Had a large delivery left off for me in the middle of the night this morning. I sortof half expected it and believe it or not every vehicle delivered had gas in it for the first time in literally 5 years or more. What they didn't have were all the expensive add ons, like keys and and electronic codes where they were suppose to be.
The driver even separated the, suppose to be zip tied together key FoBs, and tossed em into opposing sections of the vehicle in one case. Just threw the "Now" loose insert keys for random vehicles into a box together and forced me to just finally get em all out and start checking against the consoles.
Since they were all different models I didn't have to worry about duplicates and hell not like I can't use the hours anyway!!!!!
Since I just got paid the other day it was time to go pick up Repair supplies too, I am missing most of the shingles from the chicken coop and the Goat home needs some repairs too. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that a bundled group of shingles has only went up in value by approximately 55% in the last four years. I was expecting much worse to be honest.
I did have to get an employee to actually look up what an average box of shingles was even listed at back then though it's been so long.
I got everything home and found out I still have three chickens alive!!!! Since the rooster got killed off and he is no longer keeping the hens in a safe space something has been just waiting until one gets too far away and has been picking them off. Rarely is there more than a feather of two as evidence. I have now come to believe that the predator in something that has figured out and knows when I am gone. This place has rarely been without someone home for over 30 years but now a days when I am gone the wife is oblivious to most anything short of UH-30 landing in the front lawn.
So I have decided it is time to put 60+ some odd years of free chicken running to an end and this Winter I plan to actually build a fenced in coop. There is just too much stirred up around here and I don't even know any longer what is hunting my chickens. We need a few years to cut off their free food flow and keep my girls safe. There is too much traffic to allow the dogs freedom of movement and the newer hens won't behave without a rooster.
The older hens seem to be happy without the rooster and just stay within the fenced area but without direction the newer hens go off chasing grasshoppers or something. One hen in particular won't even come out of the garden now but has survived by herself in there so far.
So after my repairs are all done I got to come up with a better plan if I am going to continue to keep chickens thanks to all the new settlers and free government money.
Lastly all afternoon seemed full of news articles about the explosion of credit card debt and HLOK loans everywhere plus car repossessions and of course every commercial company on Earth going broke. I can't say whats going to really happen now but I imagine...
Looks like most American's refuse to stop using debt or to even start living within their means. Speaking as someone who has refused debt slavery and all free shit money or loans my entire life all I can come up with is.
The real question is can the responsible people out last the Gimmees and governemnt plus their bailouts etc. To survive. The Verdict isn't in yet....
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!
What do you think the chook predator is? Guessing a coyote, racoon, fox, bob cat, feral cat or maybe a stray dog? The funny thing about predators is they usually can't count. They do get used to watching your routine though. Get wifey to dress in your clothes, do a few routine chores, jump in the car and drive away while you lay in wait . . . might solve your issues.
ReplyDeleteAnon- Judging from the very limited remains the predator is able to carry the victim off quick and whole and must be negotiating a tube fence from the back to hide it's movements. From what I have seen in the past here it cant be a fox or coon as they need to drag a chicken to carry it off. I haven't seen any of our local or any at all eagles in some time. I am guessing a dog or coyote and I have seen some coyotes come close recently. Attacking exclusively in daylight this close to the house though I am kinda ruling out a coyote as they don't usually come this close in daylight. Sneakiest predators I have had to date have been coons though so I could completely off.
DeleteMay be a bobcat, PP. We had one that grabbed one of the old hens during the morning hours and tried to carry her off right outside the window. I ran out after it in my pj's & robe (the neighbors now knew I was a nut), the cat dropped her and she rolled down the hill to me. Poor gal died as I carried her back but at least she wasn't ripped apart by the bobcat. It was bold enough to sit up on the hillside and watch, waiting for me to go back in so it could come back to grab another hen. The boys & I rounded all the chickens back up and put in their pens since we were on the last day of moving. Hope whatever it is is encouraged to move on...
ReplyDelete~hobo
Hobo - PP here. Could be we have seen a few bobcats around over the years. Hell I even hunted and killed one less than 10 miles away from here about 45 years ago or so. Still got the tagged skull around here somewhere I think.
DeleteBobcat or Redtailed hawk is possible too. They both are taking out our ducks here. Didn’t think a hawk could lift a full sized duck, but I was wrong. Barely a feather left behind to give us a clue what happened until we caught it in the act.
DeletePP - The rise in credit card debt was as unsurprising as it was "remarkable" to everyone else. This will be the first sign; it will come up again and again until it is just another regular thing.
ReplyDeleteAlso noted that 30 Year Fixed loans are now around 7% and that is seen as a major issue. 20 + years ago 7% was an average loan price and we were glad to have it.
My sense - and it is only my sense - is that we are accelerating.
TP - PP here Well things are changing for sure as I think regular people are finally figuring out they were set up and now have to pay up. The most odd thing I see is how every big player now seems to be more about saving money they say they don't have but don't seem too worried. It's like time to really hurt those not in the know than desperation to them kinda.
DeleteOur chickens have always been penned. For us it is mostly hawks and maybe the odd owl that will go after them... but there is the ood weasel out there too. They will dig under the fence so be sure to go down a few boards, PP.
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of predators - there are more than a few loose in the financial system... and they need to be dealt with in the same way. Build a firewall around your finances as much as possible.
GF - OUr chickens for years have expected free range. I tried locking them up a few times in the past and it never seemed to help much, they spent so much time trying to get around it I actually lost more overall in the long term. But traffic and such has made this harder to protect em in a more passive way now. Gonna have to adapt I guess.
ReplyDelete