Consolidated Kansas

[sharol]

I don't have any experience with LGD's, but when we got our dachsund, Lucky, he was a mess. He bit us both the first day over his food (food aggression). When I googled it, I realized that food aggression was a really serious issue. I used that method (recommended by a doggie bootcamp website), and it took TWICE to get him straightened out. We did neuter him and do some basic obedience, too, but the forced submission worked like a charm. He figured out that I was the alpha (second only to his primary owner, my DH) and he couldn't snap at me under any circumstances. He has turned into a wonderful little dog, and it really didn't take very many corrections.
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How to discipline Fern?

Last night, I was putting the chickens in their little coop - then got Fern and had her go into the coop so she could go out the hen door to the fenced area (same routine we've always done). One of the chickens got out the hen door and into the fenced area because Fern wasn't being cooperative and was sniffing around their food - this upset the one chicken and she left! Fern went out the door and started chasing the chicken! I scaled the fence, grabbed Fern by the skin on the nape of her neck, flipped her quickly to her back and yelled into her face.. She knew she had done wrong. I then put her in the crate (which she sleeps in every night) and finished up with the chickens (and new rooster, Jasper, from Trish).

Was that the best approach? Other suggestions should she do this again? That was the first time and I believe it is because the chicken initiated the drama by running.

 

[michelleml]

sorry if i don't reply to all post I've been busy looking after our dachshund who was hit by a car thursday afternoon. He is doing better just bruised up vet kept overnight and we picked him up yesterday. He still isn't walking so great but im sure it will take time. He is still a puppy and goes after everything that moves. Looks like will have to make a dog run so he will stay safe.

Does anyone one know if they make unground fencing that doesn't shock them? Im not crazy about the shock thing

Have a good day everyone

 

[chicken danz]

I was looking for Cuckoo Maran chicks (I love the dark chocolate eggs they lay) and stumbled across this site - I got 5 female chicks for $18 which includes shipping! I am hoping this place is as good as it appears. They have a lot of rare breeds at decent prices and the price includes shipping. Anyways - here is the site if you're interested: http://www.welphatchery.com/

Welp hatchery is the hatchery I can buy wholesale from. I would recommend them. They have great personal service. The chicks come from other breeders somewhat like Ideal does. If I were you I would see if you can find other people near by wanting to buy a few chicks without placing a big order to make your 25. I like my Cuckoos. They are great layers and pretty easy going.

I was so busy yesterday I never got a chance to get on here after morning. I got very little sleep and got up and started again.
Why is company so much work? I never got the yard cleaned up which I hopes to do.There is just too little of me to go around sometimes.

I hatched some speckled sussex this morning. Woot! I guess I'll see how they turn out. I wasn't sure these pullet eggs would be good but they appear to be great.
I have some buff orpingtons running with my sussex. I can't wait to get one of my little roosters big enough to breed them.
My back is killing me today. I hate being old!!!

 

[HEChicken]

Michelle, so sorry about your dog - I hope the full recovery is quick and the vet bills not too high. I don't believe there is any underground fencing that doesn't use shock because honestly, I can't think of anything else that would deter them if they can't see a visible barrier. Don't be too concerned about the shock therapy though. There is a training period, that if conducted correctly means they really don't get shocked many times and once they learn it, not at all. There is a beep that precedes the shock and it doesn't take them long to figure that out. So after they've been shocked a couple of times, they learn to respond to the beep by turning away from the fence. Once they understand where the "fence" is, they steer well clear of it. Tory has only been on it a little over a week but already gets it very well and even when playing, will turn back before she gets to the fence. Our other dog (who isn't on the fence because we don't have another collar) is even starting to "get" where the fence is even though she's never been shocked, based on where Tory turns back rather than continuing to chase. So she is learning that if she goes too far in this direction or that, she loses her playmate so she is also keeping within the confines of the invisible fence, for the most part. You can also adjust how big a shock is administered so in the training period you would want it on the lowest level shock just so they get the message. You would only need to turn it to a higher level shock if you find that the dog is routinely willing to run right through the fence and take the shock.

Danz, have a great time with your company - hope the visit goes smoothly.

Sunflower, sorry about bursting the bubble. Actually, I'm surprised they let the order go through if it didn't contain more chicks. I would have expected there to be an error message. But perhaps since you can mix and match poultry, the system allows you to place the order online and they contact you if it isn't right. I agree with seeing if others around here are interested in chicks too. I see that they have Buckeyes and since I was wanting to get some of them, I will be the first to say that I will add 5 female Buckeyes onto your order if you get anyone else that is also interested. Hope that helps....

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye, her eyes are both gold and they look clear and healthy, not watery or anything. I even double checked after you asked. The bluish cast must be some kind of reflection that occurred when I took the picture.

Sunflowerparrot, our coop is really an old wooden playhouse that used to belong to my niece. The floor is wood. We use pine shavings and lay them in 6-8" deep. Every so often we fluff them around to even them back out and move the poop to the bottom. The coop doesn't smell and we change the bedding 2-3 times a year. We've had it in operation for about 2 years, I think, and the wood floor is holding up so far. I worried about it rotting or something, but the poop is dried out by the time it gets shuffled to the bottom, I guess.

I guess I just don't think that she is overeating. I'm betting that there is something else going on. I dont' know what to think either!

Hawkeye, was it you asking about where to get free Kindle books? I use Pixel of Ink & I get a list of free & bargain books daily, I rarely ever buy a book but if I do it might be 99 cents. I have almost 300 books on my Kindle right now, so I can read for a very long time. I love my Kindle, especially to read in the car & take on vacation. We have a house full of books that we have collected, they're about in every room of the house, but now that we have our Kindles we don't buy as many.

Well it's almost time to go do chores & got to get back to work. My son & his girlfriend are supposed to be in about 10 tonight. It's going to be a very busy weekend.

Yeah, my Kindle shows me the Daily Deal each day thru Amazon. And I've found the free book list-- but the stuff I want to read is all short stories which annoys me. I'm BIG into YA sci fy, mysteries, thrillers, and the like. I don't like to read anything non-fiction. I use reading as a "movie escape"-- good entertainment that is cheaper than going to the movies and lasts longer, too. I love Janet Evanovich (funny mysteries, but serious too), Melissa De La Cruize for her nice long Blue Bloods series, and on and on in that vein. I even started a series a couple years ago called the Vampirates by Justin Somper that I thought would probably be pretty awful, but found a really cheap book at 'Book-a-holic' and got totally addicted-- it's MUCH better than I thought, and I've read all 10 books so far and there are more coming out!! I love looooong series!! The longer, the better! I do read a lot of Christian books (non-fiction) only because I belonged to a book club for several years that met every Wednesday and we discussed the chapters that we were supposed to read. It was fun, but finally had to give up the club because I got busier and it met over the lunch hour. But now that I quit the club last winter, I doubt I pick up another one since I would rather get lost in a good fast paced story.

Hope you have fun with your company!

sorry if i don't reply to all post I've been busy looking after our dachshund who was hit by a car thursday afternoon. He is doing better just bruised up vet kept overnight and we picked him up yesterday. He still isn't walking so great but im sure it will take time. He is still a puppy and goes after everything that moves. Looks like will have to make a dog run so he will stay safe.

Does anyone one know if they make unground fencing that doesn't shock them? Im not crazy about the shock thing

Have a good day everyone

So sorry about your little dog! Poor little guy, I'm so glad he wasn't injured more seriously. We use shock collars on our dogs-- I have a 4 lbs Pomeranian, and a 10 lbs Shih Tzu. My Pom just needs the collar turned way down to 1 and when the collar beeps, she stops dead. NOW... my shih tzu is VERY bull headed and we have to turn the collar up to 3!! (the collar goes to 10, I believe). She will keep on running with the shock of a 1 and 2 setting. A setting of 3 makes her stop and think about it. She's the kind of dog that when she runs after something, her brain switches OFF and she doesn't hear anything but what is going on in her head-- which is chase, chase, and run away! For her own safety, we HAD to buy a shock collar! It was that or she would eventually die. She runs away and she tries to run over down the road to a neighbors house who has mean dogs that would like to break her neck. So in your case, I'd vote a nice humane zap vs a dead dog. Just sayin'.

I was so busy yesterday I never got a chance to get on here after morning. I got very little sleep and got up and started again.
Why is company so much work? I never got the yard cleaned up which I hopes to do.There is just too little of me to go around sometimes.

I hatched some speckled sussex this morning. Woot! I guess I'll see how they turn out. I wasn't sure these pullet eggs would be good but they appear to be great.
I have some buff orpingtons running with my sussex. I can't wait to get one of my little roosters big enough to breed them.
My back is killing me today. I hate being old!!!

Company is a LOT of work! I usually work myself into the ground getting our house cleaned up. My main issue is laundry, keeping the bathrooms spotless with 3 kids running around. (I've taught my boys they have to sit down when they are at home-- I don't care what they do at school) If they make a mess, they clean it up. I'm a mean momma. And then the kitchen and dining room is usually our catch-all, so that takes a lot of time. Then doing dusting or cleaning on top of all of that... it just takes up a lot more time than you think. When we're getting ready for our 4th of July party, which is an Open House too, I get started cleaning a week in advance. I get all our laundry done and start cleaning bathrooms. I spend each day with a list of 3 things I want to do that day. So by the time the week is done, I'm pretty well done and I can do last minute touch up's the last day and spot clean bathrooms, and mop floors in the morning before people get here. Included on my list is even touching up wall paint-- I keep all the cans to my walls so I can go back and touch up spots the kids have bounced a ball against, hand prints, or whatever. I take my 4th of July cleaning pretty seriously. LOL!! But that's it-- the rest of the year gets regular cleaning. So I guess you can say that is my yearly "Spring Cleaning".

So after they've been shocked a couple of times, they learn to respond to the beep by turning away from the fence. Once they understand where the "fence" is, they steer well clear of it.

X2


It almost looked like it might rain this morning! But then it didn't. Of course. We had what looked like a front come in with dark clouds and then go to the south of us. I was sure hoping. Sigh. But at least it looks like it might be a pretty nice day!

 

[JosieChick]

Hi Everyone! Sorry I am sooo far behind!

Danz- Love the new birds, they are beautiful and tiny!! SO sorry about your cockerel and the damaged box, that is tragic. I have had several birds shipped in and never had a damaged box. Such a bummer.

I've wondered about that, too, since she's the only one like that. There's a bin in the coop that we keep filled up, and we throw some scratch grains out every morning and they get some veggie scraps nearly every day. She's not the low chicken on the totem pole. There's no reason I can think of that she would overeat. I wish there was a vet here who knew anything about chickens. One of the vets in the office where my niece works is taking some classes on chickens, but she hasn't been doing it for long. Maybe I'll call Monday and see if she can think of anything. I had an over-active thyroid which was treated, leaving me with no thyroid at all, so I know what you mean about that. I can't imagine my vet having a clue about diagnosing it, or how you would treat it in a chicken! If she had a thyroid condition, I could feed her almost nothing and she's still be overweight.

She's not a pet pet if you know what I mean, but she's a sweet bird. I just don't want to mistreat her, but it feels like I might be no matter what I do because I don't know what I'm doing.

I almost wonder if this bird has a reproductive tumor? Her widened stance and the bareness on her bottom remind me of when dogs get tumors in their abdomen. I know what you mean, it is hard to find someone to look at them and treat them. If she is acting happy and eating I would just let her live her life until she gets to a point where she doesn't feel well.

How to discipline Fern?

Last night, I was putting the chickens in their little coop - then got Fern and had her go into the coop so she could go out the hen door to the fenced area (same routine we've always done). One of the chickens got out the hen door and into the fenced area because Fern wasn't being cooperative and was sniffing around their food - this upset the one chicken and she left! Fern went out the door and started chasing the chicken! I scaled the fence, grabbed Fern by the skin on the nape of her neck, flipped her quickly to her back and yelled into her face.. She knew she had done wrong. I then put her in the crate (which she sleeps in every night) and finished up with the chickens (and new rooster, Jasper, from Trish).

Was that the best approach? Other suggestions should she do this again? That was the first time and I believe it is because the chicken initiated the drama by running.

Oh the honeymoon is over!! Welcome to puppyhood. I wouldn't ever leave Fern unattended with the chickens because if she does this when you aren't there it is rewarding and fun for her and she will continue to learn to do it. Believe me, I have had my fair share of trouble. A couple firm scoldings will teach her what "NO" or "LEAVE IT" means and you can just use the verbal command when she behaves in an unacceptable manner with the chickens. Remember it is super important that she learn to not chase chickens, that is her job. The chickens will do whatever they want including squabbling, running, jumping, flapping and those things are natural chicken behaviors that Fern needs to learn to ignore and accept and not be excited by.

sorry if i don't reply to all post I've been busy looking after our dachshund who was hit by a car thursday afternoon. He is doing better just bruised up vet kept overnight and we picked him up yesterday. He still isn't walking so great but im sure it will take time. He is still a puppy and goes after everything that moves. Looks like will have to make a dog run so he will stay safe.

Does anyone one know if they make unground fencing that doesn't shock them? Im not crazy about the shock thing

Have a good day everyone

So sorry about your pup! Poor thing, hope he is ok. We are using sport dog invisible fence. We bought it off Amazon and installed it ourselves. The training period for the fenceline doesn't shock but then you turn the fence on and it bites when they cross the boundary. The other fences don't work if they don't get shocked. It really isn't that bad though and it is a million times better than getting hit and killed by a car. The first couple days are rough while they learn the boundaries but we love it now and the girls are so good, they know exactly where the line is and stay inside of it. It is well worth the investment. I would highly recommend it.

Michelle, so sorry about your dog - I hope the full recovery is quick and the vet bills not too high. I don't believe there is any underground fencing that doesn't use shock because honestly, I can't think of anything else that would deter them if they can't see a visible barrier. Don't be too concerned about the shock therapy though. There is a training period, that if conducted correctly means they really don't get shocked many times and once they learn it, not at all. There is a beep that precedes the shock and it doesn't take them long to figure that out. So after they've been shocked a couple of times, they learn to respond to the beep by turning away from the fence. Once they understand where the "fence" is, they steer well clear of it. Tory has only been on it a little over a week but already gets it very well and even when playing, will turn back before she gets to the fence. Our other dog (who isn't on the fence because we don't have another collar) is even starting to "get" where the fence is even though she's never been shocked, based on where Tory turns back rather than continuing to chase. So she is learning that if she goes too far in this direction or that, she loses her playmate so she is also keeping within the confines of the invisible fence, for the most part. You can also adjust how big a shock is administered so in the training period you would want it on the lowest level shock just so they get the message. You would only need to turn it to a higher level shock if you find that the dog is routinely willing to run right through the fence and take the shock.

Ditto to this!

If anyone has any other bright ideas on finding Lucie a great goat farm to live on let me know! I put her on the facebook swap and craigslist but am open to other suggestions. I have been keeping her tied during the day when the birds are out or more likely to jump out by accident and letting her off at night because the coyotes have been terrible here the last few nights and our fox is back too now that the weather is cooler. So the girls have been working their behinds off! Never mind the neighbors dumb coon hound that comes up here every day and the girls chase off!

Well lots to do today, hoping to get my new brooders installed that DH and the MIL made for me. They are awesome and I will have to get some pics.

 

[medawinks]

Michele, so sorry about you little dog. I too am not fond of shock collars after having had a dog burn herself while ignoring the shock, but I know she was a bit atypical. I would prefer a shock over a crisis happening again, also. It may be, however, after this, that he is not so eager to act on his impulses to run after things he sees???

Hawkeye, Trish, Sunflower and??? ( I wish I had a better memory as to who said what .... :-(. )

I have enjoyed skimming the knitting and Kindle posts. I love sci fi fantasy and young adult books as well as reading as part of a book discussion group. I too use it to escape. I just bought my oldest some new YA books and love to read them with her and talk about what we are reading. I read mostly in the wee hours of the morning when I can't sleep or when carting I kiddo somewhere after school- right from my phone Not needing to carry everything makes it so much easier! My daughter has a Kindle fire and we share our account. Amazon Prime also has many best sellers for free loan as well on the Kindle. I am going to have to check out Book Bub and Pixel and Ink.
We just read The Name of The Star, which has a vampire type theme, along with a modern day Jack the Ripper mystery. It was a lot of fun!

Still no new eggs here. Lots of trips in and out of nest boxes and boy are they noisy!! Talking to each other, to me, to the wind....

 

[Trish44]

Just popped in for a minute, I have my family here today, my son, his girlfriend, granddaughter & her sister. My DH has been smoking ribs all night for my birthday lunch, yum! I don't have time to go back & do all the quotes, but I hope everyone is doing OK.

Sunflowerparrot, I hope the little roo is doing OK over there. You just have to be consistent with Fern & scold her when she does things she isn't supposed to. She is just a little baby & like any other baby she has to learn. Jasmine doesn't like being scolded at all & even hard-headed Lily these days doesn't like it either. The GPs are more sensitive dogs than other breeds & they don't like being punished. I agree with Josie, as I told you, Leave It is a very important command to teach Fern. If you can teach her that one then when she is getting into something she's not supposed to or chasing a chicken then she will know she is doing wrong when you yell that at her.

Well you all have a great day, it's really nice outside today, so we'll probably be out there quite a bit.

 

[cityhick]

The swap meet is tomorrow at the north Topeka tractor supply.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Happy Birthday Trish!!