (or airhorns blown in its face, I discovered). And it makes it so you just can't go outside more than briefly.

The worst thing about it is that it's not rabid. It's a hybrid-a really aggressive one that wants to HUNT you. Like a rogue pitbull from where we used to live except the cops won't take care of it for you and much MUCH bigger (pit bulls are small, didn't you know it?).

What a great journal entry! I wanted to stay quiet, but that would be a gap to dismiss as being "busy".

Busy, busy, busy.

And honest I never wanted to run around killing everything, but the govt is making me choose between my kids' and my safety and continuing to shun guns and my kids come first. So that coydog is going down.

 

[rachelsflock]

But I still have pretty chickens

and we get nice eggs.

Wtb and 2 different wtg eggs.

 

[drumstick diva]

Would powerful electrified fences provide protection for you, family, flock?

 

[rachelsflock]

Probably, but they might also fry my family. My gut instinct is to avoid them. My husband is partially blind and like many kids, my children aren't always very smart/good at self preservation. I do have a guy coming down to give us a quote to fence our 6.81 acres with livestock fence tomorrow so I can let the LGD's loose at least at night, and I've got other names to call as well, and we're picking up our second LGD as a puppy on the 23rd so he can learn and give backup to our first good girl. We should be good.
Nothing should get past those dogs and they LOVE kids and hate anything that threatens their kids. Not sure how they feel about chickens. I'm not sure guarding chickens come naturally. I think I'd need to train them for that, but they should at least be able to give the coyote a very strong NOT YOURS message every time he tries to come by, day or night. They should also be able to over come the coyote if he decides to challenge them. The particular coyote I'm worried about is taller than my Great Pyrenees dog girl, but she is stronger, I've been assured.
She's both very friendly and protective somehow. We've also taken her on trails and she has to be leashed, not just for potential roaming and trying to meet every dog and every human on the trail, but because apparently if an adult bicyclist knocks over my four year old she will try to turn that bike into dog food. The bicyclist was rude and too close on the very wide, empty trail, but she had no idea that she'd taken liberties with the wrong kids. If the 100lbs+ dogs are allowed to be loose in our yard my kids and goats should be safe. The chickens, I will be training the puppy to help with and testing out our good girl with them shortly. I kind of like these dogs. With the right person they are both relaxed, slow, (overly) friendly AND protective. These are the lay by your side until there's a threat kind of dogs.

We have a lot of land that backs up to conservation land where people love their coyote hybrids and would try to socially destroy anyone who shoots them (but not black bears apparently despite them being less aggressive and more natural than coy-dogs?). I may still have to shoot coyotes, but I can't shoot every single one that ever tries to get too close to my chickens, kids, and goats at any hour of the night and day, so basically I'm hiring a few ranch hands that work for dog food and putting in a sheep/goat/cattle fence to define their work area with the added bonus of containing my brush and small tree clearing crew. Eventually we should even be able to walk around back there. Currently not even the dog likes wandering back there much because of how much bittersweet and wild rose there is-OUCH. With the right clothes people can go back there, but it's very easy to get snuck up on in the brush. Not good tactically speaking. Not that I'd ever thought I'd have to think like that on my own property...We're still only two miles out of town!