my uncle, who lives just down the road, was kind enough to give us a rooster and a laying hen recently. the rooster is a great little man; he finds bugs for the hens and thus far they all seem to really like him (though he hasn't tried to jump them yet). the new hen was friendly too--but she attacked the rooster all the time--and even started laying eggs for us after a few days of being here (the others don't lay yet as they are not old enough). then, after 4 eggs collected, our dogs got her. apparently they pulled her THROUGH the fence...???
that's the third chicken they've killed since march, and it's a bunch of bullshit. matt is ready to get rid of them, which of course is a terrible idea out here--we need dogs, nevermind we love them--and i'm in a bind as to what to do. chickens are stupid and will wander where they shouldn't be. dogs kill things (especially our wild pair). it's a bad combo but that's life, right?
the real problem is that we can't keep the chickens OR the dogs in their designated spaces. the chickens hop their fence at will, and the dogs keep finding ways to dig out of theirs... we can technically roof the chicken coop but that won't prevent the dogs from getting them when i do let them roam free. and as matt points out, we'll never be able to have goats in the pasture with the dogs because they will either run them to death or kill them outright. he's right.
we don't have money to fence a separate dog area (which was the original plan) and anyway i don't see how that would keep them from digging...
on the agricultural side of things, we're abounding in tomatoes, the okra is fruiting, we've got a gourd or two drying in the laundry room, and it looks like the corn will be ready soon. the squash is still going but may be slowing down slightly and i think matt gave up on the cucumbers after a nice big harvest. everything else is green and growing. we also have wild cherries ripening on several trees, the wild grapes are swelling, and we've got about 11lbs of wild blackberries in our freezer waiting to be preserved via wine or jam, plus another 50lbs in the yard waiting to be picked. i cannot wait until the passion vines start to fruit in the fall!
living out here is really, really fantastic.
that's the third chicken they've killed since march, and it's a bunch of bullshit. matt is ready to get rid of them, which of course is a terrible idea out here--we need dogs, nevermind we love them--and i'm in a bind as to what to do. chickens are stupid and will wander where they shouldn't be. dogs kill things (especially our wild pair). it's a bad combo but that's life, right?
the real problem is that we can't keep the chickens OR the dogs in their designated spaces. the chickens hop their fence at will, and the dogs keep finding ways to dig out of theirs... we can technically roof the chicken coop but that won't prevent the dogs from getting them when i do let them roam free. and as matt points out, we'll never be able to have goats in the pasture with the dogs because they will either run them to death or kill them outright. he's right.
we don't have money to fence a separate dog area (which was the original plan) and anyway i don't see how that would keep them from digging...
on the agricultural side of things, we're abounding in tomatoes, the okra is fruiting, we've got a gourd or two drying in the laundry room, and it looks like the corn will be ready soon. the squash is still going but may be slowing down slightly and i think matt gave up on the cucumbers after a nice big harvest. everything else is green and growing. we also have wild cherries ripening on several trees, the wild grapes are swelling, and we've got about 11lbs of wild blackberries in our freezer waiting to be preserved via wine or jam, plus another 50lbs in the yard waiting to be picked. i cannot wait until the passion vines start to fruit in the fall!
living out here is really, really fantastic.
1 comments:
Loren said...
Don't even get my started....