"MaryL" wrote in message
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"Christina Websell" wrote in message
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"MaryL" wrote in message
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"Christina Websell" wrote in message
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"MaryL" wrote in message
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I thought of you when I heard a local news report last night. We have a
lot of people in this area who keep a few backyard chickens, and the
report talked about a woman who has a small business as a "chicken
sitter." So, just as I use a pet sitter when I go on vacation (or once
when I was in the hospital), people who have chickens and can't be home
use her to take care of their chickens. She feeds them, puts them in at
night, gathers eggs, etc. I thought this might interest you.
MaryL
Hi, Mary
I've replied to this twice but for some some reason it hasn't appeared
either time. So here goes again:
Thank you for sending this, it was very interesting. We don't seem to
have
the same pet-sitting culture here as you do in the USA. Pet sitters do
exist but are few and far between.
I wouldn't mind being a chicken-sitter, but I'd be reluctant unless they
were very nearby (like next door) because of the terrible daytime fox
problem we have. I'd hate it if my clients got home to find all their
chickens were ex-chickens.
In the last few weeks a fox has entered a house and eaten the finger off
a
month old baby. Add this to a couple of years ago another fox went into
a
house and did some severe facial damage to baby twins. There is now a
call
for a cull of foxes in London.
Once upon a time, before some of the nature programmes on the telly that
encourage people to feed them, foxes were afraid of humans and only
roamed
around during the night - which is how it should be IMO.
Tweed
~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks, Tweed. Your message came through this time. We do have a lot of
pet sitters, but chicken sitters are rather unusual. I have a friend who
was hospitalized for several weeks in December. She has cats, a dog,
horses, two burros, chickens and a few ducks. Luckily, someone who lives
near her was able to take care of all the "critters" while she was ill.
Your description of problems with foxes is why I think we should not feed
wild animals. I love to look at them, but feeding them destroys their
fear of humans. That, in turn, becomes a danger both to humans and to
the animals who have lost their fear.
MaryL
The problem with foxes is that they look like nice dogs,so why not feed
them? Because they aren't nice at all.
I have no problem with them if they pass through my garden.
When they were killing my chickens in the day I got annoyed and arranged
for them to get a piece of lead in their ear. 39 of them bit the dust.
I am not proud of that, but it was necessary.
If you'd seen my poor cockerel bruised up all over his body to try and
save
his girls you might have killed the fox yourself with your bare hands. He
died. Trying.
~~~~~~~
Wow! That's a *lot* of foxes. We have them here, but I have only seen a
few of them in my life. Of course, they tend to come out after dark, so
there are probably a lot more that I am not aware of. We also have
coyotes (east Texas), and they are deadly for cats and small dogs that are
let outside after dark. I remember my grandmother putting all her
chickens in the chicken coop every evening to protect them from foxes
(northeast Ohio). She would "cluck" to her chickens, and they would all
follow her inside.
MaryL
and here it is:
http://news.sky.com/story/1050008/fo...-in-cot-attack
note the wildlife presenter's views.
I rest my case.
Foxes are fine, in their place, which is being afraid of humans and skulking
around during the night. Not being fed and made bold and that's what can
happen if you do.
My foxes are not too bold here, as if they are a nuisance they meet foxman
who introduces them to his firearm.
They are not a nuisance if they pass through my garden on their way to
somewhere else. They *are* a nuisance if they start looking at my chickens
and trying to dig in to them under the runs or huts. They can't get in
unless they can dig through paving slabs or through steel plated huts anyway
but if I see a sign that they are trying..they need to be afraid.