Chapter 137 Free-Range Chickens
There aren't many mosquitoes yet, so I'm not afraid of them coming in.
If the temperature remains normal this year, mosquitoes will likely be rampant in the countryside.
After ventilating the front and back doors and letting in fresh air, close the doors, quickly go to the bathroom to take a shower, and change into clean clothes.
When I came out again, I was clean and cool all over, and I sat on the swing chair outside the yard to bask in the sun for a while.
The sun isn't too strong now; it feels warm on my skin. Occasionally, a cool breeze blows from the mountains, carrying the scent of flowers, making every pore on my body feel relaxed and refreshed.
After basking in the sun for a while and checking around the yard to make sure there wasn't much work to do, I decided to go home and do something meaningful.
I measured the dimensions of the front and back doors with a tape measure, found some mesh in the basement, and made a mesh door curtain.
Not only the front and back doors of the house need to be made, but also the windshield door and the door to the back room.
I hope that by taking all my measures, I can prevent mosquitoes from entering my home as much as possible.
Cut an extra piece of mesh according to the dimensions of each door.
Go to the gravel path at the bottom of the small slope in the yard and pick up some nice-looking pebbles about the size of corn kernels.
After washing, roll the pebbles into the bottom of the curtain and sew it up with a sewing machine. With the weight, the curtain will not be easily blown up by the wind and can more effectively block flying insects.
Since I got a sewing machine, I haven't missed any opportunity to use it, so I also used the sewing machine to finish the remaining three edges, which makes them look more textured.
After the curtain is made, first use some paste to stick it to the door, and then firmly nail it in with a few nails, making it look very sturdy.
The youngest two girls seemed to really like the flowing curtain, deliberately playing around with it and even biting the small pebbles inside.
Who could stand that? I went up and slapped them both with the soles of my shoes until they were quiet. Little Di noticed my displeasure and often went to the door to keep an eye on them. Whenever he saw Little Three or Little Four misbehaving, he would bark and scare them.
Although it still bites secretly when I and Xiaodi aren't around, the situation has improved a lot.
The weather is getting warmer, and the rabbits have been kept indoors for a while, which has caused a smell. It's time to move them outdoors.
I had thought of enclosing it in the yard like a chicken coop, but it just didn't feel quite right.
The pigsty built at that time was quite large, with one pen housing pigs and the other pen remaining empty.
It's safer to raise rabbits in a pigpen, where there's a roof for shade, and it won't get too hot in the summer.
There was a wall about half a person's height between the two enclosures. To prevent accidents, the wall was built up to the height of the roof with bricks before the rabbit moved over.
Apart from the passageway, the only thing connected to the outside world was the sewage ditch.
This prevents pigs from accidentally jumping over and eating the rabbit, and also blocks some of the pig smell.
The rabbit enclosure has a roof half covered with thick straw, and the other half is just the ground.
At the very end of the passageway, which is the passageway outside the rabbit pen, place two rabbit boxes here. When rabbits give birth, they will be raised in the rabbit boxes for a while until they are a bit bigger, and then they will be placed directly into the rabbit pen.
After the walls dried for two days, we brought all the rabbits inside to raise.
Now that there is ample breeding ground, there is no need to restrict the rabbits' reproduction.
The older rabbits, both male and female, are all kept in the same enclosure.
After dealing with the rabbits, the next step is the chickens.
In rural areas, chickens and ducks are usually free-range and will return to their nests to sleep in the evening.
My plan was also to let them roam freely, but there are wolves in the mountains, and they wander around aimlessly, potentially becoming food for the wolves.
I can never tell the wolf pack which chickens I raised and which ones I can't eat.
Finally, a compromise was found: a large area was fenced off near the yard, and the chicks were trained to roam freely in this area during the day and return to their nest on their own at night.
The first step is to open the coop gate. The chickens I raise have always been kept in a coop. If I want them to become free-roaming chickens, they need to get used to the territory outside the coop.
After the chicken coop door was opened, only two or three bold chickens dared to come out, while the rest stood at the coop door, and the dog peeked out furtively.
There's no rush. We'll talk about it when we've gotten used to it.
Before the chicks could get used to it, Xiao Gua, Xiao San, and Xiao Si got used to it first. Whenever they saw a chicken come out, they would chase after it. Even if they caught it, they wouldn't bite it; they just scared it for fun.
But as soon as I appear, they all pretend to be very well-behaved, so now the chickens don't dare to leave the coop at all.
After two days of lying in wait, I finally caught the three dogs red-handed. Since the chickens were too afraid to leave the coop, they had the audacity to run into the coop to look for the chickens.
When I arrived, they were ganging up on a duck, which was quacking loudly and struggling fiercely.
I went up and caught them one by one, and gave them a good beating. After that, they all behaved themselves.
I originally wanted to get the chickens to come out on their own, but they've made them very timid, so I have to resort to harsher measures.
He personally herded the chickens and ducks into the yard and then closed the chicken coop door.
Several timid hens lay on the gate and refused to leave. I scattered some corn kernels and wild vegetable scraps on the ground, and they became bolder as soon as they saw the food.
After wandering around the yard for two days, I finally stopped being afraid and improved my introverted personality that I had developed over the years.
I fenced off a large area next to the vegetable garden with wooden stakes and wire mesh, and the site was ready.
Fearing that the chickens and ducks might get too wild and fly out of the wire fence, I frantically grabbed each chicken and duck and clipped their wings with scissors.
Once everything was ready, we opened the door and let the chickens and ducks out.
The ducks seem to be bolder than the chickens; they wriggled their tails and ran out as soon as I opened the gate.
I took a small stick and herded a flock of chickens and ducks toward the pen. Surprisingly, they were all easy to control, only walking in the direction of the duck leader and not running around.
After my instruction, Xiao Gua and Xiao Si have become much more restrained, but they still follow me around herding the chickens.
Seeing that they were relatively well-behaved and could prevent the chicks from running to other places, I acquiesced.
After walking for only a few minutes, the flock of chickens came down the slope into my enclosure.
Seeing that I had stopped chasing them, the chickens and ducks became leisurely and carefree. This was their first time in the wild, and they were very curious as they scratched at the soil with their claws and precisely pecked at every little insect on the ground.
Needless to say, the ducks were quacking and running around excitedly.
I don't know why, but I always feel that the duck's personality is similar to that of the little melon. It's not only very affectionate, but you can also feel the excitement of it when it comes out to play.
Perhaps because they had become familiar with the dogs, the dogs were no longer afraid even when they ran around with the chickens and ducks in the chicken coop.
Since the dogs want to stay here, they can stay and watch over the chickens and ducks.
I led Xiaodi home, retrieved several round chicken coops I had bought earlier, and placed them under a large tree.
If a hen wants to lay an egg here, it can lay it directly in the henhouse.
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