I am fed up with the chickens.
Every day I prepare Taktur’s special stallion food to make him big and strong and every day the chickens spy me and make a bee-line for it. Obviously at over £15 a bag, I do not want the hens to eat Taktur’s lunch, so I keep them away usually by standing over Taktur with a dressage whip flicking hens out of his bucket.
This is not an ideal method as it means I can’t do anything else and it could make Taktur head-shy or whip-shy, which I really do not want.
So, I worked out a cunning plan.
I lured the hens with a small amount of corn (makes a good noise on a concrete floor) into the big shed and shut the door.
Thus leaving Taktur to get on with the business of eating his hard feed.
He is a slow eater and not a pig at all, often walking away half way through.
In fact, I think he gets quite bored of food. It definitely is not his raison d’être, unlike some who live for it and are only happy when they are stuffing.
Anyway, Taktur has to be fed every day but it just annoys me that the hens turn into circling opportunistic vultures, even nesting in his bowl if they can and he is too nice to say anything.
So, today Frances 1 : Chickens 0
The others, btw, are not sitting starving while Taktur eats. They have a bale which I am rationing.
Some share beautifully while some don’t.
There are more heaps of silage out than there are mouths so everyone always gets a good feed. It is amazing that three stallions can share nicely…..
….. while one gelding can’t!
Oh, poor chickens. 😉 I do so love chickens, not that I’d raise them myself. 😆
Why does Taktur need the special food? If you’ve blogged about it, I’ve forgotten. He sure is a pretty fella.
He gets feeding up because he is growing and in work. Hard work, training while being backed (I hate the word “broken”). So he needs more topline and muscle so he can work.
Some friends started saying “saddle training.” Why not? People say “harness training.” I hated “broken” when I was a kid, and hate it now.