Consolidated Kansas

[Hawkeye95]

two sides down... one more to go. My nose, hands and feet are frozen.

 

[keckels]

I thought I was the only one out doing last minute projects before the snow hit. My Sumatra's were good with just the cold, but the snow had me worried so I got them into a run with more protection.

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[Trish44]

Well I got my new nest boxes installed before the bad weather hits. I got some of the Fowl Stuff lids & used my own 5 gallon buckets, I sure hope they will use them. I was so tired of having to clean out the next boxes every day because they pooped in them. I would watch them all going in to roost & shoo the ones trying to sit on the nest boxes off & show them the roosts & I guess as soon as I left they would get right back in them again. Today while I was working on installing the new ones I guess they made a nest on top of a pile of straw bales in the run because I saw my EE hen up there & later found 2 eggs, hers & one of the Red Star's eggs. They got clear up by the top of the run & that is 7 ft tall. I could barely reach up there to get the eggs. I hope they will go in the coop now that the new nest boxes are done & use them instead. There was still no sign of my Speckled Sussex hen, so I guess she's just gone. That's a bummer, now I'll have to find another one in the spring to replace her, they were really nice little hens. I don't know why their rooster doesn't stay with them like Big Red stays with his little flock. Maybe if they had stayed together she would still be here, I don't know. I was out in the cold today too, trying to put more dirt & rocks around the bottom of my coop. I'm paranoid now that I saw something was digging there.

My pups have discovered the pop door on the chicken coop, so now they can go in there any time the run door is open. I had hoped they wouldn't figure that out, but they must have watched the chickens coming & going in & out. They like eating the chicken feed & that's not something I want them to do. Well at least maybe they won't be able to get through there too much longer since I know they do grow awfully fast. Do any of you with GPs have issues at feeding time with your dogs fighting over the food? Jasmine is extremely food aggressive & even though I have a bowl for each of them she will eat her food & then go for Lily's too. She growls & postures with her feet in the bowl until Lily gives up most of the time or she growls & barks back at her. I can stand between them & try to keep them eating at their own bowls, but as soon as I step out of the pen they just go right back at it. I tried to feed one in & one outside the pen, but they wouldn't eat that way. Jasmine just sat at the door whining & Lily went around the pen & tried to find another way in.

Hawkeye, how far did you get today? The panels will work fine for your run, you will just need to put hardware cloth around the bottom of it to keep things from reaching through the wire. I learned that the hard way. I plan to use my old dog run next spring for my breeder coop at least in part & maybe try to find another small one or panels. It sure is easier than having to build a run. I'm still trying to get thawed out, my feet were frozen when I came in. It's only going to get worse tomorrow, I watched the weather & it's going to snow, but there isn't supposed to be any accumulation. Ack, we have a lot to do tomorrow & I found a dog house on Craigslist we have to go pick up too, that should be fun.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Trish, I'm sorry about your hen that disappeared.

Sounds like the dogs are doing great with your chickens! Even if they do go in the coop, you might be right that they will not be able to do that for much longer. After I got the second side done on the coop (hardware cloth put on around the legs below it) I had to quit for a bit to pick up my son at the bus stop. THEN.. I was going to run right back and finish that LAST 3rd side and be done... but my neighbor got a hold of me and told me some really sad news and the evening was ruined. I tried to get back out there, then I had last minute company show up and my day light was gone. So I never got the 3rd side done and I'm really bummed about that, because I'm going to buy those panels on Sunday when they go on sale. And it looks like tomorrow is going to be awful, so I don't know if I'm going to be able to do that last side. I was sure hoping I could be done and all I was waiting on was buying the panels. Double Sigh.

Keckels, yep, I was outside like you were! Frozen toes and nose and numb fingers. Brrrrr.

So I guess the chickens all go back out to the horse stall for the day again tomorrow. At least it's plenty big enough for them. For now. They are still so small. Question-- when I do put my birds in the coop this weekend with their new "dog run", you think it's okay for me to put Seymore (my turkey) in there with them? Are they big enough, you think??? They are about 9 weeks old now. So they are still small... but not super tiny. Seymore needs a better run than the spot under the deck, and it's getting windy and no fun for her. I've been letting her roam with the horses so she can get in the barn. But that isn't ideal for me- I don't want her to become dinner for someone. She's been jumping on top of one of my mares and taking rides on her back all hunkered down like she's snuggling into my mare's warmth.

 

[sharol]

Food aggression can turn into a nasty problem. It might be a good idea to nip it in the bud. We have a dachshund (sp) that was food aggressive when we first got him (and 1 1/2, unneutered). I found lots of good ideas by googling dog food aggression. With Lucky, we pinned him and made him submit to us (as the pack leaders) any time he growled at us over food. Once we convinced him that he wasn't the alpha in the pack, he stopped doing it. He still won't let someone eat his food (we have 4 dogs and a cat) while he is at his dish, but he doesn't growl over it and try to bite anyone who walks by at least.



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[Hawkeye95]

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That is exactly what Cesar Milan would do! (The Dog Whisperer) I love watching him! He gives a lot of people hope for dogs that otherwise would be put down.

 

[Trish44]

Hawkeye, I guess you could try putting Seymore in there with the chicks & see how it goes. At one time I had some turkeys in with my chickens, of course they weren't little ones at the time, but they did fine together. That's hilarious about Seymore riding on the horse's back, that must be a sight! You need to take a picture of that & post it. Yeah, I'm hating the thought of this darned weather coming in, just hate it! At least I have my chicken run covered with tarp on all sides & the top now, so it should be all right other than the plastic over the door has started coming off in the wind. I got 3 sides & the top covered on the dog run too & got a plastic door for the dog house, so the pups should be fairly protected too. Lily didn't like it when I put the plastic door on the dog house, she started chewing on it right away, but when this weather hits later tonight I think they will be glad it's on there. So far I'm really impressed with these pups, they really are well behaved for puppies, they have stayed right close & stay out of the way if a car comes in the driveway. I could never say that about any other pups I've had in the past. I read that the Great Pyrs are very intelligent dogs & I believe it. It only took them a day or two to learn their names & they do listen to you when you tell them something. They may not do what you say right then, but they do know what no means already. I just wish it wasn't so darned cold out there so I could work with them more on the leash training. Yes, they are doing well with the chickens, but I really expected that they would since they have been with chickens. Big Red is leaving them alone too, so I don't have to get rid of him thank goodness. Right now I need him to watch over the hens until these pups get older. I know he can't do the same as the dogs will be able to, but he does go after anything that he thinks is threatening his girls. I know that he would give his life if he had to in order to protect them.

 

[sharol]

Cesar is wonderful. I think I may have gotten the info from his website at the time. I know the process saved Lucky's life. I was ready to put him down after being bitten, but when he looked up at me with those big brown eyes (he was REALLY, REALLY sorry), I just melted. He sleeps with us and is a real friend to everyone in the house.

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That is exactly what Cesar Milan would do! (The Dog Whisperer) I love watching him! He gives a lot of people hope for dogs that otherwise would be put down.

 

[ByN8ureHomstead]

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I have never heated coop. Last year the coop was always 15 to 20 degrees warmer, I had 18 chickens warming the place up. I do have a heater in my waterer,

 

[Trish44]

sharol, well Jasmine isn't food aggressive with me, she will let me near her & even move her around when she's eating. It's just her sister she doesn't want to have any food, she wants it all. I was told this isn't unusual with GPs & to let them work it out mostly. I do try to make sure Lily gets some food because Jasmine will eat most of it otherwise. It's like she is establishing her place in the pack as leader I think, at 9 weeks no less. Lily will cave to her most of the time. Other than feeding time these two get along great. They play & sleep together & all is well.