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

[bruceh]

I never talk loud to my chickens. I actually take great pains to talk low and move slow so that they will trust me to be consistent in my movements. My flock is so flighty that I don't have to tell them to get out of the way...they are leaving the coop as I am coming into it and have to be lured back in with food...and even then it sometimes does not work with some of the birds. This is okay for me...I love it that they are wary and I know that this keeps them safe out on free range.

I don't stomp at the young roos unless they have warranted that action by getting too bold. I just watch to see if they are naturally wary of the human moving through the flock..if they are, that's good. If they are not, I will face them down or invade their personal space until they DO become wary of my passage.

bee we got 2 different styles on this. my birds are very docile and all over me when they see the orange bucket coming. the birds will trip me up if i am not careful. they are trained to my voice and movement. they can be out in the distance and 1 will spot me. then it looks like fighter jets on the target. i am carrying a 5 gallon bucket full of fermented feed and when they get under foot you bet i say get out of the way. i have to wade through 50 + chickens. i can scream and yell at the birds they know and tell each other "he's harmless attack " all i know as i heard 1 of them say " and we are idiots " as they bawk bawked ( chicken laughing ) at me.

 

[IAFarmGirl]

I admire your dedication and quite understand your teeter on the edge of done. This is a dog requiring a lot of input from you, and at some point you will either know you have her number, or you will know it is permanently unlisted. I wish you well.

I absolutely agree with you Pozees! I have rehabilitated a LOT of dogs and it does take a LOT of input from you. It also requires you to have the same attributes as the dog if you are going to be successful. It also takes time and dedication to make things right for you and the dog.

 

[IAFarmGirl]

The biggest mistake I've seen over the last decade or so is choosing a Border Collie because it's so cool at catching frisbees or completing the obstacle course. As a rule they have more energy than 10 toddlers. They are GREAT dogs, but no dog needs a job more, and without a job they make stuff up to do. Huh, you know, maybe that is what YOU should be looking for, come to think of it ...

Oh Pozees I think I love you!! I have Border Collies. One because he is what I chose to have and the other was a rescue. They are brilliant dogs in my mind but they are also VERY challenging! They are in constant motion and they are always thinking. One of the biggest problems for them is that they are always thinking and the owners are not. I love my dogs but I would not wish for everyone to have one. Ten borders together would take over the world with an irresponsible owner!

 

[IAFarmGirl]

11/17/2012 Freeze Update 2
Been in the 20's several nights. Cup A (see photo below) still performing well and the mechanism isn't freezing (with the birdbath heater in the bucket). If water is pooled in the bottom of the cups that will freeze. Usually the amount is too small to interfere with the mechanism. In the evening I check the cups to see if there is a pool. If so I dump them but that doesn't happen very often. They're designed so that there isn't much water in the cup after they drink.

When you bought these did they already come with everything you needed to mount them to the bucket? I wasn't sure if you would have to buy anything additional to mount them?

I have looked into these and the nipples and the one thing I worry about with the nipples is the water that would hit the floor and freeze in the winter. I thought that maybe with the cups you could eliminate some of this?

I know the weather here is not a lot different from yours and winter can create its own unique challenges.

 

[NikkiMiChickie]

  It HAS been somewhat popular, hasn't it?  You're quite welcome and I'm glad that someone can sort out the tidbits of good info from out of all the noise on this thread!    If you'll notice, that other thread is a year older than this one as well, so it has had longer to garner posts and hits than this one has.  Ya oughta slide on over to the Road Less Traveled thread if you want to see a thread that has skyrocketed into popularity...it's pretty funny to watch it keep going into the blue! 

Answer:  X10.  They crave and need direction and a strong owner...intelligent and eager to please but can be independent and strong willed if not finding the right kind of owner. 

Thank you, Bee. As I suspected. I'm afraid my friend is in for a rude awakening... :/

 

[Beekissed]

Many people are. The same people who had my Gnarly Bunch got a few GP pups a few years back and didn't know the first thing to do with them. They had bears killing their lambs~25 lambs at one time!~and wanted these dogs for guarding the sheep. Those folks did just about every wrong thing you can do with GPs and now have none. And now they swear up and down that those dogs just didn't work out nor live up to their reputation. Some folks just cannot be taught.

And those were some fine GPs...I would have loved to have them.

 

[smilingcat]

I tried to adopt a purebred Great Pyrenees. He was dumped as a baby to a second home then he was dumped to a ranch. Rancher wanted him to be LGD but never spent the time training so he was dumped again. All in under a year of his life he had three homes and a fourth at a rescue shelter doesn't include his time with the breeder. My place was his fifth home all in one year.

I thought I could work with him. He was too broken and too shattered. It took me less than a week to realize he was beyond what I could do with him. Really unpredictable, became dangerously over possessive of me in three days. He has such separation anxiety and such possessiveness that he needed to be the only dog in the household. We have two other dogs and several cats. GPs are not for beginners. They need a strong owner and someone with lots of experience. Training is crucial and GPs are sometimes hard to train. And unfortunately, some just get too broken.

I really feel bad for the dog. I wish I could have made it work but I just couldn't take a risk with my two dogs and cats that I have. He also wanted to eat my chicken. If he were not overly possessive, I could have worked with him. Had he not been so unpredictable, I could have worked with him. But over all the years of having a dog, and training them, the GP was the worst in both possessiveness and unpredictability. He was beyond my ability to fix. I felt horrible and relieved at the same time to have returned him. Would I try another GP? Sure if the right one came along who doesn't have overwhelming baggage.

GP ranks around 46 out of 48 in trainability. They rate so low because they are very stubborn. They are smart just very stubborn. And this is why you need a strong owner for GP.

For now we have an aging GP-lab mix and a purebred golden pup.

 

[smilingcat]

Many people are. The same people who had my Gnarly Bunch got a few GP pups a few years back and didn't know the first thing to do with them. They had bears killing their lambs~25 lambs at one time!~and wanted these dogs for guarding the sheep. Those folks did just about every wrong thing you can do with GPs and now have none. And now they swear up and down that those dogs just didn't work out nor live up to their reputation. Some folks just cannot be taught.

And those were some fine GPs...I would have loved to have them.

Gosh I would have loved to have one of those GP's. Yes training is the key!!

 

[Beekissed]

How are they working out?

 

[smilingcat]

How are they working out?

my two dogs and cats?

Pup has learned not to chase the cats and "leave it", the GP-lab mix is so laid back, he has no qualms with the pup. Cats are ignoring the pup. Pup is now about 6 month old. Training a dog with a clean slate is so much easier. He is also learning to "leave it" with free ranging chicken. I think he will make it as a therapy dog in two years time. There are lot of training needed. Needs to learn commands to put his paws on the bed, need to learn not to put anything in his mouth when not feeding. This is to keep the dogs from accidentally eating/swallowing patients medication. VERY BIG THING!! So I hope he can pass all of his tests when the time comes.