Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

Patricia, been wondering about you. I hope you have things repaired on the house. I also hope you had good insurance. Somehow I believe that is a given. So sorry for your misfortune.
Well there's no luck on the escaped peafowl. I didn't see them at all yesterday, last night or this morning. I am worried they are gone for good. I guess if they have disappeared I will have to find me another hen somewhere. I was really counting on eggs this spring! I am hoping to get the trailer moved today so it is away from the guineas. If they are around that might help some. I just hope nothing got them!
Sapphire don't worry about going backwards. Personally if you really think you need a second dog I would just get another pup. You have to be careful getting older dogs. I think Josie got a one in a million. You can look around for adult dogs but you have to be very careful about what you get. Especially in your situation, you don't' want to get one that has been solely left in with the big animals and not handled by humans and kids. You want one that will protect and tolerate your kids. Some of these that spend their whole life with the critters wouldn't be safe with children I'm afraid.
Tweety if you buy the heavy duty netting there is no need for the cross ties. And if you do cross ties you need to use something stronger than string. Rope or cuts of heavy fabric work best.
Ivy is Monday the day you have your surgery?
Hawkeye I'm still wanting to put in a 40-50 foot lean-to shed and build pens out from it to house my fancy foul and game birds in. It's looking further and further impossible! I am talking a pole barn structure with no floor and metal roof and walls. I can't believe the cost of constructing one of those. I already have one but it is far South of the house and doesn't have access to water and the pens would be where I couldn't see them. We just store the mowers and stuff in it now.

 

[JosieChick]

Ivy- Those baby goats are adorable!!

Alright LGD folks, I have some questions for you!

When I went to pick Molly up her owner told me that he kept them up at the barn at night. So the only command she knows is "Go Home" and that to her means she needs to go up to the barn and into a pen that he shuts them in at night. I would really like her to eventually have a "home base" but not be locked up at night so that she and future pup can ward off nighttime predators. Last night I got home from gun safety class in Lawrence at 10 and went out to feed and lock everyone up. The poor goats were in the corner of their pen looking terrified, I know Molly didn't do anything to them, they are just convinced that she is a giant white wolf in their pen. Molly was dead to the world asleep, I mean, I had to bang on the fence and yell her name 3 times before she woke up. (I sure didn't want to waltz in and startle her giant sleeping carcass!!!) So she was all excited and wanted OUT of the pen. So I took her out on a leash and she peed which I thought nothing of at the time and then she seemed like she thought she needed to go somewhere else to sleep for the night. I figured the goats could use a break and some time to eat so I put her in the chicken pen overnight with food and water.

Other problem is the owner said she will guard her food. He has never seen her harm or bite an animal but she will growl when other critters come near her food. (Not me, I can walk right over and pick it up and she is fine) This morning she again wanted OUT of the chicken pen so I let her because she was pretty frantic. And she again peed for a while. So I am thinking that she doesn't want to soil her kennel area where she sleeps at night. So right now she is out back by the goat pen loose,has a big bucket of water, her food bowl and her giant beef bone prize. She wanders around a bit, marks her territory and lays by her food bowl. I hear her bark but she is just standing next to the bowl barking so I am pretty sure she thinks she came to our farm to guard a very large beef bone.

Any advice? Should I just give her a few days to settle in and let her sleep in the chicken pen at night and let her out during the day? I am thinking in the long run we will build a "pen" with no gate for dog houses, food, water etc so the dogs have a place that is their own to go and sleep and eat. That way nobody will be terrified by Molly's ferocious growl over her food bowl but she will still be near enough to chickens/goats to protect them (and her beef bone I guess) from unwanted predator advances. Sigh.

Thanks in advance!

 

[JosieChick]

I have to edit to say that she is a love bug and a half. Very social and happy to see me. She seems in no way upset about her new surroundings or stressed. She wagged her tail at my husband in the dark when I called her over to see him. I think she already knows that I am the boss lady around here and she should "check in with me". She just looks like she is trying to figure out where everything is. She did hear the chickens making a racket a bit ago and ran over to see if everything was ok.

 

[chicken danz]

Josie, first these dogs are made to work at night, not be penned in a barn. It is going to take a little reconditioning for her. GP's are almost all very protective of their food. They will growl and chase chickens or goats or anything else that comes near their food bowl. I swear I've thought I was going to loose chickens several times but it is all a warning. My chickens are used to that. They come right back and try for the dog food over and over. That's just part of their nature.
Let the goats and her get used to each other. The goats will come around. Hopefully she won't get butted too many times from them.
These dogs love a place in the shade where they can wallow in or they love the big dogloo houses. It looks like they would be too big for them but they tend to like that den type housing. I would keep my eyes open for a dogloo on CL if you don't want to buy a new one so she has a place to call her own home.
Give her and the animals a couple weeks and it will be all good. And as soon as she feels at home let her out of that pen. My dogs leave the yard to go to the bathroom. They do NOT like to go to the bathroom where they live. If she is in a large area she will probably go to the edges of it to go once she is free. I can't even believe they hae her leash trained. That is kind of rare in a GP. Although it would cetainly be a benefit. I think you got a true jewel there.

 

[averytds]

Have a friend who can get 10' x 5' pallets. All I can think about is building a chicken building and runs with them. It'll probably get done along the same time frame as all the other things I want to build and DIY projects needing done.

It's so nice out today. Back to work.

 

[Trish44]

Josie, these GPs seem to be very protective of their food. My Jasmine growls while she's eating hers to make sure everyone knows it's hers & nobody is to bother it. Lily will bark at the chickens if they come in the pen in the morning when I'm feeding them. I don't think she would hurt them, but I don't take chances with it, I just run them out until the dogs are done eating. I have to feed each of the pups on opposite ends of the dog run because they can't be near each other or they will fight over the food. I think this is pretty normal behavior for them, even as tiny pups they fought terribly over the food. I learned right off that I couldn't feed them from the same bowl even as 8 week old pups. Your animals & birds will get accustomed to the growling. My dog run is right next to my rabbit cages outside & the rabbits listen to the dogs go at it fighting over the choice dog house every night. It sounds like they're killing each other, no lie, but nobody is hurt at all & it's just the sound that is terrible. The rabbits seem to not pay much attention to it any more & rabbits are excitable.

Hawkeye, yeah I'm just not happy at all about the dead kitten. I really hate to have to resort to the BB Gun, but at this point I just see no other avenue with this pup. She doesn't listen whatever, you can tell her repeatedly NO, punish her all different ways & she still goes & does what she wants to. She just has to learn there are boundaries & rules here one way or the other. It hurts me to have to do something like that, but what choice do I have? If I can't get her straightened up now she is going to end up either finding a new home or we're going to continue to have problems with her into adulthood & beyond. Jasmine would be just lost without her sister too, they're inseparable.

 

[JosieChick]

Danz, Trish- Thanks for the reassurance. I have a big dogloo already that the goats just play on. Do you guys think she is ok left loose for now? Should I leave her out at night too? She doesn't appear to me going anywhere. I understand about the food and didn't think she would do anything to the goats but the goats also were not eating their hay they were just standing in the corner hiding so I think they will be braver getting to know her through the fence first. Once they realize she isn't a threat to them they will be fine. She doesn't eat all her food at once so mostly she was just standing over her bowl growling and they wouldn't leave the corner. I was a bit concerned about them not eating for 12 plus hours.

Danz-She walks really well on a leash! Thank heavens. I put the slip lead on her and said "come on Molly" and she came right with me.

 

[chicken danz]

I don't think iI'd turn her loose just yet unless your yard is well fenced. Give her some more time to acclimate. Can you move the dogloo over by her food bowl? She needs to know it is hers. I keep a dog bed inside my dogloo and they love sleeping on it. If you have an old blanket or something to put in there that would make it much more inviting. Make sure she has lots of shade and lots of water right now. She should be sleeping in the day time when it is hot. I keep a low 50 gallon stock tank full of water for my dogs to lay in in the summer. They mostly just stand in there to cool their feet.
I just hatched about 30 more baby ducks this morning! I have another load of them due on the 5th. The hatches have been so good I'm going to have to have a duck sale soon.

 

[cherwill]

Trish, I'm sorry about your kitty. I thought I knew how to train problem dogs until my old one went nuts and won't get along with the younger one. Nothing I've done has made any difference, so I'm no help to you!

Hawkeye, the chicks are supposed to be Ameraucanas. They crack me up when they stretch their necks out a mile long and it's all patchy fuzz with a few real feathers at the bottom. My husband is seriously creeped out by their green legs.

As soon as the grass dries out, we have 6 lawns to mow and edge, including ours. If there's time, we'll probably do some weeding in the beds at the new job. I probably won't be back on here; I expect to be too tired for much of anything! Then tomorrow's gardening day, I'm looking forward to that.

 

[Ivywoods]

Josie-Every GP I've had is very food protective. Runt is probably the mildest about it. Buddy, however, sounds very ferocious and frankly kind of scary when he protects his food. However, I have never seen any of them hurt another animal over it. It sounds like your new girl is pretty much a homebody already. Yes, that is amazing she is leash trained. They are particularly difficult to leash train. Some never get used to it.

Danz-Wow. You have had such a struggle for such a long time about this building. Maybe you should reconsider using the building to the south. I know it is farther away, but if you can concentrate a lot of your birds there it would save a lot of walking anyway. Build long runs to the north of the building where you could see them. I keep binoculars by my patio door so I can check on goats, chickens, and watch any distant wildlife that might happen to wander through. You can always make pop up doors through the wall into the run. I'm sure there's a way.

As far as water, I would bet you are in a fairly low water table area. I'll bet you could drop a sandpoint in and hook up a pump right there at the building. It might be worth checking into.

Trish-You sure have had a time with those pups. I'd give Lilly some more time. Personally, you might consider a shock collar. I'd feel better about that. They are easy to use, work instantly, and you dont' have to be as close to the dog as you would with a BB gun. Frankly, I'd be afraid I might make a bad shot, hit an eye, or something, even though I am an excellent marksman (woman.) Being a hunter ed instructor I teach that you do not aim at or shoot at anything you do not intend to kill, and for me that applies to any gun, even BB guns. Most likely a BB gun wouldn't penetrate their fur and skin, but if you hit a spot where the fur is not thick, it is possible you could penetrate the skin,, such as around the anus, then you would have to deal with that.

Hawkeye-Gonna finish your brother's coop on this nice weekend?

I think I'm going to go out and see if we've got any morel mushrooms growing.