Recent content by Dr.Dale

So we have two livestock guardian dogs specifically for the purpose of protecting our chickens. We have coyotes, foxes, raccoons, stray dogs, and hawks. We don’t put our chickens up at night, they roost where they want, and our shelter is in no way predator proof. We have not lost a single bird...

Ok, so I probably don’t have some hens that are early layers and others that are late layers. Instead every day I have some lay early and some lay late, but it is different hens in each group each day.

If I gather eggs for hatching before noon will those eggs tend to hatch hens that lay in the morning? Or is laying time just random in chickens and thus not a heritable trait

I used wing bands and only lost one. That was my fault. I nicked the tendon when I put it in, so it was weaker and pulled off later. Luckily it pulled off while they were still in the brooder, but I felt bad about the injury. My mistake.

Perfect! I have some of mine this year with good width, but the back is not that straight nor that smooth. I have quite some work to do.

What is the SOP on back and tails (or body shape in general) in Plymouth Rocks now? I think I may start breeding my whites to the SOP.

No, it looks like I won’t be able to try it any time soon. The plan changed a little to accommodate my wife’s preferences. She has decided that she really likes white Plymouth rocks. So we will do a flock of 18 white rock hens, 1 white rock rooster, and 1 dark Cornish rooster. We plan to hatch...

I know you have decided against, but for future readers it is generally not a problem. However, do be aware that roosters always have a favorite. That poor girl will wind up with a bare back. You may want to get one of those aprons for your flock and put it on the favorite. She will be easy to...

My dogs are now “mature” (18 months) and yours will be soon. I was thinking that maybe it would be worthwhile to pool our experiences and write a review article about using livestock guardian dogs for chickens. I think having both of us write it together would give a breadth of experience that...

Yes, they are great. Actually they are the key to our whole operation. They are a little over 19 months old and have been with the chickens since they were 2 months old. We can put chickens on top of them and they don’t even get excited, usually they don’t even watch them when we do that. We...

Yes, we went ahead and let them out. Mama hen has been really good, very protective. Clucking at her chicks while pecking the **** out of anything that gets near. I think they will be ok. We don’t have a run, per se. Our chickens are completely free range. They have an aviary that they can...

So mama hen and chicks are in the brooder. I am finding out that our setup is designed for babies only and not well suited to having a big hen in there too. I am not sure what to do. I am concerned about the chicks out on the property. They are not big enough to use the feed and water stations...

No worries, not much content here. I just wanted to share my excitement with people that would understand!

She is a Partridge Plymouth Rock. I do think they are one of my favorite varieties, and the roosters look good too.

I don’t have anything to judge, but there are at least 4 chicks and they are really quiet so I think they are happy