Let's start with Wanda. My last post showed the dog crate I put in the coop so she'd have her own nest space away from the confusing nest boxes. I kept her in the crate for a few days, and figured I'd open the door this morning to let her have some space and stretch her legs. This afternoon what did I see?
She'd gotten back in the nest box. UGH. I shoo'd her out of the box and she went back into the dog kennel. I locked her back in. I'm considering moving the crate to the big dog kennel in the garagebarn so she's not confused or tempted by other nests. I'm not sure if the cooling period the eggs had today killed them or not. We'll see.
Who else can I vent about? These three.
Well, mainly it's just Purl. Last week I fenced off a sacrifice area for them in order to let the grasses grow back without them eating them down to nothing. The sheep did great with that for a while. I even fenced in an area of the backyard to give them a little more space. They ate that down, so I moved them back into their sacrifice area. Well, apparently Purl wasn't happy about that. In fact, she learned that she could push her way right through the electric fence! I think her wool lets her get away with that. After having her break through the fence no less than 4 times yesterday and 2 times today, I finally inspected the fence and found an area where it was shorting out. I fixed that and did the grass blade test. You can hold a grass blade and let it touch the fence. You'll feel pulse if the fence is working, but it's not enough to shock you. I also added three more strands of the wire fence hoping that'd give them a better shock than the poly tape. That seemed to fix the problem for a few short minutes, but Purl already knew she could just plow her way through the fence and get through. I need to get her sheared so she'll feel the shock better.
Is it sick that I was *hoping* she'd get shocked? Oh well. I don't care if it is. She deserves it after breaking my fence all those times.
3 comments:
Oh man! That would drive me nuts! I don't think you're sick by wanting her to get shocked. I'd be hoping the same thing. Setting up a fence, over and over again can't be fun.
I know how you feel! And the cooling period shouldn't hurt the eggs. I think all hens have to stretch their legs and get a drink and whatnot, but I'll keep my fingers crossed! I'm really hoping one of our chickens goes broody!
LOL... Bad Purl and Wanda! Hope everyone is acting better today =)
Post a Comment