California - Northern

[Kaylish]

I can not stand those videos, photos, etc found in great number on facebook with a comment on how their dog is so great with kids-
>>Little Betsy is riding the dog. Isn't that cute? Fido even lets her pull his ears and tail.
>>Fido is put to sleep when his arthritis hurts and he gets grumpy when Little Betsy rides him or he has an ear infection and Little Betsy pulled his ear.
>>Little Betsy had to have plastic surgery, all she did was walk up to a stranger's dog to kiss and hug it and the mean dog bit her.


Even though my dogs are used to kids I still keep a hand on the dog when a child wants to pet them, usually I'm holding the dog's beard. I don't trust other people or kids to behave correctly. I even have a spiel when a child approaches to pet any of the dogs. You must ask three times to pet a dog, any dog. Ask the adult with you. Ask the adult with the dog. Ask the dog. I have been known to scold both adults and children if they pet without asking! This is not a petting zoo.

x2!

I think it's even more important to teach children to be repectful of dogs when they have their own at home! Teach the child to behave properly around all dogs (don't sit on them; don't stick your hands, etc in their face; don't try and take their food/treats/toys; don't chase them, etc, etc) and the chance of a bad encounter with a strange dog is greatly reduced; not eliminated (that's the parents job) but reduced.

 

[TheKeeper]

Anyone interested in UofA Blue cockerels?
They have found their voices & my husband is NOT amused.

I have 1 blue & 3 splash

I'm asking $20 each. PM me if interested. Thanks!
I have hens too if you want a pair (blue & black only, no splash).

Bumping this for a last chance before I post on craigslist.

 

[tridentk9]

x2!

I think it's even more important to teach children to be repectful of dogs when they have their own at home! Teach the child to behave properly around all dogs (don't sit on them; don't stick your hands, etc in their face; don't try and take their food/treats/toys; don't chase them, etc, etc) and the chance of a bad encounter with a strange dog is greatly reduced; not eliminated (that's the parents job) but reduced.

Yup yup yup.
Two different blogs about child/dog interactions.
http://www.dogsandbabieslearning.com/blog/

http://leerburg.com/kidbites.htm

 

[The Yakima Kid]

I breed dogs. The chickens are for fun. But some of my theories for dogs do translate into chickens.

For dogs, health tests in the US can be finished at 2 years old. Some countries it's 18 months, some it's 12 months. So theoretically an ethical breeder with a good reputation in the US can breed their dogs at 2 years of age. Sexual maturity occurs much sooner. However, not all breeds (or individuals) are emotionally or behaviorally mature at 2 years old never mind physically mature. Maturity is hard to define or test, it's an opinion.

I consider my dogs to be physically mature at about 4-5 years old. They may appear mature earlier but there's a final bit of oomph to their body that you don't realize is missing until it's there. You know what- it's the same emotionally. There's an indefinable mental difference between the dog at 3 years old and the dog at 4. The age of maturity is different for different breeds, home life will even make a difference.

Maturity in poultry also depends on both breed and individual. If character and adaptability to "family life" is one of your goals in breeding, my suggestion for breeding stock is to wait until full maturity, not just sexual maturity, can be tested. Test those bratty kids

find out how they react to stress, stimuli, etc. And how they recover, recovery is IMO even more important than the initial reaction. Though I guess finding parents of young children that will allow you to use their child as bait will be difficult!

In the parrots- oh my. The birds that don't fit into households, whether the fault of the bird or the human, a lot of times get sent off to be ..... bred! It's backwards IMO, when the worst or untested individuals are bred and the best ones, the ones that can adapt, are kept as pets. Sigh. Fortunately that's not true all the time, some breeders do live in close proximity to their birds and do take temperament of the parents into account.


Just my opinion. Thanks for reading.

I had a friend who had some kind of white psittacine - cockatoo? cockatiel? She let hers fly over the house. They bred. They were apparently considered highly desirable by people who saw and handled them; but I couldn't stand to go into a house where it seemed their were parrot flops on everything.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Yup yup yup.
Two different blogs about child/dog interactions.
http://www.dogsandbabieslearning.com/blog/

http://leerburg.com/kidbites.htm

The Leerburg site is awesome. He pulls no punches and gives straight out facts. He is the only professional trainer I have ever heard publicly point out that the most effective response to a dog attack on a child is to shoot the dog. He is also the first trainer I have heard publicly suggest that if parents don't stop their children from behaving around your animals that it is your RESPONSIBILITY to do so.

Interestingly enough, at the State Fair I watched a mother indulgently watch as her elementary school age kid proceeded to rock a double poultry display cage that held an Egyptian goose on one side and a duck on the other. After watching this, I told her son to stop it since Mama was busy just watching.

Mama proceeded to yell at me for interfering with her son, She informed me that I should have talked to her, not her son, and there wasn't any problem anyway. She then proceeded to announce that "with your ugly face, I can't imagine anyone wanting to be with you." I suggested that having a tramp stamp the size of Idaho probably made her very popular. I really felt like telling her that ugly trumps stupid any day. In any event, she wished to discuss any and everything other than her child's behavior.

Rather than deal with the fact that shaking a poultry cage back and forth as violently as possible is animal abuse, she arose to defend her little darling rather than correct him. I'm old enough and curmudgeonly enough that I am willing to be "rude" and "offensive" and try to intervene in animal abuse.

I'll bet she'll be defending junior after all of his likely future felony arrests, too.

 

[Hangtown Farms]

got my first olive egg from my first gen. crele olive eggers

 

[TheKeeper]

got my first olive egg from my first gen. crele olive eggers

Yay!! Nice.

 

[tommysgirl]

I use a carbon copy hand-write style receipt book. It is easy to find people and I specify things such as age and what they are buying on the tag. IE: 12 wk EE pullet guarantee (means if I'm wrong I replace the bird with one of equal value to what they purchased OR take the original price off of an older pullet which I charge more for) or 10 chicks 1 wk old ST Run. That way I can go back and a) remind them to find their receipt which I told them to keep and b) remind them of what they paid for. It's very helpful. I see so many people that I have actually forgotten entire customer incidents.

Thank you! Great Idea. These are the only chicks I have sold to anyone I didn't previously know. I never even thought about record keeping but now I have and I will pick up a book like that at staples. Do you have them sign it?

I am heartbroken for you and your boy re the dog. What an awful thing.

Need some advise on an agressive roo. Our BCM roo is 4 months old and he is getting more and more agressive with my daughter (she's 3 but big for her age). He's in a pen with 3 adult hens, and my 4 month olds - 4 pullets and 3 other roos (2 bantam and a Light Sussex); I know, to many boys but the bantam pen should be done soon.

Just want to say that I totally admire the way you addressed the advice you were given. You heard some things that were probably not easy to hear and you were so classy in your response. Anyway...nicely managed!

Almost 200 posts behind but just needed to brag a little. DD is doing Round Robin this afternoon after taking grand champion in poultry and the phoenix took best in show for 4-H.

Excellent!!!!!!!!!!

 

[chrissyr]

got my first olive egg from my first gen. crele olive eggers

Nice!!

Probably by people who've never witnessed a serious rooster attack.

And then there are the people who are in denial, who just can't believe that their animal would do whatever horrible thing it did. People who keep unneutered male dogs around children are another of my pet peeves. Many are fine; some are just great until the day they remember they are a territorial descendant of a freaking wolf.

I agree! In fact, that's how attacks happen. No one thinks their animal is capable of that behavior. My Bresse rooster who was aggressive is doing quite well! I gave him a bath, blow dry and dremelled his nails. Every 1-2 weeks i touch up his nails. When he's out I make a point to try to get him. He hasn't tried to attack at all. I still don't turn my back on him, and would not let him around my kids. Even my good boys, I wouldn't let around little ones. you just never know

 

[chrissyr]

Ok, the birds are getting spoiled now. Doing FF, but mix in a glob of sunflower oil. Walmart sells it for about $3.50. The grape vines are being over run here, so they are getting that and live mealworms.
But now I have to make an excellent breakfast for my family. If they see what time and energy goes into the birds breakfast, frozen waffles just won't do for them. Time to step up my game