Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[perchie.girl]

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Just throwin out a few things about my views on predators... for my area.

Shotgun isn't an option for me. I walk with a cane.... Shotgun is too heavy to carry one handed for long..... though we can carry a holstered hand gun or even concealed gun on our own property. That would be more for snakes..... I have lived in this area for 44 years. The shotgun is reserved for the two legged predators here. You have to choose the type of dog for coyote protection. Either Livestock Guardian Dog or something similar i am still doing research on that. Electric fence set up for goats works for dogs too. While coyotes do form packs on occasion for the most part they live alone or in pairs. Kill one off another takes his territory. So best for me is to fortify with four legged protectors Electrifiy to contain the livestock and to educate the predators that the fence bites. Donkeys will kill dogs they dont know.... we have some feral dogs too.

I can deal with the others.... Mountain lion Bobcat and raccoon. Lock the chickens up in the coop at night.

deb

 

[cbohn80]

the coyotes here in jersey actually have wolf blood in them so they tend to be larger and hunt in packs more often. good luck on finding the right breed of dog.

 

[perchie.girl]

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I am surprised I thought wolves usually killed coyotes. It must be different in the eastern higher latitudes than down in the west. Our coyotes are about the 20-30 lbs and would come up to my knee.

http://www.desertusa.com/june96/du_cycot.html

Deterrent in regards to dogs is Alerting to the Coyote presence, Not being small enough to be carried off, and for the dog to mark their territory as their own. With Livestock Guardian dogs you get an animal that will take on a bear if need be. I am looking at Great Pyrenees, Kengal, Anatolian Shepherd, Meremma..... and or crosses. Rottweilers are good with livestock too they were bred originally to work cattle. And they are excellent natural guardians. Most of the LGDs with the exception of the Kengal are too heavy coated for my High desert location. I am also considering a Catahoula There is a woman that crosses them with Aussies up here. Catahoula Leopard dogs were used for hunting Boar and herding cattle.

Even a pair of Queenslands would be enough. Though I am not partial to the breed....(personal experience)

What ever I do I will be doing the parimeter fence first. I need it in more ways than just for Coyotes.

 

[cbohn80]

http://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/coyote_info.htm

heres a brief description on eastern coyotes. they really do look like german shepard mixes out here.

i love great pyramese, beautiful, calm and powerful. should be a good flock guardian

 

[Emptywagon2]

Hi to all! I'm new to all things chicken but I am determined to learn it the right way. I will make mistakes.. I already have. I got my first hens as day old chicks in April of this year. Very new to this!! My question for you OT's is this... One of the hens..my best layer has poop smeared down her back side...She appears completely healthy...no signs of worms..still eating..no weight loss..no decrease in egg production. The eggs are clean when layed. Is this something to be worried about...do I need to cull over just some poo on the butt? I do not get my feeling hurt easy, so tell me like it is. Also, I would like to post some pics of my coop for some pointers on what might can be improved..is that ok? Thanks for giving good sound advice... the kind my Granddaddy would give. No non-sense kind!

 

[kathyinmo]

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I'm not an old timer, but I would suspect mites or lice.

 

[darkmatter]

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I prefer mutts, I'm blending Australops, Jersey Giants, and Easter Eggers into my earlier flock of blended Plymouth barred rocks and Rhode Island Reds. I feel a dual purpose chicken suits my needs of a small backyard flock for eggs, meat, fertilizer, and bug patrol. I do believe a genetic diversity and bio-security is the way to go towards self sufficiency.

 

[Clay Mudd]

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I'm with ya. Most of what's touted as "green" now (and almost all the parts that make sense!) is pretty much what we used to call "frugal".


But then, so many Cool New Ideas are just subsets of what we used to call "common sense" back before common sense became rare. I saw an article in the paper the other day about how you can save on food costs by having a veggie garden! Wow, what an amazing notion!

 

[al6517]

I have to say I am impressed this thread has gone on so far and has been so well recieved, Thank's Bee. It is encouraging to see so many folks with the same ideology concerning the raising of their flocks as us OT's, the key being common sense not gleaned from the internet.

 

[al6517]

Quote:
I saw an article in the paper the other day about how you can save on food costs by having a veggie garden! Wow, what an amazing notion!

Who woulda thunk it............... but nowaday's they call it urban farming, yes it is true that if you live in town and have a tomato plant in a 5 gal bucket on your patio, you are now a bonafide FARMER. If you can make a cake of homemade bar soap in your kitchen sink from ingredience bought at Walmart, and using instructions from the computer your self sustaining and will certainly survive a nuclear winter LOL.