INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Leahs Mom]

If you use hay, you need to be sure it doesn't have chemical input.

 

[oldrooster]

If you use hay, you need to be sure it doesn't have chemical input.

I plead ignorance, what chemicals are you warning me of? I know fertilizer could be used on a hay field but I am very ignorant on what else may be used on hay.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Besides chemical fertilizers, some use fungicides. You'd have to ask the hay farmer what he has used on the crop as some even use various herbicides which can really wreck your garden.

If you plan to use any straw, the herbicides are especially an issue. The herbicides can literally kill your garden plants and cause issues for several years on that soil. The folks that grow plants in straw bales have found that out the hard way - definitely need straw from organic crops to be totally sure.

 

[Faraday40]

This year DD decided to do a non-chicken related sci fair project: Let's Shake On It. She tested to see if more dogs are right pawed or left pawed.

The final count on the paper was 22 pages, and the glue is still drying on the poster. Everything's due tomorrow. I wonder how many of her classmates will be pulling an all-nighter....

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

This year DD decided to do a non-chicken related sci fair project: Let's Shake On It. She tested to see if more dogs are right pawed or left pawed.

The final count on the paper was 22 pages, and the glue is still drying on the poster. Everything's due tomorrow. I wonder how many of her classmates will be pulling an all-nighter....

I swear, every time I see a picture of your children I think oh my, they are growing so fast! I'd love to hear what she learned from her project.

 

[Faraday40]

I swear, every time I see a picture of your children I think oh my, they are growing so fast! I'd love to hear what she learned from her project.

Yes, both kids are growing up too fast.

As far as the "Right Pawed" vs "Left pawed" in general more dogs used their right paws. The data was also separated by gender, size, and breed group (like hounds, toys, working dogs, etc). In most of those groups the dogs used their right paws. HOWEVER during testing, she noticed that most dogs were carefully observing their masters. When the human switched hands, the dog switched paws. All but 3 dogs switched paws when their owner switched hands. (Our dog was one of them. He's a pure lefty. LOL) Since her testing involved using shake trick and the dogs were previously trained, she can't conclusively say whether the dog used their preferred paw or was simply mimicking the human holding the treats. She would improve the experiment to also include observing a dog do an action not trained - like grab a toy from under the sofa.

More than the results or the grade, I'm very proud that DD stuck with her project after all the hardships. She came up with the idea back in Sept - when we had our 2 old dogs. Both died at the end of Sept and working on a dog-based project after that was just too painful. We adopted Kepler in early Nov.... and having a puppy in the house adds a lot extra work. We had talked with a dog trainer and planned to go into her advanced dog class to do the testing. However, when we called back to schedule a day/time, we were told that the store would not let DD in the training area due to liability issues. DD had to scramble to get enough dogs for testing. Because of the lower number of test subjects, the results are not as reliable as they could be.

Another interesting thing is how she trained our puppy to shake. (He's smart & learned it in under an hour.) She also taught 2 of her friends' dogs the trick. I guess that's one way to get more test subjects.

 

[Nyla]

I had 6 dogs now down to 4. I would have differently brought all six to you so your daughter could do her project! Your children have the best involved parents I've ever seen! Wish my parents were more involved when we were young! All six knows shake and high five. You don't have to use your hand as a signal either. You just say high five or shake and they will hold their paws out. Nova and Amy are Lefties, Koda, Isis, Cooper, and Chloe are righties! Cooper went to a nice home in Ohio and Chloe went to a sheep farm in Cedar Lake.

Yes, both kids are growing up too fast.

As far as the "Right Pawed" vs "Left pawed" in general more dogs used their right paws. The data was also separated by gender, size, and breed group (like hounds, toys, working dogs, etc). In most of those groups the dogs used their right paws. HOWEVER during testing, she noticed that most dogs were carefully observing their masters. When the human switched hands, the dog switched paws. All but 3 dogs switched paws when their owner switched hands. (Our dog was one of them. He's a pure lefty. LOL) Since her testing involved using shake trick and the dogs were previously trained, she can't conclusively say whether the dog used their preferred paw or was simply mimicking the human holding the treats. She would improve the experiment to also include observing a dog do an action not trained - like grab a toy from under the sofa.

More than the results or the grade, I'm very proud that DD stuck with her project after all the hardships. She came up with the idea back in Sept - when we had our 2 old dogs. Both died at the end of Sept and working on a dog-based project after that was just too painful. We adopted Kepler in early Nov.... and having a puppy in the house adds a lot extra work. We had talked with a dog trainer and planned to go into her advanced dog class to do the testing. However, when we called back to schedule a day/time, we were told that the store would not let DD in the training area due to liability issues. DD had to scramble to get enough dogs for testing. Because of the lower number of test subjects, the results are not as reliable as they could be.

Another interesting thing is how she trained our puppy to shake. (He's smart & learned it in under an hour.) She also taught 2 of her friends' dogs the trick. I guess that's one way to get more test subjects.

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[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Looks like we're going to have winter after all, huh? My girls are decidedly displeased with the change in weather lately. Not even coming out onto the deck these days. I guess they don't even want to see the snow. As a side note, I'm really happy with the perch arrangement change we did in the coop last year. They're getting a lot more use out of floor space that they used to avoid because of where droppings used to build up under the old roosts!

More than the results or the grade, I'm very proud that DD stuck with her project after all the hardships. She came up with the idea back in Sept - when we had our 2 old dogs. Both died at the end of Sept and working on a dog-based project after that was just too painful. We adopted Kepler in early Nov.... and having a puppy in the house adds a lot extra work. We had talked with a dog trainer and planned to go into her advanced dog class to do the testing. However, when we called back to schedule a day/time, we were told that the store would not let DD in the training area due to liability issues. DD had to scramble to get enough dogs for testing. Because of the lower number of test subjects, the results are not as reliable as they could be.

Aw, I'm glad she stuck with it despite all the set backs! Too bad about the test subjects, but it's a really interesting idea anyway and some results are better than nothing, right?






@jchny2000 How are your eggs looking in the incubator? Any luck with the shipped ones?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Looks like we're going to have winter after all, huh? My girls are decidedly displeased with the change in weather lately. Not even coming out onto the deck these days. I guess they don't even want to see the snow. As a side note, I'm really happy with the perch arrangement change we did in the coop last year. They're getting a lot more use out of floor space that they used to avoid because of where droppings used to build up under the old roosts!

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Aw, I'm glad she stuck with it despite all the set backs! Too bad about the test subjects, but it's a really interesting idea anyway and some results are better than nothing, right?






@jchny2000 How are your eggs looking in the incubator? Any luck with the shipped ones?

I candled today! It looks like at least 6 of the 12 are definitely growing!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I had 6 dogs now down to 4. I would have differently brought all six to you so your daughter could do her project! Your children have the best involved parents I've ever seen! Wish my parents were more involved when we were young! All six knows shake and high five. You don't have to use your hand as a signal either. You just say high five or shake and they will hold their paws out. Nova and Amy are Lefties, Koda, Isis, Cooper, and Chloe are righties! Cooper went to a nice home in Ohio and Chloe went to a sheep farm in Cedar Lake.

Small world, that's the town I grew up in!