Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Solanacae]

I don't know if it's like that everywhere but in France hunting dogs are kept in outside cages all year. Seems pretty horrible to me, like a lot of things about hunting, but I admit I don't know enough to judge ). When the hunting season is over the deers come every night hanging around the kennel, it's almost seems like they're making fun of the dogs , who go crazy barking at them! Revenge of the hunted on the hunters.

Those post-dust bathing pictures made me smile! I was worried there was something seriously wrong with my girls when they did that at first.

I’m not sure what the rules are elsewhere, but where I live in the US (Utah) it is illegal to use dogs to hunt almost all kinds of big game (elk, deer, moose, etc.) with mountain lions being the only exception I am aware of. I don’t know why anyone would want to hunt a mountain lion, but we had a neighbor who did. He was an odd fellow. Dogs can be used for upland game (pheasants, quail, chuckar, grouse, etc.) and whether they are kept inside or outside depends a lot on the individual. I don’t know much about the European styles of hunting, but it seems like they work in a big group with a lot of dogs to kind of push the birds towards where the people with guns are. In the US, you may have a small group of hunters working together, but just as often it’s one fellow with a dog and a gun working as a pair.

I grew up eating venison, and for a long time thought that beef was gross, though most of those instances were with severely over cooked meat. My parents didn’t have much money and hunting put meat in the freezer to stretch our food budget farther. We would (and still do) butcher the animals ourselves, and there is very little wasted. The animals are all of the trendy catchphrases you hear being tossed around - free range, organic, no antibiotics, all natural, local, heritage breed - and live the way nature intended. They are usually killed quickly and humanely with one shot, though that sometimes doesn’t happen just as it doesn’t always happen in a slaughterhouse for a cow or other animal. In terms of the overall treatment of the animal, I think the way my family and I do it is very respectful and that the life of the animal is valued and honored.

I realize that it’s not an option for everyone, or even appealing, but it works for us. We have worked to improve and conserve the land so that it is a better habitat for the local wildlife as well.

Sorry for taking the thread off-topic, Shad. I’m out of town this weekend visiting family, but I’ll get some pictures when I get back and pay my tax.

 

[BY Bob]

I grew up eating venison, and for a long time thought that beef was gross, though most of those instances were with severely over cooked meat. My parents didn’t have much money and hunting put meat in the freezer to stretch our food budget farther. We would (and still do) butcher the animals ourselves, and there is very little wasted. The animals are all of the trendy catchphrases you hear being tossed around - free range, organic, no antibiotics, all natural, local, heritage breed - and live the way nature intended. They are usually killed quickly and humanely with one shot, though that sometimes doesn’t happen just as it doesn’t always happen in a slaughterhouse for a cow or other animal. In terms of the overall treatment of the animal, I think the way my family and I do it is very respectful and that the life of the animal is valued and honored.

I grew up much the same way. You started hunting at 12 years old and there was great pressure and responsibility. We hunted deer to have something to eat and everyone who had a license was expected to bring one home. My dad was also strict in that if you fired the gun you better have something to show for it. We dare not miss or we would have to explain why. We butchered the animals ourselves and no part of the animal went to waste. To this day Mrs BY Bob jokes about my Dad's hoof stew. Like you I believe we honored the life of the animal and had great respect for the gift it provided us.

Off topic tax

 

[ManueB]

I grew up much the same way. You started hunting at 12 years old and there was great pressure and responsibility. We hunted deer to have something to eat and everyone who had a license was expected to bring one home.

I have no problem with that, or with the idea of hunting in itself! The things that seem horrible to me are things I've seen in my village, but I know so little about hunting that I can't say if they're usual or exceptional in my country. Like not eating animals that have been killed because no one wants to cook boars anymore, feeding massive trunks of corn until some species become so invasive it is a problem, or deliberately not being careful when people are hiking on the paths of the hunt.

The dogs that are caged are used to hunt deers, roes and boars like you describe in europe, @Solanacae. A team of 10 to 15 hunters, most of them at different posts waiting for the animal to be tracked by the dogs. Hunting small game, be it bird , hares or mountain goats is done individually or by two or three people and not the same dogs. Those lucky dogs get to stay at their human's home, I don't know why !

And we don't have mountain lions but I sure don't understand why anyone would want to hunt them!

 

[ManueB]

The deer travel through my property regularly. Jewel weed grows within feet of my kennels. The deer graze on it during the summer. Most of my dogs learn to ignore them. The fox and coyotes on the other hand drive them nuts.

Do you think they somehow understand that the dogs are locked up and unable to harm them?

 

[sourland]

Do you think they somehow understand that the dogs are locked up and unable to harm them?

Absolutely. We have invisible fencing (electric with shock collar) around our yard, and the deer know exactly how far Maggie can go and will stand just out of range taunting her.

 

[bruceha2000]

Off topic tax : catching up on sun dustbathing after the snow

That must have been a bit frightening to come across!!!! They do so often look dead while sunbathing.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Morning X Batts rain fell in the night..
The birds can make huge craters in the coop.
Another look at my banty birds for tax.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Morning X Batts rain fell in the night..
The birds can make huge craters in the coop.
Another look at my banty birds for tax.View attachment 2998590

Very pretty chicks.

 

[Shadrach]

That does seem like a humane approach to keeping the rodent population to a minimum. I really like that the dead rodents can be fed to other animals.

A word of caution on this subject.
Poisoning rats is very common in the UK. Some of the poisons take a few days to take effect I'm told. Just because a trap caught and killed a rat does not mean it is safe to feed to wildlife.
Where I lived in Catalonia, because it was a National Park, poisoning any pests was against the park rules, mainly to protect the wildlife and in particular the owls who eat a lot of rats.
It's not like this in the UK.
Do not leave rats out for the wildlife.

 

[Shadrach]

Smudge is not Moulting he saved most his girls in a Dog attack that killed three of my hens View attachment 2998271

Did he get injured?