[Henny]

In my Waitrose magazine it says how some people have alpacas to keep foxes away from their free range hens

(and they look very cute too)

[Bodger]

I have a shotgun.

[Vember]

From Katie Thear's  The Smallholders Manual  "LLamas have proved themselves to be good guardians of sheep, especially at lambing time. They also have a good reputation for protecting poultry from foxes."

Also mentions that they are less expensive

[Bodger]

They'll also try to kill your dog :shock:

[milliebecks]

In my Waitrose magazine it says how some people have alpacas to keep foxes away from their free range hens

(and they look very cute too)

They sound even cuter - they sort of hum at you
And they do (apparently) learn to 'love' - OK tolerate - family dogs.

Need quite a bit of land though, they are not inexpensive to buy and they can't be kept on their own ...

All in all - an expensive way of protecting half a dozen free range hens

(Does that say something about Waitrose ...... :roll: )

[Lost in France]

We're getting a small herd of 6 alpacas in March, can't wait! They must be amongst the most beautiful guard animals you can find. Re-dogs, the people we're buying them from have lots of dogs so they can discriminate as they seem fine with their "pets"! Selkie is right they make lovely noises...we're just learning how to join in with them!!

I have seen our young male peacock chase both foxes and dogs! It's bit scarey as he and his sister will follow any stray dog they see passing to ensure it leaves their territory! There is a lovely video on U-Tube of a peacock and a dog...guess who's boss?! The peacocks actually think they're hens, as they were hatched by our little bantams, so they're very protective of them.

So you can choose your guard animals...alpacas or peacocks! All in all with an electric poultry fence plus the peacocks and soon the alpacas, no fox in his right mind will visit our garden!!

Judi      

[milliebecks]

I am sooooo jealous!

All those wonderful critters and wine too! Can I come and live with you (bringing my small menagerie too of course)?

[Lost in France]

Milliebecks,

You might change your mind if you saw how much renovation work we still have left to do! Yes the wine is great...and you need it after a day of renovation, but it's great to be able to spend more time with the menagerie and, of course MOH. Also great to have added some interesting animals to the menagerie but...the cost has been 3 winter months with no hot water, toilet or shower (surprising how easy it is though to wash down with a kettle full of water and sponge..but I think I'd rather forget that bit brrrrr!!)  We now have a lovely kitchen and have neeeearly finished the a lounge, we have a comfortable bedroom..only 1 at the moment though... sorry, and a at last we have a real shower and...a BATH! For over a year how I longed for a bath and now I have it...trouble is water is dear here so MOH says the bath is just for show!!!

One day we'll finish but it's not as easy as some of the TV shows suggest...takes at least twice as long as planned and costs double as well! Hey-ho, eventually we'll have a lovely house and lots of time to sit and watch the menagerie...with a glass of wine of course!...Trouble is then there's the garden to do...still it definately beats the old life and now we have a different sort of "rat race" here...catching the b....y beasties!!!

We're living our dream and it feels like a huge adventure! Any visitors though are always welcome and there's always a bottle of something open!

Judi

[Foxy]

sounds wonderful !-and a lot of hard work! Do you have any piccys? love to have a nosey  

[Lost in France]

Not sure how to post photos but must learn. I'll try MOH see if he can help. Have lots including some funny ones of the young peacocks in the henhouse, also of them peering in through our windows to see what we're up to...plus, of course all those renovation piccies that we'll look back at one day and say..."we did it!"

Judi

[milliebecks]

It does sound wonderful and you're right - the satisfaction of being able to say 'WE did it' will be fab.

Would love to see some pics too


Oh - and let me know when you've got a second bedroom finished    

[Jellyhead]

Of course I agree with everything Judi has written. The life here is fab. We were lucky enough not to have so much work done though. My OH not got practical bone in his body :roll: Anyway, we are much further south but if anyone wants to visit   you can clean me henhouse    :lol:and I will supply you with lots of wine  

[Rob the rake]

Nice chook, JH.

[Jellyhead]

Yes, I thought it was quite apt, you know looking cafuddled an all that  

[NormandyMary]

I too am a newby to rural french life, we have been over here for just under 3 years. We too have an old farmhouse to restore, its 300 years old and we have 1.53 acres of land. A bit of a jump from a 30 ft garden in Swindon. Im really going to try growing veggies this years, we have planted extra fruit trees and Im going to try raspberries too. We already have established pear, greengage and apple trees, as well as blackberries by the tonne!
I love this life, and could never move back to the UK. Too much traffic. Its noisy here if a tractor goes by! Very safe for the moggies too.