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Now as we start to fill out fenced in area with chicken foraging activity I'm needing dogs to spread out more too. I see potential for problem I see with gamefowl guys where their LGD's do not get out and cover pens at periphery of yard.

Pokeweed needs to be accessible.

Time to get back on this as a lot has been done, a lot! First I have done a lot more on the dog side making so we have active anti-predator system in place. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/english-shepherd-as-poultry-guardian.1008645/ Second, a perimeter fence has been placed around...

We are on track to have well over 200 chicks this year. Almost half will be American Dominiques. Already have just over 30 representing 4 cohorts through the incubator. All coming from best three hens and best cock after downsizing last year. The fun will be with Great-horned Owl chicks...

Next phase is to get some sheep. A worm-resistant goat herd at work is giving me ideas. I will be using sheep instead and English Shepherds instead of Akbash shown below. My herd will be even smaller than below as well with at most 12 head. My animals will be used to manage pasture for...

This guy is going into brood pen with three hens. I have a battery of 10 broody hens that will be charged with collected hatching eggs.

People have different preferences in terms of what the American Dominique should look like and it shows when they are also breeders.

This a very poor picture of the cock side of this. He was to excited by boy to left playing with remote controlled toy. The guy when showing type has it down with a really nice tail. He is holding tail down a bit and pinched. He is very well muscled now and put on weight very well during his...

I do not keep enough dominiques to get a real handle on what causes the hatch failures. It would take many hens over years where each loss would be assessed and recorded. Most die before piping stage where I can not determine if there are any physical deformities. Once they hatch they seem...

Oldest hen will be 6, next 5, and youngest is 3. Declines in both egg production and hatch rate are evident. Eggs also larger than when same birds where younger. The 3 year old could easily produce more chicks than the other two combined.

By volume less 0.5%. Still enough to impart color on feed. They can go a lot higher like 5% without trouble but no real benefit for the additional cost. They can even handle cayenne and chili pepper powders without trouble but I have trouble when mixing it in. It does burn.

Paprika to color up yolks like you see with free-range birds on quality forage. Yolks take on a bright orange to reddish look. I think it may improve hatch rate and chick vigor. Protein level will be up around 18%, possibly a little higher. Once egg production slows I will back it down to...

This should be a big year. Three old quality hens will be bred to the best cock I have ever had. Ideally, we will have at least 50 young birds upon which to start the selection process. By fall, the group should be whittled down to about a dozen pullets and half as many cockerels. Hens are of...

At about 1600 I got home and started for barn to care for critters. Dogs were not present, but I could see their tracks left by running to barn where they then cut off down to woods just short of fence. When I got about 20' feet into fence area I came across Coyote tracks and though oh crap...

Yes, contact zone hidden from view was still moist. Popping was faint. When I removed the bulk of soil popping got much louder where it still contacted soil.

Fence deaded out and I could not spot any plants touching wire. Then I went back over an checked for other possibilities. Moles did it this time.

Upgrade for fencing. Flasher indicating whether fence is hot from a distance.

Check this out. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/the-american-obsession-with-lawns/ I am in a prairie dominated region but the plant community of the yard is impacted by the situation above. Legumes are included in my mix and plant diversity is more important to...

Green up already evident after burn. New growth is already an inch tall even when high barely reached 50 F. Yesterday evening I had about 7 male Cardinals looking for something among the ash. Morning Doves also in the area. Hopefully not too much planted seed being consumed.

Yesterday we jumped numerous rabbits and could see multiples at a time. Today, even with dogs, only one jumped in a 4 acre area and he nearly had to be kicked to get him up. I was hunting. During entire time an American Dominique cock followed the dogs and I as we went about. He was a...