Homesteaders

[Chicken girl 15]

That's pretty much how I like to do all things regarding animal here.     I'm just that lazy. 

That's not lazy. It's working smart not hard. I have 5 kids so I don't have to do as much.

 

[Loc20chick]

That's pretty much how I like to do all things regarding animal here.

I'm just that lazy.

Not Lazy.. It's utilizing your resources n they r paying for their upkeep LOL!!!

 

[Beekissed]

Not Lazy.. It's utilizing your resources n they r paying for their upkeep LOL!!!

They sure are! AND I get to have some really nice pets in the process. They guard our food, our food helps us grow more food and everyone gets to eat from this system. We also get to enjoy one another's company and fellowship, which is just a really great fringe benefit of keeping animals in a symbiotic relationship. They all also get to enjoy a very healthy, outdoor existence wherein they can be as close to their natural habitat as I can get them without letting them off the property.

It's a win/win/win situation. We all get the benefit!

 

[Loc20chick]

I couldn't get any garlic cloves for planting in the farmers store so I'm just starting a list of fall to do's. Also the lady did not know there are different types of garlic so i may just order from the catalog the one i want

 

[Loc20chick]

They sure are! AND I get to have some really nice pets in the process. They guard our food, our food helps us grow more food and everyone gets to eat from this system. We also get to enjoy one another's company and fellowship, which is just a really great fringe benefit of keeping animals in a symbiotic relationship. They all also get to enjoy a very healthy, outdoor existence wherein they can be as close to their natural habitat as I can get them without letting them off the property.

It's a win/win/win situation. We all get the benefit!

Are your dogs out door dogs? If so, what breed? I don't have a dog and if I had one it would have to be an outdoor one.

 

[Beekissed]

Are your dogs out door dogs? If so, what breed? I don't have a dog and if I had one it would have to be an outdoor one.

All the dogs we've ever had have been outdoor dogs. Usually they are Labs or Lab mix dogs and have come to me for free, unwanted by others, some fully trained in obedience. I LOVE labs...easy to train, extremely affectionate and loyal, hardworking and brave.

My current pair consists of a Lab/Border Collie mix that I got as a pup~free to good home dog~and trained up to protect chickens...he's now 10 yrs old and is worth his weight in gold. I'm convinced that dog would be able to learn anything I wanted to teach him, he's that smart. Fast, brave, quiet, sweet, and has a huge heart for his chickens. Goes into a huge pout on butchering day and will carry the carcass of "his" long time chicken friends around for weeks, trying to put them back in the coop, sleeping with them, lying with them, etc. It's sort of sad, really, so I finally sneak them away from him so he can't fret so much. Now I place carcasses far from where he will ever find them and bring them back "home". Funny thing is, he knows which chickens have been here a long time and are truly a part of a long established flock and which ones either arrived here for the intent of butchering or were grown here for the same reason. It's just the older hens and my old roosters I've had a long time that he seems to mourn and fret over. Poor guy. I feel his pain.

The other is the first dog I've ever paid money for and only that so I could get a particular kind of dog, still only paid $100 for him. Got him at 2 mo. of age and he's a mix of Great Pyrenees/Maremma/Anatolian. He is currently going into his 6 mo. of age and has been a fast learner as well, learned to be around chickens the first week here and hasn't touched a feather on a bird at all. He's going to be a great dog...already is, really...calm, obedient, loyal and affectionate, intelligent to the max, easy to train and a good alpha dog to Jake's perpetual beta status. Jake doesn't really care to be the alpha, so will give place to other dogs that are more naturally of that temperament. His name is Ben and he's a quiet dog as well. Confident, bold and still humble to the true alpha of me. I think he's going to be a great chicken dog...my son heard a hen squawking the other day and turned to see what what going on. He saw Ben running across the yard and thought maybe he was chasing a hen, but upon further watching he saw Ben run over to where the rooster was mating the hen and nudge him off her with his nose. Then he stood by while the rooster walked away. I thought that was funny and wonderful! Rooster is going to have to do his breeding out of range of Ben and a little more quietly or he won't get a chance to mate at all.

And that's what I was hoping for in getting a certain breed characteristic...that guardy behavior. My biggest threat here is stray dogs and Jake is much too friendly towards them, so Ben will be helping with a particular predator threat I have that Jake is not geared for. Jake is great for all other threats and has many kills to his credit but stray dogs are his Achilles tendon...he just wants to play with them. Now that he has an alpha partner I won't have to worry about that anymore.

 

[rancher hicks]

I couldn't get any garlic cloves for planting in the farmers store so I'm just starting a list of fall to do's. Also the lady did not know there are different types of garlic so i may just order from the catalog the one i want

You may be able to get some i the grocers but it would have to be Organic. Still you can order some.

Folks may or may not know this, but Do Not store Potatoes or Garlic near Onions. They will sprout if you do.

 

[Loc20chick]

The catalog I have only ship garlic Mar-Nov. I have some organic garlic in the house but doesn't look like it would sprout, looks too dry, I might just give it a try

 

[rancher hicks]

The catalog I have only ship garlic Mar-Nov. I have some organic garlic in the house but doesn't look like it would sprout, looks too dry, I might just give it a try

Can't hurt can it? Stick a clove in a pot and see what happens.

I've seen some indoor herb gardens and I'm considering making one. We do have an unused Strawberry pot.

 

[Loc20chick]

@Beekissed nice to have trained chicken guards, maybe some years down the line when my 3yr old dog loving daughter gets more persistent on wanting a dog and is old enough to take care of one we might get an outdoor one.