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Hi
My name's Tim, my partner and I live in the Correze department in central France. We have a Pyrenean buck and doe (Pontouffe and Amande) and a Massif Central doe (Roux). Roux gave birth to twin girls (Laura and Lucy) on the 26th February; Amande had a boy (Rufus) on the 16th March.
Last year was our first with goats which we brought in as a fox deterrent.
We also keep Speckled Sussex chickens for egg and chick sales; Rouge des Ardennes turkeys again for sales; black and bronze turkeys for meat production.
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Wow, France! Welcome!! You'll have to post some photos of your crew. Are your goats good at deterring foxes? Mine couldn't care less about foxes.
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I'd love to see pictures. Europe has some really interesting breeds since thats where most come from originally.
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Welcome to the forum! I suspect your threads will get lots of views. Can't wait to see pictures.
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05-04-2015, 09:06 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-04-2015, 09:07 AM by Nanno.)
Lovely goats! Pontouffe is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.
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(05-04-2015, 09:06 AM)Nanno Wrote: Lovely goats! Pontouffe is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.
Between December '13 and January '14 we lost over 600 euros worth (about $700) of stock to a fox. It dug under coops, tore out wooden walls, ripped off roofs, took chickens, turkeys, ducks, guinea fowl. 2014's breeding programs were ruined and only some very fertile turkeys prevented a big loss.
My partner is dog phobic so that wasn't an option; we don't really have the land for a donkey/llama that are recommended deterrents.
Goats were the last choice outside electric fencing - we have that now to keep the goats in! There hasn't been a fox in sight or even earshot since the crew arrived aged three weeks and demanding bottles four times a day.
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That Pontouffe looks almost like a Kiko.
I think my goats would just sit there and watch the fox trot past with a chicken in her mouth.