Thursday, August 28, 2014

Latest Developments re Chickens



I will admit to you that Nancy and I have had our problems with chickens.  All has not been smooth sailing on the chicken front.  We did have one pair of them for a long time, but recently, foxes - I presume - got our last two.  I will not even bother to calculate how many chickens have gone home to meet Jesus at Casa Martin.

Nancy was in Macon earlier this week, and got in touch with our chicken contact, who sold her three new ones, real beauties, who lay Grade-A large eggs.  Let it be said, that Nancy is fully one-hundred percent on-board with chicken ownership.  Apart from their tendency to poop on the patio deck - which problem has been fixed by installing a new chain-link fence - Nancy is devoted to the chickens, and is the first to say, the backyard isn't the same without them.

The question remains, how do we protect the birds.

I maintain that the fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our birds, but in ourselves.  The foxes know where the chickens are now, so we have to be extra careful; I have been too lax in opening up the coop before sunrise and leaving it open after sunset.  I am of the theory that if I am careful not to let them out before broad daylight, and make sure to secure them before sunset, they will be right as rain. 

Nancy, however, has another scheme.  Our chicken contact has his coop electrified - he himself has suffered massive depredations at the hands of dogs, or paws, as the case may be.  The thing operates on solar power and gives a little jolt to any fox unwise enough to stick his nose in.

Nancy sent me a picture of the set-up with her cellphone.

Dear lord, are we really contemplating doing this ourselves?

I will keep you posted.