Wolfemomma - Our Homestead Journey

WolfeMomma

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These sheep...oh these sheep.....
They have plenty of shelter to get away from the sun, and instead they insist on huddling in the corner of their pasture not eating....just standing there with their heads down ....what gives? They have tons of fresh grass to graze on, but apparently standing like statues is more appealing. Then when it comes time to put their halters on and lead them back to the barn in the evening they drag you all over the place eating like they are starving and haven't eaten in 5 days :barnie
Why do they do this to me lol
On a sad note, we are down to 4 guineas , fox came took some.....apparently the dog didn't notice, or didn't care....im not sure which lol he was laying like 10 feet away and didn't hear it. We are on fox watch as i have seen it coming during the day :( chickens will be kept locked up in their run. No free ranging for now. :(
 

mysunwolf

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In the summer sheep like to graze from 5-9am, then again from 5-9pm, rather than in the heat of the day. They'll just have to figure out that that's when they need to be safe and put away! Have you tried getting them to come to a grain bucket instead of having to halter them? I find it a ton easier!

I'm sorry about your guineas :( foxes are horrible. My dog hates them. Can the dog get in to where the guineas are being taken?
 

WolfeMomma

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In the summer sheep like to graze from 5-9am, then again from 5-9pm, rather than in the heat of the day. They'll just have to figure out that that's when they need to be safe and put away! Have you tried getting them to come to a grain bucket instead of having to halter them? I find it a ton easier!

I'm sorry about your guineas :( foxes are horrible. My dog hates them. Can the dog get in to where the guineas are being taken?
We use the halters because the pasture is a bit of a walk back to the barn. They don't mind the halters usually, but with the fresh grass they get a bit crazy lol
Our Livestock guardian is in the same pasture as the chickens and guineas. The attacked happened right in front of the chicken coop where the dog had access to. I don't understand how he didn't hear it, but to be fair....the guineas always make noise....he is used to it. So one screaming and carrying on is not on usual for him to hear, which is probably why he didn't react. I noticed that when the chickens freak out , he jumps up because they are typically very quiet. He is only 1yr old so he still has a lot to learn in the world of livestock gaurding .
 

WolfeMomma

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So we marked 4 eggs to put under our crazy broody buff hen. she has been sitting on them for maybe a week. Yesterday I notice they are gone, no sign of anything crunching on them, no egg shells anywhere ect.
At first I thought....maybe rat...or snake. No i don't think its one of them, because they would have taken the eggs easy to access under the coop where the girls kept going to lay before we blocked it off with wire. The only thing that had access to that coop was the dog. I don't want to think he did it, I want to think that he is a good boy lol but in the end ...he is a dog, and well.....dogs and food you know how that goes lol
The nest boxes are fairly high off the ground, so who ever took it had to be tall....and my Kangal is a perfect height. So needless to say we put some electric netting around the coop in a fairly large circle. The chickens can come and go as they please because the netting is spaced big enough for that. But at least the dog can't get in . All day he has been laying right beside the netting, or looking for a spot to get in....ugh this dog :he
Guess I know now why I only get 8 eggs a day from 21 chickens....:barnie
 
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