Monday, March 24, 2014

Raising the Roof - Again in 2014

Well, back in 2012 along with the loss of the Hooligans (our first set of chickens) we had some additional challenges to overcome.  One of which was the feeding frenzy by the area wildlife in our pond.  http://www.theschultzcompound.blogspot.com/2012/06/tilapia-protection-honey-bee-larvae-and.html
 
As a result, the Moose created a fencing system to keep them out, and our new Tilapia as safe as possible from the predators.  We showed up one Saturday, and it was standing room only for the Egrets, and Storks!
 
 
It's worked out great!  Only issue now, the fish are large enough for us to eat, but it's really difficult to fish them out.  There's no room to maneuver underneath.   Since we decided to electrify the fencing around the garden to keep the pigs where they belong, and create a larger space for them at this point to dig up and fertilize the garden, the fencing around the pond was dual purpose.  Keep the pigs contained and raise the roof on the pond.  Here are the results;

 


Easily walked under by all of us at The Compound.  

10 comments:

  1. Izzy,

    I love what you've done to protect your fish, and help keep the pigs where they belong.

    Will you be fishing the fish out of your pond, or just walking in and scooping them out.

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    1. Sandy,

      It really depends on how much time we have. Casual Sunday morning, we'll fish them out. Hurry up let's eat, scoop them out!

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  2. Wow that is really something, I don't think that we can raise them around here as it is too cold.

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    1. SF,

      That's likely, they won't do well in water under 50 degrees. If you can control the temperature you're good. We have a black liner in the bottom of our pond. It was originally meant as a rain water catch system to water the garden (we're by the St John's River which is brackish). It helps keep the temperatures warm in the cool winter months. I know you can farm them in a controlled environment, but we don't have the time for the daily maintenance.

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  3. Awesome! Where there is a will there is a way...We are looking into doing a tilapia pond, but we would do it above ground...like in a swimming pool...but not decided if we really wanna dive in(no pun intended...lol)...we only live like 7 miles from a lake and can fish anytime...catfish, bass, crappie..etc...it keeps our freezers filled! But I do love me some tilapia!

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    Replies
    1. That's awesome you have a lake nearby. Our waterways/canals are pretty polluted have a really high iron content and phosphates from fertilizer run off, so we try to stay away from the fish caught in there.

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  4. Great job! Can't wait to hear how well the pigs cultivate.

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    Replies
    1. DFW,

      I should get some photos to share. They've done an excellent job so far!

      Delete
  5. So you had to fence in your fish? Why you would think you were raising walking catfish or something :)

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    Replies
    1. PP,

      LOL, the pond is in the center of the garden, and to keep the pigs out, we fenced around the pond. Otherwise they'd tear up the black liner in the pond. So now the fish are fenced in too!

      Delete

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