Consolidated Kansas

[KsKingBee]

OK, so you gals sound very well versed in dog breeds. I am on the fence whether I want a dog at all, we really enjoy the wildlife coming around the house but the coyotes are a concern.

A couple of years ago some friends of mine showed us a mix that really intrigues me, it is a gray hound border collie. Probably a recipie for trouble, but it had the shape of the GH, head and markings of the BC long hair on the front half and the short hair and gay color in the rear half. Kind of bizarre looking but even at six months they thought the world of the dog. My first concern would be that we would never see another deer or turkey near the house again, but it would probably pile the yotes up at the front door. Not really looking for a pet, more for a livestock protector, and we don't want a barker, there is one a mile and a half over and that is annoying enough.

Do you think if a puppy is raised in the hen house it will be chicken friendly?

 

[chicken danz]

Well, Happy New Year! Everyone. Things and I are getting back to normal, just don't handle these holidays well. I see where everyone had a pretty good Christmas, busy cleaning, cooking and traveling. Happy grand kids, cute as a button babies, and neat chicken presents. KKB's DIL knows that we love our bees so she is always on the hunt for bee stuff. Here is what she got for us this year.

She can find the most unique things.
What adorable Bee items. Actually made me laugh. I used to have a collection of bee items given to me as gifts from friends. Back in my early 20's I worked for the Sheriff's office. The sheriff was complaining that the officers and troopers were spending too much time in the dispatch room rather than out patrolling. He said when I was in there the guys stayed there like bees drawn to honey. So I got the nickname of Honey Bee from that comment. Yeah that was a long long time ago. I don't draw anything any more.

he hens have decided that it is too cold to lay. I get a couple of eggs every other day. Sometimes I miss one and it is frozen. We definitely have an over abundance of cockerels. Heard a rumor that you can tell the sex of the chick by the shape of the egg. Any truth to that? The left behind wild turkey has decided to join our flock, to eat at least. She still goes to the trees to roost at night. We're pretty sure that it is a female. We'll probably never find her eggs and who knows she may rejoin the wild flock when they come back thru this spring.

I tried that concept pointed or round end? Doesn't work at all!
Trish sorry to hear about you losing your peachicks. Ours have all done well. Danz here is a pic of the 3 that we got from you.


Looks like 2 boys and a girl. I think that we have a couple of pairs that should be laying this spring. Lots of will be 1 year olds.
Guess I'd better go check on the ham and beans and get the cornbread made. I will try not to be a stranger.
Oh, what do you all think about a Pyrenees / Border Collie mix?

Looks like that one in the far left is possibly a lavender rather than an India blue. It could be either sex cause they pattern in differently.
As the others say I would avoid that mix. I think you'd be loosing more birds than you would save.Quote:

OK, so you gals sound very well versed in dog breeds. I am on the fence whether I want a dog at all, we really enjoy the wildlife coming around the house but the coyotes are a concern.

A couple of years ago some friends of mine showed us a mix that really intrigues me, it is a gray hound border collie. Probably a recipie for trouble, but it had the shape of the GH, head and markings of the BC long hair on the front half and the short hair and gay color in the rear half. Kind of bizarre looking but even at six months they thought the world of the dog. My first concern would be that we would never see another deer or turkey near the house again, but it would probably pile the yotes up at the front door. Not really looking for a pet, more for a livestock protector, and we don't want a barker, there is one a mile and a half over and that is annoying enough.

Do you think if a puppy is raised in the hen house it will be chicken friendly?

First that might be an interesting dog but its not one you would want around birds. Everything in those two breeds points to dead birds. To get a LGD you are going to have to have barking. That is how they protect the property. You might be able to find a mix of something that will protect by just chasing off predators but I doubt that it would be chicken safe. HEChicken is very fortunate that she got the dogs she did. If a dog is intelligent enough it can learn between right and wrong for sure, so in that case many breeds other than a terrior can learn to protect if trained properly.
AND I would NEVER put a dog in a hen house. Even the best guard dogs will end up playing with the chickens if they are penned with them. It's just not safe. You are better off to allow the dog and the birds to interact in the yard or a large area where they dog won't get bored and start to play with his little friends. When I raise my GPs I always put a board up to the entrance of the kennel the puppies can't climb over but the chickens can. That way they get exposure to the chickens from the first few days. The chickens will always find dog food and go in to eat.
It is so cold today. I really need to get out and feed and water but I'm certainly not looking forward to it.
HEChicken I have only had one dog water bowl fail. It was a small green one... I'm not sure what the brand was. The ones I like the best have a removable element in them that you can take out in summer. I've never had one fail. These are normally blue. Made by Allied. I also have some larger green ones that are permanently sealed that seem to work okay but not as good as the blue ones.

 

[Ralph Moyer]

I have had nothing but Great Pyrenees for over 30 years. The only time I've had a problem with coyotes was a short time that I did not have an adult dog on the property.. They even protect the cottontail rabbits in the yard. They don't bother the cats that belong here, but will not let a stray on the property. The only time they show any aggressive behavior is when they are eating and the ducks and chickens are trying to steal their food. Even then they don't hurt them; just scare them away, and when they are done eating they let the poultry eat what they leave.

 

[Trish44]

Happy New Year everyone! Am I alone in hoping 2014 will be a better year than 2013? When I look back it kind of seems like 2013 was just a blah year. Animals died that shouldn't have. Summer wasn't long and hot like it usually is (I didn't mind not having the extreme heat but there were days in July that were just plain cold!), we had a late spring with snow still falling in late April/early May, followed by a very early frost that killed off the few veggie plants that had managed to grow in the short space of time between freezes, and then it feels like we had already had two months of winter before winter even officially started.

So - here's hoping that 2014 will be the year of mild winters, warm-but-not-too-hot-summer, long and beautiful spring and fall, the birth and survival of many happy birds and other animals, and a wonderfully successful year gardening. And if its not too much, here's hoping for good health for all the PEOPLE in our lives as well.

I so agree HEChicken, we have to all hope 2014 is a better year all the way around, especially for birds because 2013 sure wasn't a good one in any way. I have a grandbaby on the way in a month or less, so I hope that all goes well. We spent the afternoon & evening with my son & future DIL yesterday to celebrate Christmas since it got delayed & took the girls down with us. We got to see all of the sonogram pics of the baby & saw his sweet little face. The pics they have now are just so amazing compared to when I had a baby last. We also got to listen to the baby's heartbeat with a monitor they had, that was really cool. They're saying she will have to have a C-Section because she's so tiny & the baby is going to be too big for her to have naturally. She is all baby right now with still a month yet to go at least.

OK, so you gals sound very well versed in dog breeds. I am on the fence whether I want a dog at all, we really enjoy the wildlife coming around the house but the coyotes are a concern.

A couple of years ago some friends of mine showed us a mix that really intrigues me, it is a gray hound border collie. Probably a recipie for trouble, but it had the shape of the GH, head and markings of the BC long hair on the front half and the short hair and gay color in the rear half. Kind of bizarre looking but even at six months they thought the world of the dog. My first concern would be that we would never see another deer or turkey near the house again, but it would probably pile the yotes up at the front door. Not really looking for a pet, more for a livestock protector, and we don't want a barker, there is one a mile and a half over and that is annoying enough.

Do you think if a puppy is raised in the hen house it will be chicken friendly?

If you're serious about an LGD I highly recommend you get a full blood Great Pyrenees because mixes are very risky. The breeder I got my two from says never to get one mixed with border collie because the herding instinct will kick in at some point & you will have a big problem on your hands. She raises both breeds & has for years, so she knows what she's talking about. I have seen people get border collies & have them with chickens & then not be able to understand why they chase them. They're doing what their instinct tells them to do which is to herd. You can get mixes of GP & lots of things, but just remember you can have the dog take after either or both breeds. Other breeds of LGDs are more people aggressive than the GPs are, that's why I chose them over other breeds. The Antolians & Akbash & some of those are known to be people aggressive & I sure didn't want that with a grandchild coming here. Any of the GPs as Danz said are going to bark at night, that is how they scare away predators, they have a big bark & intimidate other animals from coming on their territory. Personally hearing mine bark at night comforts me because I know they're out there doing their job & scaring away predators that would be eating my chickens & other birds as well as my animals. This type of dog does not sit & bark at nothing, they just don't & usually during the day they're sleeping or just resting since they work all night & mine don't bark unless someone comes here in the daytime. So if they're barking at night I know there is something out there for them to bark at & chase away. Before I got them I had losses from possums & raccoons, so I will gladly listen to them bark at night to avoid that. We have about every predator here that will eat a chicken so I wouldn't be able to have any if I didn't have these dogs here.

It was so warm in OKC when we got there yesterday afternoon that we didn't even wear a coat. It sure changed in a few hours though & by the time we left there last night it was freezing, brrrr. We ran into the snow the closer we got to home & found a few slick spots on the road getting here last night. I could have sure done without that. It's still really cold out there & I was worried about my chicks out in the brooder in the garage. I checked on them when I got home last night & gave them a heat bulb instead of just a light bulb. They were used to being in the house, so I hated to shock them too much all at once, so instead of taking them out to the growout pen I put them in the garage. It's still cold in there, but at least there is no wind. I'm with you Danz, I'm ready for spring already. We have to hope since we started off so early that we have an early spring, crossing my fingers.

OQB I forgot to say I love the bee stuff, especially the nutcracker, that is really unique. Don't be too positive of what you have with the peafowl just yet either, they really can fool you for awhile till they get older.

 

[HEChicken]

... and we don't want a barker, there is one a mile and a half over and that is annoying enough.

Do you think if a puppy is raised in the hen house it will be chicken friendly?

I hear you on the barking! No offense to those with LGD's but I really don't like the sound of dogs barking all night either and feel fortunate that none of our current neighbors have barkers.

I would NOT recommend raising a puppy in the hen house. My sister has a puppy who is now 8 months but they got him at 8 weeks and though he is a dog who will probably be great with chickens when he is older, as an exuberant puppy, he killed 4 of their flock, just "playing" with them. Even the breeds that are natural protectors can go through a stage of killing as puppies, before they mature into their role as guardian.

My recommendation if you are starting with a puppy is to expose the dog to the poultry from day one but never leave it unattended with them. And, while it is with you, if you see any behavior that is undesirable around them - intense interest, chasing, barking, being too boisterous - offer a firm "NO" so that it knows from the beginning that that behavior is not acceptable.

HEChicken is very fortunate that she got the dogs she did. If a dog is intelligent enough it can learn between right and wrong for sure, so in that case many breeds other than a terrior can learn to protect if trained properly.
AND I would NEVER put a dog in a hen house. Even the best guard dogs will end up playing with the chickens if they are penned with them. It's just not safe. You are better off to allow the dog and the birds to interact in the yard or a large area where they dog won't get bored and start to play with his little friends. When I raise my GPs I always put a board up to the entrance of the kennel the puppies can't climb over but the chickens can. That way they get exposure to the chickens from the first few days. The chickens will always find dog food and go in to eat.
It is so cold today. I really need to get out and feed and water but I'm certainly not looking forward to it.
HEChicken I have only had one dog water bowl fail. It was a small green one... I'm not sure what the brand was. The ones I like the best have a removable element in them that you can take out in summer. I've never had one fail. These are normally blue. Made by Allied. I also have some larger green ones that are permanently sealed that seem to work okay but not as good as the blue ones.

It is perhaps not so much fortunate as planned. We were fortunate with the two dogs we had before we got back into chickens, as they were both just naturally good around the birds. One of them got grouchy with them towards the end when he was in pain but all he would do is snap in their direction, never chase, and they didn't seem that intimidated by his snapping. After those two dogs passed, when we adopted the two new dogs, that was a pre-requisite - that they be good with the poultry. We adopted from rescues who allow a home trial, and the foster parents brought the dog over to do intros. The black dog was busily sniffing around when a chicken wandered around the corner and she froze and "pointed" towards it but a second later decided it wasn't near as interesting as what she had been smelling and that was the most interest she has ever shown in them. The other is not only uninterested but is actually respectful of them, walking carefully when close to them and avoiding eye contact with them at all costs. I had an interesting experience here a couple of months ago when the birds were out free-ranging and a rabbit hopped out to graze alongside them. The black dog went after that rabbit with extraordinary zeal and as it zigzagged through the flock, so did she, birds squawking and scattering in all directions the whole time. She kept her eyes on the rabbit and eventually it escaped under a fence. I figured then that if she was ever going to go after a bird, the middle of THAT commotion is when it would happen and since it didn't happen then, I would expect her to be good with them no matter what circumstances the future holds.

KKB, my dogs do kind of serve as LGD's but not in the official sense. The black one does like to chase coyotes and would if she got the chance, but does not actively seek them out. Actually, for both dogs, their focus is not to protect and not even to seek out intruders but they are effective merely by their presence. Their dog igloo is in the chicken yard and every night they are put in the chicken yard to spend the night, and let out again in the morning. Their presence there acts as a disincentive for anything to want to climb into the chicken yard both at night, but also during the day since their scent remains there and the predator probably doesn't know if they are still there or not. I lost a few birds to a fox this fall but NONE of them were taken from within the chicken yard. Instead they were taken while out in the pasture, or, in the case of the ducks, when they elected to spend the night at the pond instead of coming back to the coop for the night. So - as long as they are in the chicken yard, free-ranging the 3 acres surrounding the house, or in the coop at night, they are safe.

My dogs rarely bark so if they ever do start to bark, we know to go and check it out. Usually it is just the neighbors making noise, or someone coming down our driveway to see us, but occasionally their barking alerts us to a neighbor dog coming over to visit, and once, when our sheep were out, the barking alerted us to their finding their way home (long story).

If you are uncertain about wanting a dog at all and know you don't want one that barks, here's another thought: instead of a puppy, why not adopt an adult dog? Here's the thing. If I were getting LGD's, I would get two between the ages of 8-12 weeks. From what I understand of them, they will bond better to the livestock you want them to protect, if you start them out at that age. But, as I said earlier, you would only want them around the poultry while you are with them. However if you adopt an older dog, you won't have to deal with the puppy stage, and if you adopt from a rescue, you can trial them first to be sure they going to be good around the poultry. Then, although the dog(s) may not actively protect, by having them on your property, you may get the inadvertent guardianship, like mine provide.

Danz, I have 2 of the blue bowls and one of the green ones but all are the same size - they hold a gallon of water with a little room to spare. I'm really frustrated by them right now. The blue ones both quit working and the green one has worked for about a month. DH said he'll take it apart tonight and see if he can figure out why. All three have the heating element that pops out from underneath, so maybe when we pop it out, it will be immediately obvious what the problem is. I hope so….

 

[chicken danz]

Any chance the bowls shorted out by sitting in water, HEChicken? Just an idea. I've always worried about that but it hasn't happened to me.
It was really cold out there today but not as bad as I expected. I actually thought the wind was worse than it was. I used a ton of feed today. Everyone was really hungry. Of course if they have feed left in their bowls, the new stuff is always better! Mostly they were all needing water. Those heated bowls tend to evaporate it if it is steadily below zero.

 

[tweetybaby2005]

Happy New Year everyone! Been missing a lot of posts but work is keeping my quite busy. Here is a better year for everyone, birds or work (definitely need to have a better work year for me!).

The patch was posted for our customers but we found a major regression (again!! Sigh... Thank goodness it wasn't reported by customers... yet). So I'm now onto another testing patch. I'll be posting this on early Sunday morning so I'll be working the night shift.

OQB - All your bee stuff are cute. I really do like the stripes of the bumble bee and their color... bright yellow actually boosts my mood. I also like your peafowl, they look very healthy. I don't have much experience with BC but hearing what others have said sure sounds like it won't be a good breed to have around birds. I've GPs now and they bark a lot at night to scare the predators away. Some nights are worst than others though. The 2 pups I just got (my neighbor decided they were not a good fit for her) really need guidance. I did have some casulties but they get my stern (or my husband's) voice of No when they even get remotely excited to be near the chickens. The big one that I rescued/adopted is awesome. She did kill some when she first arrived but has not since. Just yesterday there was a chicken running around excitedly trying to hop back into the pen (she flew out) and the big GP was just laying there watching the silly bird going back and forth in front of the fence trying to get back in. She is also the one who barks the most at night.

Sharol - You took the tree down already? Mine is still up... I'll get to it one of this days...

Danz - Glad you are moving some birds... less mouths to feed is always good.

Trish - So glad your DIL is doing well wtih her pg. Hope you will post some cute baby pics for us when he is born. I love baby pictures. C-section is harder on the body. Had 2 myself and it wasn't by choice. But I'm sure your DIL will recover well under the Dr's as well as your son's care.

Hechicken - I have the green ones that I use and haven't had much problem. However, I did notice this morning that the green one I bought this year for the outside dogs had some ice around the top. I think it was just too cold. If it quits working, I would expect it to be a solid block since it has been below freezing since at least yesterday afternoon. I do hate having to buy stuff that only last a few weeks. I did have someone at work told me that his washer only lasted 5 yrs and now is onto a new one. I sure hope this is not the trend because washer is a heck of a lot more expensive and I really don't want to replace it every 5 yrs. I do hear a lot of people complaining that appliances are not made like they used to though.

My Sky is now cone-free! She has been released back to the outside world full time and I think she is a lot happier to be outside. I do miss having her inside the mud room but I can adjust.

Her itchy skin is still out of control and the vet is thinking she will outgrow it once she stops growing like crazy. I sure hope so. Right now she is on medication and it gets expensive to keep her on it and definitely not good for her (who wants to be on meds all the time unless you have to, right?).

It seems like the weather has taken a turn for the worst. I saw the forecast for next Monday and high is only in the teens. Yikes! Even for someone like me who likes the cold, it is just way too cold with the wind blowing. I'm not yet ready for Spring though. May be after next Monday...

Stay warm everyone!

 

[Frizzled Pink]

Queen Bee, this is my rescue collie mix, as he is 100+ lbs so the vet assures me that he feels has some GP in there somewhere. As much as i love Rocket, he is NOT a chicken dog. He's a great human protector but will try to herd anything else that moves. Having seen both Trish and Danz's dogs --there is no comparison-sorry. Great human pet dog, not so much for LGD

 

[chicken danz]

Frizzled, I definitely see the GP genetics in there but also lots of other stuff. He's beautiful just the same.
I went for years without having a dog; like nearly 30 years, after having kennels for a long time before that.
But I have to say I really love my dogs, especially Marshmallow who is the oldest. She isn't as big or people friendly as the others, but even as she is getting older she can out work the other dogs 2 to one. Plus she is a mama's girl. I know as well as she protects the birds she would do twice as much to protect me if she felt I was threatened. You have to love an animal like that.

 

[Trish44]

Frizzled, I definitely see the GP genetics in there but also lots of other stuff. He's beautiful just the same.
I went for years without having a dog; like nearly 30 years, after having kennels for a long time before that.
But I have to say I really love my dogs, especially Marshmallow who is the oldest. She isn't as big or people friendly as the others, but even as she is getting older she can out work the other dogs 2 to one. Plus she is a mama's girl. I know as well as she protects the birds she would do twice as much to protect me if she felt I was threatened. You have to love an animal like that.

What I like about the GPs is that they protect really everything in their "territory" & that includes the humans. I have had mine come & sit between me & someone who has come to my house if they had a bad vibe from them. I have really seen them do that more than once. There is someone who HEChicken you will know who I mean we have had some issues with on the Farm Swap & she came to my house one time & I swear the GPs hair on their back was standing up they were so tense with this person. They are very good at reading people & I have learned to watch them & see how they react to people. It's like we tend to have when we have a "gut feeling" about someone, these dogs just have an intuition.

Frizzled, your dog is pretty, I have been told that Collies or Collie mixes aren't good with birds. There are some dogs you can train to not bother birds & some that just have too strong an instinct to overcome that.

I was so thankful the wind wasn't blowing hard this afternoon at feeding time. It was cold but it would have been a lot worse if that wind had kicked up. I got what I had to do done this afternoon, but I wasn't feeling too well today so tomorrow hopefully I can get water changed out in all of the pens. It's supposed to be above 40 tomorrow & the next day. I'm waiting on some eggs that were supposed to be here today but didn't show up, so they spent another night somewhere. I hope they're not lost out there somewhere.

My remaining two peafowl actually seem to be much happier in with the turkey hens & they all seem to be getting along OK. Thank goodness for that & they are sharing the feed trough as well. Maybe the two peafowl will put on a little weight now that they're away from the meany guineas.