This site is an archive of ChiotsRun.com. For the latest information about Susy and her adventrures, visit the Cultivate Simple site.
Thank you for all your support over the years!

Balancing

January 12th, 2016

When you have birds, or any animal, it’s a balancing act. Finding the best way to keep them safe from predators while allowing them freedom to roam and be able to be what they want to be. The result is that my birds range fairly freely, but I lose some to predators on occasion. Yesterday was one of those occasions.
Turkey feathers in chicken wire
It’s always sad to lose a bird or two, but in the circle of life we can’t expect our animals to always win. Life just doesn’t work that way. My predator loses are very low, but that doesn’t make it any less heartbreaking to lose an animal you’ve been raising and caring for. We lost two of our young turkeys Sunday night or Monday morning. It was their fault for deciding to roost outside not safely in the coop like they should have, especially now that the electric fences are down for the winter. It did teach all the other birds a lesson, every single young turkey was in the coop early yesterday afternoon, safely locked away from whatever nabbed their two litter mates.

4 Comments to “Balancing”
  1. Jeanette on January 12, 2016 at 7:52 am

    I understand your sadness over losing an animal to a predator. I only have two cats, but I love all animals. I know that some animals are food for other animals, but I still hate to see their lives snuffed out.

    Reply to Jeanette's comment

  2. Virginia on January 12, 2016 at 8:33 pm

    It is very sad to lose an animal you have cared for. We recently lost one of our chickens. She had gotten tangled in some poultry netting and was so frantic trying to get loose (as we tried to help her) that she broke her neck. She was still alive though, and my husband had to finish the process. It is one thing to raise animals for meat, and you feel bad for them, but when an animal dies in a helpless situation like that, it makes my heart sad. Sorry for your loss.

    Reply to Virginia's comment

  3. Chris on January 12, 2016 at 9:17 pm

    I’m sorry you lost two of your turkeys…never easy, no matter what the animal or how the death occurred. Turkeys aren’t that particularily bright so I’m told and some have to be escorted into their roosts at night. Maybe you might have to check each night and make sure all are accounted for in their enclosure?
    I have to do that with our goats every single night as we have predators around too and I can’t take that chance that they’ll be ok not locked up.
    So sorry!

    Reply to Chris's comment

  4. Jennifer Fisk on January 16, 2016 at 12:15 pm

    My turkeys have a great shelter but they insist on roosting on the top rail of the chain link pen. Why a Great Horned Owl hasn’t knocked them off or an agile Coyote I don’t know. No matter how ugly the weather is, they are roosting outside.

    Reply to Jennifer Fisk's comment

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

Admin
Read previous post:
UGH

We moved this blog to a dedicated server a few years ago and it's been nothing but a big hassle,...

Close