Farm Fresh Blog

Dear Friend Kim had a rough morning, but not as rough as the night her turkeys had last night. She had two turkeys, Thanksgiving & Christmas. She had become quite fond of them. They were eating a steady diet of grasshoppers and making themselves quite at home on her ranch. (about 25 minutes from our ranch)  Last night a cougar made a visit. It had turkey dinner.

There is no doubt in my mind that it will be back tonight for the second turkey.

Dear Friend Kim posted a picture on Facebook of the cat's pawprint. BIG cat. Bigger than Briar.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, when the sun goes down around there, the Flying Monkeys come out. We just 'thought' we had a predator problem at my old farm. There I lost 11 turkeys in one night. I lost 10 chickens in a week. I lost a goat not 100 yards from the barn.  Farming ain't for sissies, Folks.  It's a dog-eat-dog world out there. Actually, it's an Everything-Eat-Bird world out there.

If you want to know what predators you have, get chickens. Or geese. Or turkeys. Damned near everything but an ostrich is on the menu in Texas.

And that's why if you keep birds in the country, you need one of these:

 No, not the sheep, the DOG!

A Big White Dawg!

Best $50 I ever spent.

  "awww.... shucks!"

Will she be able to protect all the stock when we move to the ranch? Nope. Hell, that cat is as big as she is! That's why the small stock needs to be in a pen surrounded by a MOAT of nasty dogs. We need to make it too much trouble for the predators to come to our birds. That's what ranch dogs are for.

Otherwise, it's Bye, Bye, Birdie . . .

 The Apple Dumpling Gang

 Geese are just little dogs with beaks. They are the most delightful of creatures and I will not have them again until I'm in a place where they can be surrounded by Big White Dogs. It is simply too heartbreaking to lose them.