"Cheryl" wrote in message
eb.com...

On 3/10/2013 5:08 PM, MaryL wrote:


"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...


"MaryL" wrote in message
...
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 story Tweed wrote is horrendous. I don't think a fox could get in
my house, so I wonder how they get in? Your view about feeding wild
animals should also pertain to feeding birds, but it's hard to stop
feeding them when you enjoy watching them through your window. I
stopped feeding birds because the food not only attracted birds, but
squirrels, and encouraged the squirrels to bear their young here. Both
the birds and the baby squirrels encouraged the large population of
stray/feral cats in the area and while I love cats, I don't want to draw
them here for a feeding fest.

~~~~~~~~
I stopped feeding birds at my former house because I felt like I was
providing a smorgasbord of birds for neighboring cats. Once I moved into
this house (about 15 years ago), I started feeding them again. I have an 8
foot cedar fence around the back yard, and it is very rare to see a cat
inside the fence. I get a wide variety of birds, and I love watching them.
I use squirrel proof feeders, and they have been very effective. The
squirrels still get plenty to eat--I have some nut trees, and the squirrels
get seed that the birds kick out of the feeders. I enjoy looking at the
antics of the squirrels, but I could not afford the amount of food they
would eat if I used feeders that they could get into. They are little
gluttons!

MaryL