Ready to throw in the towel!

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We have an amazing array of inner city wildlife here in Austin. Coyotes, Hawks, Owls, and an interesting array of Quaker Parrots.

I hear those Quaker parrots are loud.

 

[dalasgalas]

I hear those Quaker parrots are loud.

I love them! No louder than roos really.

 

[cmom]

I had my first flock around 50 years ago. There were years when we had no birds do to changes we've made in our life with school, work and family. We had moved to an area at one time where no birds were allowed, we lived there because of work for over 25 years. We eventually moved again to a nice rural area where we bought several acres and started our flocks again. Now 20 years later, we are in our 70's, we have built up what we have now. Our coops are not that close to the house and I have several males. I can hear them crowing but I'm used to it and they crow a bit in the morning but then they stop. There is very little grass in the pens. There are times when I buy some nice alfalfa and put some in each of the pens and the birds eat the little green leaves. I also grow some greens for them such as collards and other greens. When I harvest my broccoli and cauliflower, etc., I give the plants to the birds to peck at. I usually have around 300 birds. I do sell some of the birds at local farm swaps and ship pure (heritage) eggs from my chosen breeds. I do sell eggs for eating and I eat my eggs. I haven't lost a bird to a predator in several years. I have electric wire around my coops and pens, concrete under the gates, and heavy duty netting over the pens. In the past I have lost birds from several predators including an owl. I do free range them when I'm out working on the pens and coops. They do have fairly large pens. Most times when I open their gates they come out for a short time then back into their pens. I also have several game cameras in different places on my property. A couple of the cameras I do move. Right now I have one looking at our pond to see if any predators drink from it. Most of the predators are nighttime predators. So far I have only read about half of the posts in this thread but will read the rest. Whatever you have decide to do, good luck and have fun...

This is why the netting went up over all of the pens. I electrocuted a couple of snakes too. They were attempting to go through the fence and while doing it got on the electric wire and was electrocuted which surprised me. I have at times accidentally touched the electric wire and got quite a shock but I weigh a lot more then a snake.