Neal
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Everything posted by Neal
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I've always thought it was rather ironic that ferrets like company when you consider that polecats are solitary. Having said that, all mine have always prefered company. Even when the last remaining of my first batch of three was on his own for several months and gradually became quite narky and aggressive; when I added two new ones he turned back into his old playful self again.
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Sorry, not kept either of these. I have two wyandottes, one of which is typically broody whereas the other was laying about five or more eggs per week from Christmas until August. Also have two new pullets; a welsummer who is proving to be very friendly and a silver sussex which is supposed to be a friendly breed but mine's still a little reserved. Hope this is of some help.
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Re- the not needing to bend over: what about attaching one of those old telescopic radio aerials, I've seen this used before. Same effect as the stick but lighter and uses up less space. Also, as everyone else has said: brilliant photos!
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I agree with Skycat; I feel very honoured thinking that my dogs trust me implicitly. I know I can remove a thorn in a foot, have a good search around inside an ear or even have a fairly good root around in their mouth. I had a dog once who got a roasted bone jammed inbetween his teeth in the top jaw(never again, I stick to raw now). He was going mental and almost hyperventelating. Due to the size of the bone I was unable to get my fingers round it so was forced to use a screwdriver placed between the roof of his mouth and the bone to prize it out and boy did it take some force. I did all this
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Talk about a coincidence, I was thinking about that little whippet cross earlier this week when reading another thread. If I remember correctly, her name was Tyne and she was a collie/whippet x russel, mainly white with a half mask face. He wrote some very funny articles including one in which he mentioned a gaenacologist; he said he knew he was a gaenacologist because he wallpapered his hallway through the letter-box. That one still has me in stitches.
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I'm in a similar situation ie started from scratch and on my tod last season. As you imply, there are so many things which seem common sense to those who've been doing it for donkeys' years but when there's only yourself you can only learn by your own experience. On the plus side though, it does mean that you find a way that works for you rather than doing it the supposedly right way just because somebody else thinks it's right. Eg many would disagree with your findings that working them individually works best for you and I have to admit that despite reading the contrary on numerous occasions
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I remember driving along a busy road in the south east the weekend after the start of the ban and seeing numerous fox road kills. Got me thinking; I wonder if Labour will now try to ban cars or maybe just upper-class cars.
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Saw a book for the series in shop today too. I think it was about £20.
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I was advised once to never use the disinfectants which turn the water milky white if that's any help.
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I previously worked collie crosses but after getting a kelpie/collie cross I was so impressed by the difference in temperement that I bought a pure kelpie. As I work very small fields and thick woodland I find the kelpie catches more than my previous lurchers could; so much so that I'm now on my third! Having said that, I must admit that they are pretty useless in the open so although I think they're great that's only because they suit the ground I work and our temperements are well suited too.
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I have all three of mine, two hobs and a jill, de-sexed completely. The drawbacks are of course cost and definitely no potential to breed but on the other side of the coin, finding new ferrets isn't too difficult and I can keep mine together all year round with absolutely no problems at all. Not the ideal scenario for everyone but it works well for me.
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Thanks for that Compo; as I said it was purely speculative as I've heard good things about cockers and thought the small size might work better with the whippet than some other breeds.
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I use my pure kelpies for ferreting but would be the first to admit: a) they are not the ideal dog for everybody as they can be temperemental and b)mine aren't exactly fast enough to catch in the open though they do well in thick cover. However, the question was regarding lurchers so I thought I'd mention this and see what others think: I joked to somebody recently about the viability of a working cocker x whippet but in hindsight I'm wondering if it could actually be quite a good little ferreting dog. I've heard of some cockers which are gamer than some terriers and as for nose...! Has anybod
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Hi Little Lloyd, I've only been to your neck of the woods twice to pick up two of my kelpies from the edge of the Forest of Dean but have to say it looked rather nice. As somebody said above, I hate what many people are doing to these islands but I love my little corner of it and for the time being I'm prepared to weather the storm.
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I made a similar mistake in a dark night-club once...but he was very gentle with me!
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Yes, I worm mine every three months as well. I use drontal. I've been using that for about nine years now and have fed raw for about the same amount of time and have never had worms, as far as I know. I've also had virtually no fleas since feeding raw; I read in a book by Dr Ian Billingshurst that feeding raw discourages fleas but didn't believe it: have to admit though that for some reason I've only had a couple of minor cases of fleas in all that time. But tics...don't talk to me about tics!
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I feed mine whole. I used to gut them first but read somewhere about the benefits of some of the bits n bobs in there so now feed whole.
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I'd definitely agree with the majority of the above. Ive raised my last two kelpie pups and am about to start raising a third (touch wood) on raw chicken wings. It takes them ages to eat a single one at first but now a tray full just goes down crunch, swallow, crunch, swallow...!
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Not sure if these symptoms are the same but my last lurcher's feet kept splitting and peeling for a time. Phoned the breeder for advice and it turned out that the likely culprit was the type of cleaning fluid I was using to clean the run. I felt like a right berk afterwards as it seemed so obvious (no comments please) but sometimes it can be the most obvious things that we ignore.
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Since my earlier post I've caught a few more rabbits but so far none with myxy and the one I mentioned last week wasn't too bad; just a bit scabby around the ears etc. Touch wood!
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My situation is similar to Skycats' in that both the dogs are free to go in or out when I'm in and that the kennel with attached run is right by the back door. They do sleep outside though and are usually in the run when we're out. They're both great house dogs but they get more going on outside to interest them if that makes sense. Having said that, before we had the bitch spayed, the male was indoors all the time while the bitch was in season and now, if left to choose, she invariably goes into the kennel when she wants a nap whereas he finds a comfy spot indoors. If we got a third dog then
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I've always seen them more often in towns than when I've lived in the country. We currently have one who frequents our garden and occasionaly hides under the BBQ. I saw two males having a fight over territory once a few years ago; very noisy, even noisier than when the dirty buggers are mating!
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Sounds great Bazz. If memory serves me well I think mine was also 19" and weighed between 27 and 30 lbs.
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Nope! But last year year when I set a "little nipper" trap on my veg patch to catch the mouse which had been nibbling at my corgettes (oo er misses); I caught several slugs at the same time instead. It must have needed the combined weight of all of them to release the spring. Now thats the sign of a real hunter. When I've worked on my technique and built up my stamina I'm thinking of taking on a real live snail.
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I did have one once, sired by a 3/4 border 1/4 beardie and out of a racing whippet (3/4 whippet 1/4 greyhound). She had no instinct to catch, which I now know from experience was probably down to the particular lines used, if you know what I mean. She was also the most nervous dog I've ever known and would jump out of her skin if I so much as had the audacity to raise my eyebrow in the wrong way. I hasten to add that I'm one of those "shy retiring types" so I'm fairly sure it wasn't due to me being too brusque. However, despite what I've written above about her not catching, she was a keen h
