framing fowl -daily living

[FarmerChick]

Cats are mystical...from olden egyptian times etc

they never will be "tamed" like a dog.



so many say women can be feline. I agree and love that comparison

 

[Beekissed]

The That's Mine statement works for the sheep also...even the cats. Jake isn't really scared of the chickens unless I am saying the words or if I am actually holding a chicken.....the combo or the phrase seems to bring the desired reaction. Other than that they co-exist just fine...no incidents.

But....when my back is turned, my pup will not only chase the sheep(while playing) but he let's them chase him back. I think he thinks they are other dogs....they butt him and paw at him, he sniffs their butts~and they LET him! Weird animals!

The other day he came running down the yard like he was on fire and the sheep and calf were ALL chasing him...then he turned around and crouched playfully...and chased them back! Fun to watch!

My cat is trained...whenever I see a chicken out of the yard, I tell Spike to get the chicken....and he does! And the chicken decides to go back in the fence.....it's really cute! I'm hoping he actually catches on one day.....

 

[framing fowl]

Thanks guys. After a couple of days perspective it is easier to look at this all objectively. Plus the good thing is, it helped us define our chicken goals and reassess why we were doing what we were doing!

Ohio ~I saw on your journal where you mentioned the Monks of New Skete so I got it from the library last night. I stayed up way too late reading last night! I guess I'm not really needing to "retrain" Julie. I need to retrain DH and myself!!! I need to work with both of my dogs more rather than just a 3 mile walk 5 days a week and a few minutes in the morning and evening.

Okay, so here's a question, if they need jobs, what does a pit mix and an Australian Shepherd mix do on 1/4 acre? Their current job description reads, don't mess with the chickens bark if strangers enter the driveway or knock at the door, and keep all squirrels and rabbits out of the garden. (this is actually a very important job or we wouldn't be able to garden in our neighborhood!)

DH has a part time job on weekends and works from home during the week so he may be able to do more with them than he is currently and I could do more with them on the weekend. What do you all think?

 

[Farmfresh]

yep on the huskys.... the breed is really really primal and it would be hard to train the prey drive out of them.

are yours hunters?? mine dont hunt-n-kill varmints but they find and bark at them.

but i bet you could hook those huskies up to a sled and have them pull you! i've always wanted to be on the back of a sled dog team and yell "MUSH"! whoot!

if i thew a ball i think mine would actually pull a sled. but my arm would get tired from throwing before we actually got anywhere.....

My AKC Husky Sasha was awesome. Smartest dog I EVER had and yes VERY VERY primal. I think it would be nearly impossible to remove the prey drive. Oh buddy did she hunt. She killed possums by the score, rats, mice, a raccoon once and birds. She would dash in and grab then shake. Then she would drop the critter and chomp several times all along the body. You could hear all of the bones crushing! Then she was done and would just leave the carcass to rot.

She used to actually bait and wait for the birds. She would leave food in her bowl on purpose and then lay quietly in the shadows until starlings would come to eat out of the bowl - then ZAP she would leap out of the shadows and kill them while they were flying away in mid air (!) with her paws!!

Riding in the car was also fun. We have three kids and so Sasha would ride with her butt under the dashboard facing the rear between the front seat passengers legs
One time she was in the front seat of the car, riding in this position when we went to the lake, and suddenly we saw a deer by the side of the road. Sasha was just about out a 3/4 closed window before I could get her under control. She was going to HAVE that deer! When she had the backseat to herself she loved nothing more than riding along, nose stuck out of the window crack, and howling at top voice every two minutes!!

As for a sled - we bought her a pulling harness from a sled dog company. We used to hook her up to a children's toboggan. Her intensive pulling training lasted as long as it took to hitch her! She would pull the kids till they were exhausted. She learned quick that she could race around the pasture and swing them fast around a corner and dump them, then she would just smile a big old Husky smile and keep on going! We finally had to snap a long cord to her choke chain and tie the other end to the kid's waist. When she dumped them she would run till she hit the choke collar then she would stop and come back.

She was quite a hoot. My 1/2 Husky is also a varmit killer.

 

[Beekissed]

Okay, so here's a question, if they need jobs, what does a pit mix and an Australian Shepherd mix do on 1/4 acre? Their current job description reads, don't mess with the chickens bark if strangers enter the driveway or knock at the door, and keep all squirrels and rabbits out of the garden. (this is actually a very important job or we wouldn't be able to garden in our neighborhood!)

This sounds very similar to my dog's jobs! Run, play, eat, greet the Alpha dog with much wiggling and smiling, sleep, bark at strange person, animal, smell or particle of dust.

Repeat if necessary.

 

[framing fowl]

Still not done with the Monk's book for the dogs, seems like I don't have as much time to read as I would like right now. I have begun to incorporate the concept of praise with them and they are loving it! DUH

The big focus the last little bit has been examining our finances on how we did this year. This is a large part of our self-sufficiency goal ~to be debt free. Last year on November 15th, I was able to sell my failing business and walked away with about $a ton in debt. It has been a long rough year but am proud to report...

We've paid off a third of that!!!

Between Christmas & New Year we will take an entire day and go over our budget with a fine tooth comb and figure out how we can pay more next year. We have a couple of small home improvement projects to finish during that time as well but we have all of the supplies for them. That was a large line item in our budget for the past 4 years so that will be exciting to move that money toward paying debt as well. We are a long way from our goal but I was in tears tonight when we crunched the final numbers and I wrote the final 3 checks for the month!!!

 

[Farmfresh]

WOW my hat is off to you!

 

[Beekissed]

That must feel soooooo good!

 

[FarmerChick]

Control over your finances feels great doesn't it?
So glad you are moving forward so good!!!!
Keep up the good work!

 

[framing fowl]

Thanks you guys! It does feel good, but gotta keep on keeping on! So here is our current list of what we're going to be doing between Christmas & New Year to prep for next year. I am so blessed to have a job where they close during that time. It is a great time for a mental reset!

1 day of budget and planning
1 day of emergency prep stuff ~going through all supplies, making wish list and adding that in to the budget

1 day of finish painting the living room and finishing up installing all of the baseboard and doorway trim.

Organize the house, top to bottom, everything in it's place, everything else on ebay, craigslist, or freecycle.

Minor surgery to remove moles, then 2 days of nothing!!! movies, books, daydreaming

Inventory the pantry, fridge, and freezer to make menu plan on using that up,

1 day to plan food and garden for upcoming year.

Okay, what am I missing???