Just when the weather gets nice (not too hot, not too cold)
something has to happen to muck up the works. Ok something is always happening
to muck up the works, but that’s beside the point. I never should have bragged
about the new chickens. Wouldn’t you know it, Bear ripped open the chicken wire
on the chicken house again. I don’t know what set him off this time (no skunk),
but it could have been the squirrel that has been helping himself to the extras
the chickens leave. At any rate I lost six chickens, three babies, and three
hens. With the help of my father, I managed to save two babies that were staked
out under the tree next to the run. That was fun. Here I am kneeling in the mud
under a tree trying to convince two little hens I’m not going to kill them. It
was not a pretty sight let me tell you. At any rate I got the hen house
temporally fixed. That means I repaired the chicken wire put up new boards, and
screwed a big board on the corner so he can’t get at the chicken wire to pull
it out.
The only reason I say it might have been a squirrel that
started the whole thing is that Rudy noticed one in the chicken run. The dogs
have chased that particular squirrel many a time. On top of that there’s one in
the barn that is driving the dogs crazy. The barn framing is metal, with
regularly spaced holes. This makes it very convenient for the squirrel to
escape from the dogs. For over two weeks as soon as we enter the barn I hear
squeaks, and paws skidding on the cement. I tell them to leave it alone to no
avail. Now while Bear isn’t too smart he is persistent. One day as I was
leaving the barn I hear this terrible howl. I run into the barn, and sure
enough Bear has his mouth hooked inside the hole. I said he wasn’t too smart.
As soon as he saw me he gave one last yank, and pulled himself free. He was
trying to tear the girder to get at the squirrel. Thankfully he only tore up
his gums, and he hasn’t tried to pull the metal apart again. He does learn
eventually. Also thankfully, the squirrel hasn’t been in the barn of late when
I go in. Maybe he learned too, or maybe he just learned to time it for when he
hears the gator. Of course I keep the barn pretty clean of goodies to steal. He
did steal two of my measuring cups though, and he’s ever hopeful that I will
forget to cover something (which I do often enough). If Bear saw a squirrel in
the chicken run that’s all it would take. If he couldn’t get one squirrel
another would do, and since the chickens are easier to catch they served the
same purpose. Then once the chickens started fleeing out of the chicken house
it was nothing for the other dogs to catch what they could, pack mentality you
know.
I was ticked off all day, and I finally came up with a
re-model plan. We have lots of tin roofing left by previous owners. I’ll put a
tin border all around the bottom of the chicken house, and make a proper door
to let them into the run. I have three 2 x 4’s from the roofing that blew off
last year (shuffling barn) to make a frame around the tin. Bear can’t get
through that. It won’t look godawful, and it will keep the chickens safe. I
haven’t quite figured out how to do the door to the run yet, but I will. I want
a pulley sort of lift I can attach to a string so I don’t have to go inside the
house just to open, and close the door. That may have to wait a while since I
can’t operate Rudy’s circular saw, and I need to cut a piece of plywood for the
door. At any rate I may not post for a few days, as it will take a while to do
the re-modeling. I swear if it’s not one thing it’s another, and just when I
was getting into a routine.
Footnote:
When I came back from feeding the horses, and went to feed
the chickens, lo, and behold one of the babies found her way home. I only found
evidence of three dead chickens, the rest I assumed were lost somewhere, and
soon enough would be coyote bait. Well one of the babies actually made it home.
Trying to catch her was another trip. Pena came over, and when I told her to go
she walked off a bit, and waited. Actually her being there helped me to catch
the chick. Once I caught her I called Pena over, made her lie down, and put the
chick on top of her. By then Bree came over to see what all the fuss was about,
and basically ignored us. Pena was very good, and got lots of praises. The boys
never even came over. This got me to thinking maybe I was too quick to condemn
the dogs especially Bear. There are lots of critters besides skunks around here
that would be more than happy to raid my chicken house. That’s why we have
large dogs in the first place. Bear doesn’t let anything get on his property
unless I say it’s ok (like for people). Some critter could have gotten in the
chicken house again, and Bear being Bear would do everything he could to get it
out of the chicken house. Besides it just doesn’t make sense him suddenly
tearing apart the chicken house for no reason. When the chickens have gotten
out before both he, and Taggot ignore them. Bree has always been the one to go
after the chickens. Of course once they are dead none of the dogs have a
problem eating them, but they eat any carrion. Where they find it I have no
clue, but they do. The upshot of all this is I still have to make the chicken
house critter proof even if I don’t totally believe Bear suddenly got it into
his head to have some chicken for a midnight snack. Actually something else
getting into the house makes a lot more sense. We’ll see how far I get tomorrow
with my re-model.
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