I remember when margarine first came out up in MN. Because of the dairy lobby it was illegal to sell colored margarine so you got these white sticks with a package of yellow food coloring included that you mixed to make it more appealing.
I went to 13+ yrs of public school and struggle with many social aspects of life. I think I am friendly but I have a lot of trouble interacting with others.
I think you have 2 separate issues - roosting and laying.
The easiest solution to the roosting would be coxing them in with feed or treats every night and then locking them in until they get used to that area as home. The hard way is to pull them off their chosen roosts every night and put them...
Don't have the horses any more but the chickens used to love following them around. I always said the good flavor came from eating horse poop. Haven't noticed much difference in taste but I think the chickens miss it.
Just a few points:
1. Unless you are an exceptional trainer, it's kind of a crap shoot as to whether or not a GSD will ever be OK around chickens.
2. If you get a pup, it could be up to 2 years before it can work as a reliable guard without worrying about what it will do to the chickens.
3. If...
I have 3 groups. A dozen adult hens that free range regularly. There are 8 chicks about 2 MO that were raised by 2 of those hens - 4 each. 5 of the chicks go out with the hens and 3 seem to have no interest in leaving the coop/run. Then I have 13 of what I call the tweens that are about at POL...
The only thing that would bother me is that 2' under the coop the chickens have access to. That can be a real pain when someone decides that would be a great nest box.
No, I have a crappy coop. A low electric wire will do a lot to protect from predators. A charger could cost as much as the extra hardware cloth though unless you can pick something up fro CL or Ebay.
This is my first try but my 2 broodies have been with the flock all along One of them has been taking her chicks out in the pasture since about week 2, the other seems more hesitant although I did have to round up 2 of hers last night. Don't know if she had them all out or not. They are all 4...
They can start anytime from about a year to whenever. Some never do and some never seem to stop. It varies by breed and individual chicken. Has your BA been stuck to a nest pretty much 24/7 for 2 weeks? If yes she probably is broody and either needs eggs or to be broken soon. There is lot's of...