Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder (Picture Heavy) - UPDATE

[Beekissed]

Victoria-nola, here's a pic from one of our BYC members, Mim, and her LGD and chickens.....




I'm currently training up a LGD breed pup on chickens and he's doing wonderfully....currently 10 mo. old and hasn't once even chased a chicken and he's been living cheek by jowl with them on free range since he was 2 mo. old. He will even share meals with them, even if it is raw meat, his favorite thing.

I'd discount by half everything you hear about LGDs....I've heard so much inaccurate information about what they can or cannot do around chickens these past 8 mo. I've had Ben and he's proven all that information wrong. I had a previous LGD mix dog and she proved them all wrong too. It's all about getting the right temperament pup and doing early and often training on them.

It's worth it to have peace of mind about the flock and predators....I don't have to build a Ft. Knox coop, nor even shut my pop doors at night and that's all year round. I don't have to bury fencing around a run....I don't even have a run and haven't had one for years upon years. I have minimal predator losses over many years of doing this and I'd never do it without the dogs. Even if I kept my chickens in a coop and run, I'd still never do that without a good dog or two out there all the time. It's like having good homeowner's insurance.....it's just a smart thing to do.

 

[Beekissed]

So our 7 week olds have begun practicing roosting in the coop at bedtime. So far they haven't stuck it out on the roosts. Tonight they decide to try their luck at roosting with the bigs at bedtime. They explored the various roosting spots, notice nobody else is in the coop. I figured they would be in the corner soon enough on the floor.m

They decided to go for the prime roosting spots, a roost with a window out into the covered run. Usually the oldest bird of the flock is in that window.....gotta admire their bravery.

Sure enough it didn't last long, they got chased off by a one-year-old pullet and ended up huddled in the corner on the floor near where the MHP use to be.

Does anyone force the roosting issue by putting them on the roost after dark? Or just let them figure it out on their own? The thing about putting them on the roost after dark, I am afraid, I would have to climb in the coop and they would cause a ruckus I am sure screaming as a strange hand grabs them out of the night. Thoughts?

Yep....I do. If they are wanting to nest in my nest boxes due to roosting hierarchy, I'll go up at night and put them on the roosts anyway until they get the idea. Sometimes one has to be very persistent but I'd nip it in the bud earlier rather than days after they've been roosting in nest boxes. If yours is just huddling on the floor, I'd let them be....they will eventually go to roost.

They will scream a lot when grabbed at night and I often think those calls will bring in every predator for miles, but I don't have to worry about it when the dogs are on guard.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

Victoria-nola, here's a pic from one of our BYC members, Mim, and her LGD and chickens..... I'm currently training up a LGD breed pup on chickens and he's doing wonderfully....currently 10 mo. old and hasn't once even chased a chicken and he's been living cheek by jowl with them on free range since he was 2 mo. old. He will even share meals with them, even if it is raw meat, his favorite thing. I'd discount by half everything you hear about LGDs....I've heard so much inaccurate information about what they can or cannot do around chickens these past 8 mo. I've had Ben and he's proven all that information wrong. I had a previous LGD mix dog and she proved them all wrong too. It's all about getting the right temperament pup and doing early and often training on them. It's worth it to have peace of mind about the flock and predators....I don't have to build a Ft. Knox coop, nor even shut my pop doors at night and that's all year round. I don't have to bury fencing around a run....I don't even have a run and haven't had one for years upon years. I have minimal predator losses over many years of doing this and I'd never do it without the dogs. Even if I kept my chickens in a coop and run, I'd still never do that without a good dog or two out there all the time. It's like having good homeowner's insurance.....it's just a smart thing to do.

I agree. A good dog really does make a huge difference in a person's ability to freerange.

 

[aart]

I'm currently training up a LGD breed pup on chickens and he's doing wonderfully....currently 10 mo. old and hasn't once even chased a chicken and he's been living cheek by jowl with them on free range since he was 2 mo. old. He will even share meals with them, even if it is raw meat, his favorite thing.

I'd discount by half everything you hear about LGDs....I've heard so much inaccurate information about what they can or cannot do around chickens these past 8 mo. I've had Ben and he's proven all that information wrong. I had a previous LGD mix dog and she proved them all wrong too. It's all about getting the right temperament pup and doing early and often training on them.

It's worth it to have peace of mind about the flock and predators....I don't have to build a Ft. Knox coop, nor even shut my pop doors at night and that's all year round. I don't have to bury fencing around a run....I don't even have a run and haven't had one for years upon years. I have minimal predator losses over many years of doing this and I'd never do it without the dogs. Even if I kept my chickens in a coop and run, I'd still never do that without a good dog or two out there all the time. It's like having good homeowner's insurance.....it's just a smart thing to do.

LOL that can go for about everything you hear/read about anything...this cracked me up because we had a long, hilariously satirical discussion about this yesterday.

Bee what kind of LGD did you get?
Do you have other dogs too?

 

[OEF5]

I had to google what LGD was

 

[Beekissed]

LOL that can go for about everything you hear/read about anything...this cracked me up because we had a long, hilariously satirical discussion about this yesterday.

Bee what kind of LGD did you get?
Do you have other dogs too?

I do....I have an older Lab/BC mix dog that I've had for 10 yrs and he has been an excellent chicken dog and really loves his chickens. Got him as a pup...one of those free dogs from a large, unplanned litter. He was a companion to my old GP/lab mix female that I had at the time. He's great with most predators except stray dogs...much too friendly to them, so that leaves us having to kill stray dogs every now and again, which I don't like having to do.

Then, this past fall I got him a companion and work partner, as he has been doing it alone for a long time now. I had prayed for guidance and help in getting an Anatolian breed pup that wasn't too expensive(I've never actually paid for a dog before and wasn't willing to pay much when there are many free dogs out there). God blessed me and answered that prayer with an ad for a large litter of pups a couple of hours away that were going for $100 ea, 1/2 Anatolian/Maremma and 1/2 GP mix pups. There were 9 left when I got there, so picking out the right pup was a little iffy at first...they were all the same color and size, some long hair and some shorter coated, and squirming around like only a huge mess of puppies can do. Fast, furious and jumpy.

Ben was 2 mo. old when he came home with me and he's been a delight to have here. He's still very much puppy and I need to work more with him on basic obedience(he tends to get a little excited when greeting new people), but all are amazed at how calm and obedient he is already. Very well socialized with humans and animals, has never offered to chase or harm a chicken...needed only a few verbal cues on that behavior early on and he got it. He's is a very big mimic, so he has learned a lot from Jake...both good and bad behavior, but mostly good. Very quiet, no aggressive tendencies, very sweet. Extremely smart animal, an intuitive thinker that has great potential. I love seeing Jake have a social life again and he has benefited much from all the exercise of playing with this pup. Worth every penny of his price and I thank the Lord for him often.

ETA to add a pic of Ben....figured someone would ask for it eventually.

 

[Beekissed]

I had to google what LGD was

I had to do that a LOT when I first joined BYC. I felt like I was on another planet and didn't know the language. I still feel like that at times.

 

[aart]

Cool Beans Bee! That's a nice mix and it sounds like you got a good one.
Can be really good to have another dog around a young pup...for both of them.
I've had it go both ways and now just have one, it's been better for him in the long run and we are both enjoying the single life, haha, it's very different having only one dog-pros and cons. Luckily he gets to play with other dogs once in while, which is good while it's happening and good when it's over too.

 

[GardenNut]

Beautiful dog! He has very intelligent-looking eyes. I bet he's fun to work with.

 

[Blooie]

Hi everyone, I have been reading most of this thread since my wife said she wanted chickens about a month ago now when I said I was going to try and raise some quail.

Our chicks should get here this week from Meyer hatchery and my quail eggs hopefully will be hatching Memorial Day weekend. I am planning to raise both chicken and quail with a heating pad in separate brooders on my covered patio. Once I am finished building the chicken coop they are getting moved out there right away.

I do have a few questions I hope someone can help with. The location. I am putting the brooders is covered and in the shade. Our weather is warming up fast and our high temps will be in the mid to upper 80's with lows in the 60's. Do y'all think I will need to start the heating pads at a 6 even with these warm temps? I may have missed it but did anyone cover brooding coturnix quail with the heating pad? I will try to upload some pictures of my brooders, thanks.

I don't know anything about raising quail, but seems to me they start out as chicks with the same basic needs as chicken chicks, so I don't see why MHP wouldn't work very well for them. Just adjust it so that the heat is right at their backs and they should do fine.

You shouldn't need the pad on 6 during the day. I always start mine on 6, but they are outdoors in the run in temps that are quite a bit colder than what you're having. Start it at 5 and watch their behavior. If they go under willingly, stay there for a bit, then wander back out they are good. Avoiding it like the plague is generally a sign that it's too hot, and they'll sometimes go to a far corner and huddle for warmth rather than go into the cave. If you see them huddled underneath in a ball, then pop it up a notch and check them a bit later.