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

[jvls1942]

I hate to reply,, by the time I post, there are 6 more to read..

I once, and only once brooded 80 newly hatched chicks outside under a lean-to roof.. I covered the metal brooder hood with a good 2 feet of loose hay.. all over the top and all around.. I fed and watered the chicksby pullling the hay back a little and sliding a dish of food and water under the brooder hood.. I couldn't see into the hood very well through that tiny slot.. so I didn't know if any chicks were dead or not.. but the food and water kept disapearing, so I figured there were some alive.. as it turned only 4 of them died.. did I mention that during this time, we had over a week when the temps were minus 20F ?

the point is, if they are protected, they will survive..

 

[JulieNKC]

Quote:
Not an old timer, but I got silkie chicks last year in november, put them outside at 6 weeks at the end of December when it was below 0 at night here. They went in an uninsulated unheated coop and had no problems. One of them is out there now with 2 one week old chicks, and they're doing fine.

 

[Tracydr]

Here's a fantastic article on the Eastern Coyote. It may actually be a red wolf ( nearly extinct) coyote hybrid. Author of this article has been tracking/studying them and feels that they are basically a species in process. Fascinating.
Now I'm really wondering what that black coyote that we had on our land in NE OK was. It was twice the size of the others and we just always assumed it was coy-dog.

 

[jvls1942]

I have been noticing something,, maybe you have too ?
the spelling and grammar is generally at a higher grade with you older folks who had to learn the proper use of the English language .. to too two tu-tu for sale,, not for sell, were, we're
just saying..

 

[Ridgerunner]

Quote:
I've read a lot of studies on coyotes. Never seen any that mentioned interbreeding with wolves. They do sometimes cross with dogs, causing larger size and different colors, pack formation.
I saw a large,black one living on our property in NE OK once. I always thought it was a dog cross.
Given the limited range that wolves live in, I'd be extremely surprised that they are interbreeding with coyotes back east. I'd love to see DNA proof to back this up.

This is an example of believing what you read on the internet. The way I read that link, coyotes and wolves may have interbred in the past. It did not say that they definitely did. It did not say that they were still interbreeding.

Coyotes normally will eat a fox if they can. Wolves will normally eat coyotes. But if a female is in heat, who knows what will happen?

This is one I don't believe or disbelieve. A theory has been proposed about what might have happened. DNA testing could probably prove or disprove that theory. I'll propose a theory. Coyotes evolved differently on the western open plains and prairie than they did in the eastern forests. I'm not sure how you would prove or disprove my theory.

Tracydr, I didn't see it, you did, but coy-dog sounds right to me. And you came up with another theory that someone more knowledgable than me is proposing. I'm not a biologist. I don't know if wolves, red or otherwise, are close enough genetically to coyotes for them to interbreed and produce offsping that are not sterile. I've read Jack London and I've read enough various articles froom what should be reliable sources where dogs can interbreed with wolves and coyotes, so I believe it is possible. Do I believe that is where Eastern coyotes came from? I believe it is possible.

 

[Tracydr]

Quote:
There are actually a number of infectious diseases transferred through eggs. A scary, surprising number. Just browse the Merck manual list of chicken diseases sometime.

Chicken Protective Services!

 

[NYREDS]

I know of nothing other than heredity that is transferred through an egg..

Pullorum is.​

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
I've read a lot of studies on coyotes. Never seen any that mentioned interbreeding with wolves. They do sometimes cross with dogs, causing larger size and different colors, pack formation.
I saw a large,black one living on our property in NE OK once. I always thought it was a dog cross.
Given the limited range that wolves live in, I'd be extremely surprised that they are interbreeding with coyotes back east. I'd love to see DNA proof to back this up.

This is an example of believing what you read on the internet. The way I read that link, coyotes and wolves may have interbred in the past. It did not say that they definitely did. It did not say that they were still interbreeding.

Coyotes normally will eat a fox if they can. Wolves will normally eat coyotes. But if a female is in heat, who knows what will happen?

This is one I don't believe or disbelieve. A theory has been proposed about what might have happened. DNA testing could probably prove or disprove that theory. I'll propose a theory. Coyotes evolved differently on the western open plains and prairie than they did in the eastern forests. I'm not sure how you would prove or disprove my theory.

Tracydr, I didn't see it, you did, but coy-dog sounds right to me. And you came up with another theory that someone more knowledgable than me is proposing. I'm not a biologist. I don't know if wolves, red or otherwise, are close enough genetically to coyotes for them to interbreed and produce offsping that are not sterile. I've read Jack London and I've read enough various articles froom what should be reliable sources where dogs can interbreed with wolves and coyotes, so I believe it is possible. Do I believe that is where Eastern coyotes came from? I believe it is possible.

As the coyotes expanded their range into the northeastern US ans southeeastern Canada they came into contact with low density populations of grey wolves. When grey wolves have a hard time finding mates, some will pair up and mate with coyotes. Hybridization appears to have been unidirectional where wolf was always male parent. Resulting first generation hybirds are fertile with intermediate characteristics between wolf and coyote. Hybrid populations then expanded southward with some dilution as they backcrossed into coyotes. Resulting introgressed population of coyotes is considerably larger than original / nominal coyotes of western states.

 

[Beekissed]

And what really matters is...can your dog~or other pred defenses~ keep these bigger coyotes at bay?

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
Pullorum is.

Vitamins and fatty acids derived from hens diet that are very important for normal embryonic and early post-hatch development are also transferred. Forms of vitamin A high on list of importance. Quality nutrition of hen promotes high quality of chicks at hatch.