Chicken pens/ tractors part 2

  Another thing i think is odd, folks move out to the country and start acquiring animals.  Often where they move to are old farms and undeveloped property.  The problem is when they start to clear off the land for gardens, buildings, etc they don't realize that they are displacing the wild animal population.  So poultry is lost, to possums, raccoons, foxes and the like.  Larger animals like young goats, sheep, cats and small dogs are taken by coyotes.

I believe often people only see life in the very short term,  so mid and long range planning just sort of falls to the side.

A case in point, people moved to a forested 8 acre spot, one of the 1st things they did was to buy one of those flimsy portable chicken tractors to put their new birds in, within a week they were all gone,  the wild life had a nice all you could eat buffet.

So they go buy an LDG pup ( Livestock Guardian Dog )  and put it in with the new batch of chickens.  Within hours the pup playing with the birds had killed them all. the people were furious.   Duh the pup is being like any pup, they did not teach the dog that the poultry was it charges to protect and not chew toys.  The dog owners failed their dog.  Last I heard the dog was sent elsewhere where there were no chickens.  I'm not tracking on that train of thought.

To put it in perspective puppies are like young children, they need to be taught right from wrong.

Animal owner ship requires research and preparation, you can't throw a dog in a pen and expect it to be rosy or perfect from the beginning.

Thanks for the time Blake Holliday. 

Chicken pens / chicken tractors

I get a kick out of people who are new to having animals, the unfortunate thing is there is so much misinformation on the net, and so many people just don't have the common sense to solve a problem without airing it to the world.  A short time ago, I saw a post about someone wanting help.  So I read it.  a varmint was getting into their coop and killing the birds. From the damage it sounded like it would be a possum or maybe a skunk.  It was suggested to tie their dog close to the pen. Close to protect the birds but not do any damage.  Stupid woman came back and said the dog would kill whats left of the chickens.  Can the dumb woman not read?  So some one else chimes in and says a tom turkey will fight of predators.  Really?  Those predators like turkey also!  So i watched the progression of the discussion, the stupid woman buys a tom and guess what?  It got killed and partially eaten by a varmint.  whats the old saying? You can fix stupid but not ignorance.  She lost a turkey and they are not cheap plus more chickens.  She was furious about the bad advice,  but you get what you pay for.  Should have tied the dog close to the pen.  Works for me now for the last ten years. 

Blake Holliday,  I'm on Facebook.

"The Eating Place" in Houston Mo.

I've been scoping out this diner located in Houston Mo. for quite some time.  So today I broke down and went in.  It looks as the diner started out as a double wide mobile home.  The inside was reasonably clean.  The waitress was very shy and indecisive.

I ordered the chicken fried steak sandwich with fries, one of the daily specials.  The sandwich was eatable, nothing to go raving or bragging about.  I thought it was odd that a packet of Mayo came with the sandwich but the ranch for my fries can in a dish.  Its has though the owners cannot decide to be a fast food joint or a better dine in restaurant, and are stuck between the two.

We received no napkins during the meal,  although the introverted waitress did refill glasses.  So after the meal I went to the restrooms to wash my hands and found there was no soap in the dispenser.

Over all i would rate the diner at a 6 out of 10.  it was just okay. 

Have a great day Blake Holliday.

Free Kindle Book (again)

Monday and Tuesday the 6th and 7th, my kindle booklet, "Emergency Alternative Power' will be a free download from Amazon.  It was a result of a bad storm years ago and when it first went up on Amazon it sold quite well.  It is not a nuts and bolts book but it describes how I patched together a power system from items I had.  It was mainly in order to keep the babies formula from going bad and also not to lose what was in the freezer.  So please leave feedback at Amazon if you accept the free download,

Blake Holliday.

Black Soldier Fly Larvae

I have discovered, by accident, that BSFL are very easy to grow.  They make excellent chicken food if you take a few minutes to harvest them daily.  How does some one start this.  Just place your kitchen waste in a 5-6 gallon bucket with shredded paper and junk mail.  Keep it moist like you would for worms.  Very shortly you will have BSFL grinding up the waste and making compost.  By the way you can raise them with worms.  they do not compete for food.  So you  can add a supplement to your chickens diet for a nominal bit of time each day.

Blake