bucky

We lost Bucky and another white chicken last Wednesday after the guys and I left for school. Thursday morning Vanna chased off what I think might have been a coyote. I'm not really sure as I only saw the back end of it. It was exactly the same size as Vanna and a darker brown. There have been some really nice fox around, too, but I haven't seen any this big. It's been so devastating to be losing everyone. Next year we will have all the chickens in the smaller house/coop and will cover their outside pen area so they can't fly out. As much as I love having everyone being able to run around as they please, there are just too many predators around. The place has become known as 'Neely, Benj and Rio's snack bar and grill,' and it just has to stop. Vanna's great, but she can't be expected to keep everyone away all the time.

I'm also thinking of having different areas for the fowl to run around in. If I fence in some garden areas, then I can have little buildings in each area like the old duck house for them to crash in. Here's what the duck house looks like with a metal roof on it:



If the fowl end up going into the other coop, then the barn they're in now can be the goat barn. I kind of like that idea better. If we do that, then the spot where the old farm house is now could become their grazing area. But what's cool about Bill's old fence is that it's portable. It wouldn't take much to move their grazing area so that they always have fresh grass to eat. It will be interesting to see how it all develops.

Speaking of such, Diane heard on NPR that 'farm golf' is all the rage in Sweden (or somewhere over there) and she thinks I could make it work here. Instead of regular golf clubs, people would use a stick with an old work boot attached to it. They would have to play around gardens, geese, turkeys and goats. Half way through they would get goat cheese, milk, and beer. (Don't you think I should grow my own hops?) It would be a riot, actually.