The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: laurelrus on August 21, 2014, 10:23:12 am
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Hi,
Apologies in advance if this is a stupid question, which I think it might be....
We have recently started keeping livestock and have 3 very small Ouessant sheep and 2 pygmy goats, along with 4 very elderly chickens. We're also getting some Kune Kune piglets in a few weeks.
Last night when I was shutting the goats in for the night I heard foxes for the first time and am panicking now for the safety of our animals.
We let the chickens free range all day, and shut them in safely when it gets dark, but I've recently been told by a neighbour that they've had chickens killed by foxes in the middle of the day.
I think I read somewhere that geese can be a good thing to have as they will scare foxes away with their honking (?) and if that's true I'd be happy to get some, although that means more housing and more expense...
Before I do anything I'd be very glad of some advice!
Thanks
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Foxes can take geese. However, think it depends on the birds and fox as my neighbours kept geese for years, but then the gander died - not a fox, and the geese were quickly taken by fox in the daytime.
I have a pair, I think they help as when they honk the dog goes to see what's going on and I hope that between them this is enough to scare fox away.
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Thanks Steph Hen. So do you shut your geese in at night to keep them safe?
We want to get more chickens as ours are so old they hardly lay, but I don't want to do it when I know there are foxes so close.
I've also been told that it's good to keep alpacas to keep foxes away, but that's a whole other consideration!
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Laurelrus - you are definetly a smallholder on a mission!! :thumbsup:
I agree with Steph Hen - our geese were all fine and seemed to alert the dogs etc, until the gander had an unfortunate accident. Then the fox slowly dwindled the four girls down to nothing. Foxes also do kill any time of night or day.
Glad the fox had ours for lunch, never owned such a bunch of terrifying animals ;D
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Yes I shut them away. They'd rather sleep out but are away.
How about a dog rather than an alpaca? Obviously there are many considerations to be made before getting a dog.
In spring my gander is horrible. I'm thinking of rehoming them because of it. I have a baby just now, and in a couple of years he will be wandering around. They also gang up on the dog when he's sleeping and he's bitten them a couple of times, so it's not a perfect set up. I figured I'll keep them through winter and maybe sell when goose comes into lay.
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Steph Hen - we have two dogs, a Labrador and a miniature dachshund. It's the little one that's feisty and will chase anything away. She's great with the chickens, doesn't bother them although sometimes they peck her and she runs away from them. The Labrador is afraid of the chickens and is really dopey.
I'm really new to this smallholding life, and obviously over-anxious and need to relax a bit. My children are teenagers and so not vulnerable to being pecked although a very cheeky pygmy goat bit one on the knee and the other on the arm this week. They're learning that they have to show him they're above him in the pecking order so it's a learning curve for us all!
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SophieLeeds - this is something I've wanted for more than ten years and now that we've finally got our 5 acres I'm making up for lost time!
My husband Andrew is finding it hard to keep up - he works in an office all week and then at weekends he's putting up fences, and gates and housing and he's out in the field with his new tools and discovering skills he never knew he had!
It's a big change for us but we're loving it.
The next decision is how can we make any money at all from this, just enough to cover feed costs or vet bills would be really helpful. I'm waking up in the middle of the night with ideas, most of them mad, but time will tell!
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I recently got a trio of buff backed geese and so far I am delighted with them. They honk when crows appear so without a doubt the visiting crows have decreased in numbers, also haven't had a visit from the neighbours killer cat. There honking alerts you to any unwanted visitors. So far are friendly enough with humans but if become feisty in spring will section them off. I put them in a 4 ft high wee shed that was originally a dog kennel.
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My neighbour lost all 3 of his ducks in broad daylight despite them being in with his 6 geese... so I wouldn't count on them for protection.
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What about Rhea? ;D
Adults will make short work of a fox.
You can eat them, breed them, sell the eggs, young and feathers.
Oh and they eat weeds!! :thumbsup:
(http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/1e/6f/ee/1e6feefedddd09a6b3e5fb2089f2f10f.jpg)
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Just get a proper dog lol.
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Do you think rhea would keep people away too? Or would they be susceptible to being stolen?
My front paddock is very visible from the lane and I've had apples pinched, and eggs taken out of boxes and thrown around so i think it's mainly local kids. Admittedly that was in previous years and i've not had the problem this year.
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The next decision is how can we make any money at all from this, just enough to cover feed costs or vet bills would be really helpful. !
I think you need to be a bit more business like about what you have .... feeding old non laying hens is out if you want to cover costs ... as is having livestock just because you like them ...... direct egg and meat sales can work if you have a market. How difficult will it be for you to cull older unproductive stock?
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We've lost quite a number of chickens this year in broad daylight and despite having a flock of 14 very alert and noisy Embden geese about the place. The geese will look after themselves but they really don't care about any other poultry you might have.
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We had geese who were very noisy although it didn't bother us. The fox got them both though :(
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Yep, I wouldn't get geese just to keep off foxes because I don't think it would work. If you want geese, go for it just because you want them - they're good lawnmowers for a start which makes them cheaper to keep. They do only lay about 30 eggs a year so you're not going to make a lot of money from eggs but if you get a rare breed and are happy to breed them, you might just cover their food costs (I've hatched 9 nine this year, keeping 2 of those, selling four or five at £50 a piece and two that I won't sell for breeding so they'll be cheaper, oh and buying another one - so I'll make triple figures but the food and bedding will have cost about the same).
Enjoy your new life and focus on what you like doing, then work out how you can make money from that! I'm trying all sorts at the moment but starting to focus on what pays (and I don't think it's poultry - so they're just for fun!).
H
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what about guinea fowl?
We got 6 keets a few weeks ago in a pen at the minute till fully grown but got them as guards for their noise etc.
When large enough will be free range and should roost up in trees at night so could get away from a fox if needed, they make lots of noise, bigger than hens, although have also been known to take on a fox!
You can also eat them, sell eggs (fertile and for eating) breed and sell young keets etc.
They are also supposed to be good on veg patch as don't scratch about as much as a hen and eat all the pests/insects/tics and don't bother with your crops.
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All of these replies are very interesting and helpful.
I've decided against geese, as the only reason for getting them was to keep foxes away and obviously that makes no sense. I did say it might be a stupid question!
Clansman, the Rhea suggestion is interesting although I find them quite intimidating, I'm 5ft 0 and that's why I've gone for the little Ouessants and pygmy goats so far!
HesterF - I think you're spot on, we need to see what we like doing and then work from there, rather than trying to do something we know nothing about just because it might make money.
Thanks!