Consolidated Kansas

[Prairie Fleur]

Does anyone have Blue Heelers? If so how do they do with free range chickens? I am looking for a dog to help protect the chickens during the day while we are gone. A friend of mine just had a litter of pups.

100% agree with Danz. If you want a dog to protect your chickens you need one that's bred for it. Great Pyrs are my favorite as well altho I might consider a Pyr mix it I found a trained adult. A dog that's already trained and proven to be good with chickens is the best solution, but not always available. I got Willow as a trained 1 year old and she's been a life saver. Do your research and don't rush into anything.

 

[chicken danz]

Prairie I hatched 15 red golden pheasants today and have already lost three. Dumb little things got in their water and got wet and got chilled. I tried to warm them but they didn't make it. I also lost two newly hatched turkeys the same way. It seems like one tries it and all the others follow. I now have the new babies in an entirely different bin and they seem to be doing great now. Knock on wood.

 

[Prairie Fleur]

Prairie I hatched 15 red golden pheasants today and have already lost three. Dumb little things got in their water and got wet and got chilled. I tried to warm them but they didn't make it. I also lost two newly hatched turkeys the same way. It seems like one tries it and all the others follow. I now have the new babies in an entirely different bin and they seem to be doing great now. Knock on wood.

Oh that's sad!!
Heres a pic of my broody caring for the only baby that's hatched from my eggs so far. She's turning out to be a good mother!!! Little guy was out exploring a bit today when it was warm but he stayed pretty close to mom once he got his bearings and quit trying to squeeze the the chicken wire fence!!!

 

[Ron Rose]

Thanks again for the replies, I will look into those breed of dogs. My kids have been asking for a dog for a while now and I would like to have one also. I just want to make sure it gets along with the chickens.

 

[Prairie Fleur]

Thanks again for the replies, I will look into those breed of dogs. My kids have been asking for a dog for a while now and I would like to have one also. I just want to make sure it gets along with the chickens.

If you get a chance and find people who own those breeds, take the time to visit them and meet the dogs. Actually meeting the dogs and seeing them in action is the best way to help decide which breed is right for your family and flock. Most people are more than happy to let you meet their dogs and love talking about them. Feel free to PM any of us that have Pyrs and ask for more info on the breed or set up a time to meet the dogs! I'm quite a ways from you but Danz had awesome dogs. I actually have the grandson of one of her dogs. I'd love to have you meet mine but it wouldn't be practical for you unless you were passing thru the area.

 

[Grain Gypsy]

@chicken danz , I love to write and make real-life happenings come alive through writing. Between my kids, our chickens, and my own random thoughts, I have usually have plenty of material to work with.

@Ron Rose , my neighbor just down the road breeds Great Pyrenees dogs. I don't know much about them, except I always laugh at the HUGE, white dogs with mud-caked coats lounging in the wheat and corn fields wherever they feel like. We have an 13-year-old chocolate lab. She is dominated by our hens. We had to teach her this, as she's a field-trial bird dog who is whistle trained. She was born to hunt birds! Now that the chickens are big, she doesn't even give them a second thought or look. When she is outside, her presence deters foxes, simply because she's bigger than a fox, but we can't count on her as an active chicken guard. She spends most of her time snoozing inside on the soft carpet.

@MrsProf , here in Sedgwick County, we have to take our 4-H/fair poultry in several weeks before the fair for Pullorum Typhoid testing. I have no idea if this is standard for entering poultry in our county fair or not, because this will be our first year ever entering poultry for 4-H!

@Kansas Cluckers ,

!!! We have a 5-week-old Buff Brahma Bantam rooster. The only other rooster we've ever had was a Silver-Spangled Hamburg. Right now our little Buff Brahma is trying to hold his own against his much bigger rooster brother, Rocky, our 5-week-old Barred Plymouth Rock. My hubby and I and our 4 kids have 30 chickens in all, mixed breed, and live near Wichita. So glad you've joined us on Consolidated Kansas.

@Prairie Fleur and Chicken Danz, I'm sorry about the rough go you've been having with animal losses. Sounds like this wet weather is not helping the immune systems of the animal babies.

I've been cracking the proverbial whip with my children the past few days to get finished with this school year. My two oldest and my youngest are finished, and my third-born and I only have a few more geography lessons to go before he's done, too. We've been getting a medium-sized mixing bowl full of strawberries from our garden daily for about 4 days now! I am so excited about this, as we just planted these strawberry plants late spring of last year, due to the fact that we had just moved back to Kansas from Illinois. I was able to send a gallon-sized ziplock full of strawberries with my mom to take to my grandparents. That means our grown hens have been getting more of their #1-favorite treat lately--strawberry tops! We had a first egg yesterday from one of our 7-month-olds. I need to go out and investigate myself. The first one was so small that we thought it was from our frizzle bantam. The second one was a mite bigger, but my youngest son swore he saw our Jersey Giant lay today's egg of the same color, just slightly larger. I guess if the eggs progressively get bigger until ginormous, we'll know these are coming from the Jersey Giant.

 

[sharol]

Thanks again for the replies, I will look into those breed of dogs. My kids have been asking for a dog for a while now and I would like to have one also. I just want to make sure it gets along with the chickens.

Just remember that each dog is an individual creature with feelings, and when dogs are puppies they get into trouble. You will have to invest time and effort to train him/her what to do to please you. I help in dog rescue, and you would be shocked by the number of puppies that end up in shelters for doing puppy things like chewing up inappropriate things (shoes, purses, furniture) or peeing in the house. I know GP's are bred to be guardians, but they still need training and patience.

Not trying to lecture. If I'm repeating things you already know, I apologize. A dog isn't just a dog, it is a 10-20 year commitment.

 

[chicken danz]

Grain Gypsy it is a law that all birds be NPIP tested prior to being entered into any show or taken to any sale or open meet. Many swap meets don't require this, which is totally irresponsible because the federal or state government need only to show up and confiscate and cull every bird that the owner has no proof of testing within 90 days on. 4H is usually very good about requiring it.
However that in no way reflects the possibility of other illness. I personally sell a lot of birds for show but I would never show them myself. I would be afraid to bring them back home after a show without at least a month quarantine afterward. That's just me. I've learned my lessons the hard way.
Not to mention finding time to do anything like a show is just not a possibility.

 

[Trish44]

Does anyone have Blue Heelers? If so how do they do with free range chickens? I am looking for a dog to help protect the chickens during the day while we are gone. A friend of mine just had a litter of pups.

I agree with the others, don't get a dog whose job is to herd. I have seen others do this & then can't understand why the dog chases their chickens around. The dog doesn't feel it's doing anything wrong, it's doing what they're bred for. Get one of the Livestock Guardian breeds, Great Pyrenees are the most common in this area or Antolians or a mix of the two. They're the easiest to find. They do a great job of protecting birds & livestock. I have two myself & wouldn't be able to keep anything here with our predator load if I didn't have them. I was losing birds before I got them, a whole pen at a time. I agree with what sharol said, don't put a puppy out there & expect them to just do their job & not need guidance. If you get a puppy, which is really the best so they can get acclimated to your situation you will need to give them rules & boundaries & enforce those along the way. They still will be a puppy up to 18 months of age. If you have any questions you can send me a PM & I can answer questions & could give you some referrals as well.

Our first broody hen hatched her first 2 chicks today. How exciting she still has 2 eggs left to hatch.

Congrats on the chicks!

How do I tell if my eggs are close to hatching besides seeing cracking in the egg today is day 21 that the hen has been on them and I see nothing but maybe a few stress cracks

You will see a little hole in the shell where they start pecking through & probably their little beak sticking out. They can sit like that for hours sometimes before they start zipping out of the shell. Be patient, it takes time. I have had to over time learn to walk away & come back later to check on progress, otherwise it drives you crazy. I hatch a lot of chicks though so usually by the time I come back I have some chicks out & ready to go to the brooder.

I'm so over this rain, I'm ready for it to dry up for awhile. I'm sick of slogging through the mud to get my birds & animals taken care of. I'm sure the birds & animals are tired of standing in it too.

On another note, I have another batch of eggs hatching today. I have some in there for myself so I hope they hatch. I had some early ones hatch yesterday & a few today so far but I still have more to go yet.

 

[zigzag45]

We had a funny thing this morning. The 6yo went out to check on the birds and came back reporting we were missing a chick. Well, they are teenagers now, but still, it was missing. Pretty soon most of us were out there looking. I finally gave up and went to check on the broody (named turkey broody because of what she does with her tail feathers) in the shed. I figured an animal got her and carried her off, our first one to loose like that.

I was just leaving the shed when I heard movement above me. Sure enough, the missing baby was at the top of the shed. It's only 7' or so, but this bird had never lived in the shed, never spent time there... but somehow decided it was a nice place to sleep. She doesn't like alot of human contact, but she let me grab her to help her down. She did some protesting so I wouldn't think she liked being handled, but she did seem happy to be on the ground. Goofy thing! I think teenage birds are kinda like teen age kids... a bit of a challenge.