HillBilly Zoo...

What's a Hillbilly farm without a zoo?

Lessee - we have goats, dogs, cows, chickens, ducks, turkeys, guineas, and even some pigeons. Not really a zoo, but it's a good start. We need to get a couple of Peacocks to wake the neighbors up by screaming "HALP! HALP! HALP!" at the top of their feathered little lungs.....

Actually, when I'm over at a neighbor's house, I CAN hear the chickens...and it's over a 1/2 mile away. I don't hear them much at home - only occasionally does it bother me (usually this happens when some smart-aleck rooster gets right behind me when he hollers, then high tails it outta dodge...).

Like I said, I rarely even HEAR the chickens - the sound of the Guineas and the blind calf drown them out....

Actually, I very seldom pay attention to the guineas, and Chuck doesn't bother me with his insistent calling. He eventually gets tired and quits anyhow.

What is amazing to me is, I can hear the pigeons "cooing" from a hundred yards away. Maybe the metal shed they are it amplifies the sound. I dunno. All I know is, they carry on quite a lot, and it is a nifty sound to hear.

I have them in half of the chicken house right now - it might be just their way of complaining about the neighbors.

Or maybe they are complaining that they can't get out and fly around very much.

I'm TRYING to rectify THAT situation. Over the past week to 10 days, I have been trying to put together a "bird cage" of sorts so they can stretch their wings. It basically is a huge outdoor aviary. I'm getting to the final stages now, though. I am ALMOST ready to stretch chicken wire (or "poultry netting" as it is now known by) over the sides so they can get air.

I told Deb that I should put a steeple on it because it is beginning to look like a cathedral....



I plan on putting tin on the side, at the bottom. It will go up about 4 feet. This is so those pesky goats won't eat through the chicken wire. The goats won't be able to see in, but too bad....I also have part of an old "Horse Panel" that I am putting on the front at the bottom for the same reason.



The panel has 2" x 6" spaces so it is small enough so the birds won't escape.

I can't wait to get it finished so the Pigeons can play. It will be fun to see them flying around inside it.

I've had these pigeons for a little over a month now. There are two pairs that are nesting, and one pair of eggs that should hatch at any time. ''Maybe I can train them to be "Attack Pigeons".

You know, the ones that stop off at the nearest Mulberry tree (in season, of course...), and then bomb your car....

Now, if they could be trained to bomb SPECIFIC cars.....