This is what Derek is telling me as we are trying to put this silly chicken coop together! Since the chickens were my crazy idea, it was also my job to do some research on the internet and find the perfect coop that we would build. What a simple fun job. After much research I decided the very best one would be one we could move around so the chickens could be "free range" in a sense, but not get eaten by the dogs. And this way when they scratch the ground to dust, I'll just move them to a new part of the yard so they can have new stuff to scratch at. So I found this picture on a website of a triangular coop with a small henhouse attached.
Why oh why did I decide that the very best picture was one that was in the shape of a triangle! And not even an equilateral triangle (which would then have been very easy since all the angles would have been 45)—but no—turns out this one has 30 and 60 degree angles—which we learned the hard way...Derek says next time I need to get him some “plans” not just a picture off the internet! Agreed.
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Does your dog chase and kill chickens or just likes to have fun with them? We always try to raise the animals all together if possible. So none of them will have to be penned up always. It seems to have worked. When we got the goats the dogs wanted to chase them but we continued to let them out together and watched closely and now they do fine together. Although we have a heeler that wants to heard them all the time.... A game I guess. The goats hold there own with their horns... I commented on your other blog you wrote. Check it out. I would like to visit with you. You sound like you have some good ideas. I grew up in a small town here in NM and I will never be able to live in the city. Plus the fact that I refuse for my children to be of the world. So the best way to prevent that is to live in the country and homeschool. Life is great and God is good all the time. Talk to you soon.
I am so blessed to hear back from you. I am so glad to hear that you are hoping to home school as well. I just love it so much. Although it does come with its own challenges. I will be praying for you. Now about the chickens. The cat might cause a problem. I know our neighbor had a ton of chickens and he had to start shooting Ferrel cats that were killing his chickens. But being your own cat you might be able to watch it closely when it is around the chickens. We have a slingshot and we use small pebbles or cherry seeds to stop bad behavior with our smaller animals. You can control how hard and with what you pop them with. Seems to work good, that is until the kids start shooting each other. They think it is great however I just know they are going to shoot an eye out... lol.... I also had a coop for my chickens. And I only let them out for a few hours in the evening. Worked well for us. Maybe 3 hours for them to be out. Then at dusk they just head right back to the pen. Then if we were gone during the day I didn't have to worry about them. I had almost 20 chickens. The rooster was a pet though and older so not a good protector. You will just have to try different things and see what works. If the dog does chase the chickens always reprimand him right away then he will learn to not chase them at all. Now with the goats. I am just learning about them myself. What I have heard is that you can milk them for a few years and then need to let them dry up for a bit and then get them pregnant again. I bought 3 goats for $75. Which is a good price here in Roswell. Although I am starting to wonder if Annie, the Nubian, is pregnant. She is not getting big yet and due very soon. So think I got ripped off on her. But the over grown Pygmy is getting fatter. SO hopefully she is pregnant. I have never milked a goat before she this ought to be an experience since Letty, the pygmy is a little on the wild side. I think we will get rid of her and keep her babies once she weens them. You also need to trim there hoofs occasionally. IT is very simple just like you would do your own. You will need to get a set of clippers though. Our horse shoer does ours for us just because he is here a lot. What are the ages of your children? And where is it that you live. My parents live in Show Low, AZ. It is so cold there. Here in Roswell it is dessert for sure. It is about a 7 hour drive for us to go visit. I better get busy with my day. Lots to do always. I am just so blessed to hear back from you. I haven't blogged much either. We have our cowboy church blog that I try to read and up until this week I really hadn't done much with mine. So now I am glad I have someone to chat with. I hope we will bless one another with conversation. Especially for me being home with little one's all day it is nice to have an adult to converse with... Our 16 year old has a job now so he is gone most of the afternoon. Talk to you soon.
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