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[goodinparts]

Goodness! When my girls first arrived, I put the in the front garden to protect them from the over friendly retriever pup...It's a big garden with a solid wooden fence, and I really wasn't worried - but so many of my friends were that I moved them very quickly, and this thread makes me happy that I did.

Having said that, the other day I was with them in their playground in the back garden when the dog shot off towards the back door - and there was a little old lady, one of my parishioners, who had calmly let herself in through the house looking for me.

The funny thing was that she was terrified of the dog (Libby is the least threatening dog you could ever imagine) and I almost caught myself apologising - til I realised that actually SHE had walked uninvited through my house and into my garden, where the dog was entirely within her rights to be.

I don't think the little old ladies of Stroud pose much of a risk to anyone, but it did make me think hard about security generally...Back gate will now always be locked, and the front door too if I'm in the garden. There are issues with drugs on the estate over the road and I'd hate the girls to be at risk

[Lorax]

All of this is shocking. I've never thought about chicken security (I don't have my chooks yet though!). Well I say never, but it did fleetingly pass my mind but I quashed it as just another paranoid thought (I have several).

 

We've got driveway gates as we have young children and we live in a detached house that is otherwise totally open to the road (iyswim). But still...I may have to introduce that barbed wire I've long been threatening. Actually pigeon spikes, are useful and also you can't really climb over them.

 

I just heard that someone came into my friends garden last night and let out her guinea pigs. They survived but were very scared and wet.