Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Beekissed]

X2 on the good dog!

EVERY time we slip up and let our big dog sleep in the shop, something grabs one of our juvie birds. Happened again this past Fri night. Sat night, big dog went back out and came up the next morning reeking of skunk - so obviously chased one away. Sun night, big dog was out and wakes up the whole house at 2:00am chasing something across the pasture. DH went out with the shotgun, couldn't see whatever it was, but could hear that it was small-ish, making cat-like noises without actually sounding like a stray cat. We're thinking raccoon. The dog is definitely earning his keep when we humans get out of the way and actually let him be a dog (sleeping outside, etc.).

Amen to that! I think folks don't realize just how much fun a dog has at night while outside..just bein' a dog. And, at the same time, doing a valuable job.

 

[Triple Willow]

Amen to that!  I think folks don't realize just how much fun a dog has at night while outside..just bein' a dog.  And, at the same time, doing a valuable job. 

I usually leave my one dog out and he usually stays home (I think). He does a great job at watching the house and keeping everything ran off. BUT, given the chance he would kill every chicken I have. I am afraid of leaving him loose all the time, afraid he will go somewhere and get in trouble. Now and then he likes to visit the neighbor's dogs and he goes to the creek, I think to visit the coyotes. If stray dogs were to come to kill my chickens no doubt he would help them! To be such a good dog he is such a dunce.

 

[Beekissed]

I keep ol' Jake on a wireless containment system that encompasses the coop area so he has a big circle of area in which he patrols...about half an acre.

 

[Triple Willow]

I keep ol' Jake on a wireless containment system that encompasses the coop area so he has a big circle of area in which he patrols...about half an acre.  

Right now I have my dog in a pen right next to my young bird's pen (3 feet away) and I tell him to watch them. lol I'm hoping that if anything were to try to get in the fit he would have would convince it to leave and wake me up. Maybe he will get sick of looking at chickens then decide they are boring and leave them alone. I wish! lol

 

[Triple Willow]

I tried feeding FF today for the first time.  it took many many days to make because we had an odd cold spell in GA, and I didn't have an ACV that wasn't pasteurized so what it got from the air had to do.  I was afraid since mine are 5 weeks and had never had it they would turn their beaks up at it, but it was a needless worry.  They inhaled it, loved it, and I enjoyed the sour dough smell too!  it won't be an every day thing because I just don't have a way to make it that quickly but I'm hoping for a couple times a week at least.  

I'm glad your birds like it. I put some buttermilk in mine and it is ready within 24 hours.

 

[wlhtx]

What kind of dog is it?

Big dog is a Boerboel. Kind of an unknown breed, similar to mastiffs. They are said to be the "most protective, non-aggressive" breed, bred in South Africa specifically to protect the homesteads (and hunt lions). When we first moved out to the country (and we are way out...nearest sheriff's office is 30 mins away), my husband still worked in Dallas which is 3 hrs away - he lived in corporate housing during the week and was just home on weekends. So, since it was mostly just me and our two little kids, I tracked down the biggest, baddest dog I could find that was also renowned for protection of his territory and loyalty to its owners.

He has a larger prey drive than I would like, and in his puppy year he killed his share of chickens. We've worked really hard on training him that the birds are ours, and - though he will still periodically give chase - he hasn't deliberately killed one in over a year. I still don't trust him completely with them if we're not there, and so for now won't leave him out unattended with them during the day. (It's our boxer's job to protect them while they free range - though she has shown that she slacks off at night...she's old and tired.) But I figure after a few more months of doing his nightly guard duties (and we've truly never lost a bird when he's out at night), I will give him a shot to prove himself during the daytime.

It was actually reading about Bee's Jake that made me finally decide to start using him for this nightly bird guarding job and not just to guard us people. He can do both just by sleeping out on the porch. And I really see that he appears much happier doing this. He knows his job, and he loves it.

 

[Triple Willow]

@wlhtx... I've never heard of a Boerboel, very interesting. He sounds like a great dog. I agree with you, I want a dog around to guard the place. I always have had one. I believe it was last summer there were A LOT of daytime break-ins all across our county. Young punks who refuse to work needing money, probably drug money! People all around us were hit. One day the people right next door were hit and a couple on the other side of us right up the road. I tell you what, it was a nerve racking time! Personally I wasn't scared of them should they come while I was home. Bring it on, pleeease bring it on! lol But I was scared to go off and leave my mom at home alone, afraid they would break in on her thinking nobody was home. The police and a whole lot of people were afraid they were going to break in on an elderly person thinking nobody was home because of no car in the driveway. I believe my crazy barking dogs detered them from trying our house. Thank goodness & God bless them! lol They have a fit when anybody comes around. That is how I know somebody is here, dogs barking. One barks at any and every thing, the other - if he barks I know to go check it out. One is agressive toward about any other animal, the other just other animals smaller than him. He's really a wuss ...but don't tell anybody! He acts like he would kill somebody. lol

What steps did you take in training your dog not to kill your chickens? My steps haven't worked so far! (But my dogs are 8 years old too.) I am thinking a shock collar is next. I have read a lot of threads on this website with people saying, "Oh, you just have to work with your dog. You can train any dog to looove your chickens". I think they must all have cripled teacup poodles! They sure haven't met my dogs!

 

[wlhtx]

Triple Willow, he is a good dog. Most people don't know about them because they are pretty rare in the States. We got lucky with our vet having some knowledge of them. George Foreman has a house here locally and he keeps a couple of these dogs to guard his place. They are really big. Mine is barely two years old and still filling out and already weighs over 160lbs.

In hindsight he might have been a bit overkill on our part. I'm sure a mutt dog from the pound could have served us just as well. But we also have a bunch of hooligans in our area and the word has gotten out around the community that we have a beast of a dog. I like it!

As far as training him, we did send him to a school where they taught him basic commands and some home protection skills - but I wouldn't do that again since it was a lot of money spent for him to basically learn to sit and lay down. Now, those skills have come in handy for us, but really it was just about waiting for him to grow out of the puppy stage. We don't spank him or anything like that to correct him because he is so dang big and solid that it would hurt us if we tried to hit him - and this breed doesn't respond to that. We have yelled a lot, particularly when he starts trying to chase. But thankfully he has gotten much better at minding "leave it" commands. Most of my "training" was me sitting outside on the ground with him while the chickens roamed the yard. I commanded him to sit, then lay, and wouldn't let him get up if a chicken walked up. In the beginning, I usually had to leave a hand on his neck so that I could grab him if he started to raise up to chase. Then I would leave my hand off while just sitting right beside him. Then I would sit further away. Etc. Lots of stern talking to him about how they are MY chickens and praise for minding me. I just think there is a natural learning curve that they have to go through to figure out what your expectations are. Again, he still likes to periodically chase, so we're still working on it - and it doesn't help that he has a vendetta with Reuben (our main roo). During his puppy years, big dog caught Reuben a time or too and Reuben would walk away but with a completely bare butt. Very hurtful to a roo's pride, let me tell you. Now Reuben has his confidence back and has bowed up on big dog a time or two. Gotta give Reuben props for bravery... Thankfully we've been there to intervene.

 

[Demosthine]

They are really big. Mine is barely two years old and still filling out and already weighs over 160lbs.
But we also have a bunch of hooligans in our area and the word has gotten out around the community that we have a beast of a dog. I like it!

Ah, "The Beast" from the movie The Sandlot comes to mind, especially with you mentioning the hooligans! It was an English Mastiff, so after looking up the Boerboel. it turns out both are closely related, being Mastiffs. From the little bit of reading I just did, they are some amazing dogs, although the weights were clearly wrong, saying the Boerboel only reaches 80 pounds! It seems they have far less genetic problems than their English counterparts, too.

 

[Triple Willow]

That's funny about Big Dog and Reuben. lol I'm glad Reuben lived to tell about it! lol Yes I do believe you are right, time (along with controlled exposure to the birds) is the big factor. My one dog doesn't kill chickens really out of agression. He just starts chasing them then ends up picking them up. He's never torn one up. They probably die of shock or a heart attack really. The other dog, she would probably shread all of them if she could get to them.