Well, unfortunately Rocky didnt arrive in time. While I was out today bringing him to the farm where he is to be trained further in the duties of Guard Dog Life, we had another fox attack. This time at least 20 birds were killed. Electronetting isnt working. The fox are digging under the perimeter fencing and then simply going right through the electronetting. Its probably not hot enough. So, we are down to about 50% of the birds we started with as chicks. Super. There were some really nice birds that were killed. Good 6 to 7 pound birds.
So, I will go through our pre-orders and I will contact you today or tomorrow if we have birds for you. It will be on a first come basis, meaning the oldest orders will get filled first. Im completely sorry to everyone that Im going to have to disappoint about their order. This really hurts me because not only am I losing the birds Ive worked very hard to raise, less than a week before processing, but Im going to have to disappoint friends and customers that Ive worked hard to please. The only good thing is that I didnt accept any deposits or partial payments for the birds. So at least we dont have to worry about anyone complaining about that. Phew.
I guess I feel better knowing that Rocky is here now. I just wish I had him a few weeks ago.
5 comments:
I'm really sorry to hear about your loss. Unfortunately, nature can be ugly. The sad part is your hard work and income has been hit by this. I think your customers will totally understand.
I was going to ask how the electric poultry netting worked. I guess this answers my question.
Also as a "heads up" - I've had bobcat around my area, too. I had one down by the hens two weeks ago.
Wow, I'm so sorry! Would it be possible to lay a trap for the fox? Or maybe sit out there with a BB gun (okay my time spent living in rural Arkansas is shining through)...
Wow. Really? Now that would be something to see! Ive never seen a bobcat in the "wild". We supposedly have coyotes galore around here. I havent seen them or heard them yet. Rocky is out guarding the broiler birds tonight. He is on the job! I figure, even if he goes nuts and kills half of the birds, they were gonna get eaten anyway. What have I got to lose? The electronetting wasnt hot enough. Normally it works fine. The grass got too high and shorted out the fence. And when I was walking the perimeter with Rocky tonight, I found out why the permanent fence was shorted out. A big tree limb had come down on the corner of the fenced in paddock and shorted out the hot top wire. I couldnt see it because it was over the crest of the hill. So, good thing I had Rocky with me tonight!
So far he seems like a fantastic dog.
Alina, thats why we have the guardian dog. He will live with the chickens. I triple dog dare any fox or coyote to poke his nose in that pasture with Rocky in there. They wont be poking their nose in there for long.
He is one big, bad ass dog. But fortunately he is also a real pushover pup.
And I forgot to mention very slobbery too. Yuck! My arms are gross!
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