INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[pbirdhaven]

I have a LGD coming in December, finally decided to do it! He is a Great Pyreneese pup. Will be 8 weeks old, and both parents are on site at the owners home, and actively working dogs. I am so excited to finally have a big dog again

!! Will be starting him out indoors of course and will be actively going outdoors with me, daily. We have an old pug mix and am keeping my MILs older boston until FIL has completed chemo and radiation. I want to be sure he is social with dogs and cats. I have done a lot of K9 training for protection, drugs, cadaver and arson. This is new for me, never trained for a livestock guardian! He will actively meet all the critters for a few months, and we will go from there.

Congratulations on finding your LGD. I'll be looking forward to hearing about his progress. My Simon and O.P. are getting some age on them and I'll be considering adding a new one in the future. Skeezix is a cattle dog throwback to her dingo heritage and is my ears inside at night,so she's not a candidate. And so far the chickens are big squeaky toys--I figure in another year she'll be a real dog (one year this month). I've heard that the Pyrenees are hard to keep home if not fenced, so would like to hear from folks experienced with the breed.

@chick rookie Belated happy booday!


I hope that you folks with some genetics knowledge keep the rest of us posted. I've looked at charts, etc. and become overwhelmed. Maybe I should take a class to start from the beginning. I know some very basics from teaching my Lifespan Development classes, but that's not even scratching the surface.

 

[chick rookie]

I don't know, that makes me awfully nervous... I can't tell, is there fence between it and the inside of the covered porch area? And how close is that tarp to the lamp? Those big heat lamp bulbs get hot enough they could easily melt or burn a tarp like that...

As for miss broody, I collect eggs out from under broodies and put them with the eating eggs as long as I'm 100% sure they have been underneath her for less than 24 hours. I can't find the source of this information now, of course, but when trying to settle down the fears of someone about eating fresh eggs with a rooster in the flock, I found that it takes about 48-72 hours at temp (if I remember correctly) before development really even begins in the shell. As long as you're sure that the eggs under her have been laid that day, I'm sure they're fine for you to bring in rather than tossing them.

Other than the raccoon event I posted about yesterday, I had a pretty quiet Halloween. We're out in the middle of nowhere and never get trick-or-treaters, so that wasn't any different. I may have overdone it with the candy, though.

My niece and nephew got a lot of the good stuff, and of course it all needed to be taste-tested before we knew it was good for them to eat...

Happy belated birthday, by the way.

Haha, well, the Guineas are across the driveway from the ducks and hens, so they were none the wiser--thank goodness! They have actually been very quiet since we rebuilt their coop and run, so it would have been out of the ordinary to have them going at it again! (Did I ever post the pictures here of the rebuilt Guinea coop? I can't remember.)

I really never knew genetics well until I started wondering about color genetics in chickens. I'm far from an expert, so I'm excited about what I may learn next semester!

I have next to no experience with any kind of genetics outside of chickens, though. I can only speculate that, if it's anything like in chickens, Chocolate in Muscovies could be sexlinked recessive, meaning the female only carries one allele and passes it on to only a quarter of the offspring. Have you crossed a chocolate drake to lavender females to see what happens? If my speculation is correct, all of the chocolate ducklings you receive from that crossing should be female--but no guarantees on that because I don't know this to be fact.
Big congrats on the new puppy!

Good luck with the training, I hear it takes a lot of work!
Can't help you, but that is quite the gorgeous bird! Hope you can find some!

Edited to fix some wording.

No it has a metal roof over the porch, and then the tarp cause the metal has tiny holes that would leak, everything is recycled materials but the tarp. and the lamp sits 12" below the metal. I was worried about that to, so when I first put it up I was always going out and feeling the roof tarp to check it. never felt the warmth, just felt outside air temp. DH put a hardware cloth cage on it last night to help contain glass should it break.

that it don't. If it falls it will fall onto the dirt. Am I missing anything else?

Thank You for the B-Day boo's lol
I hope I find a goo trio I would love to have those birds and maybe breed them, I would maybe stop breeding everything else if I could breed them.
I was think it took a couple days for the eggs to start growing but I wasn't sure and have been too busy to look it up. Thanks for the info, now I can stop wasting eggs cause I go out EVERY day and take eggs away from her and take he out of the house and take her to the farthest point in the dog yard and put her down. Silly thing when 1 of the dogs comes over to check and see that she is ok cause mom is carrying her, She flogs them.. which is fine cause they wont hurt her but when she takes after Bear, a 138lb GP, I just have to laugh... like she would ever be able to stop that dog if he ever wanted a piece of her.

Bear just steps back and looks at her like " really, you just did that to me"? and then walks away.

Congratulations on finding your LGD. I'll be looking forward to hearing about his progress. My Simon and O.P. are getting some age on them and I'll be considering adding a new one in the future. Skeezix is a cattle dog throwback to her dingo heritage and is my ears inside at night,so she's not a candidate. And so far the chickens are big squeaky toys--I figure in another year she'll be a real dog (one year this month). I've heard that the Pyrenees are hard to keep home if not fenced, so would like to hear from folks experienced with the breed.

@chick rookie Belated happy booday!


I hope that you folks with some genetics knowledge keep the rest of us posted. I've looked at charts, etc. and become overwhelmed. Maybe I should take a class to start from the beginning. I know some very basics from teaching my Lifespan Development classes, but that's not even scratching the surface.

Thanks for the booday.
GP's are very hard to keep home, at least our are, we have a 7 ft fence, if they cant jump it, climb it or go under it... trust me they CAN and will go through wielded wire and chain link.
If you put electric wire in the right spot they wont go near it. Cattle panels lined down the weak wire works, as well as privacy fence but you have to keep check the screws are in good, they WILL find a weak spot.
Our boys are very well known in our neighborhood!!!! They call them Polar-bears. A nearby plant gives them lunch... lol And THEN calls us to come get them. We have a few that will bring them in and let them play with there dogs, lay by the fire to get WARM if its wet or cold out. Some are invited in for dinner and a movie BEFORE calling us.
The smaller of the 2 got smacked by a car, The name of our vet along with everything else is on their tags so this guy that was working out in his yard and seen it happen took them both to the vet cause Buddy would not leave his brother.
They have been brought home by a coyote hunter that almost shot them cause they were chasing the same coyote he was aiming at. He thought they were xl albino coyotes until he saw the flash of their tags through his SCOOP. Tell me that wasn't close. They laid by him the rest of the day while he continued his hunt, then he brought them home. Said he almost kept them for his own, but we had too much info and too many tags so he figured we might miss them.... ya think????
We have HI-99 save a pet tag, Rabies tag, personal name and add and phone # tag, a vet info tag with health info on it, Buddy has a hole in his heart, and then the microchip tag on each dog. Our colors are special made with 2 big rings, 1 for tags, 1 for the leash.
As far as guarding livestock and people friendly ... I love love the breed.

They are 3 1/2 years old now and are starting to slow down on the running.

 

[scrappleandeggs]

I just wanted to thank everyone for the warm welcome to the site.
I currently have four ISA Browns, two Black Stars and Two Silver Wyandots.
Getting ready for my first winter with birds.
Any suggestions for this variety of birds?

Scrapple

 

[CharlemagneRoost]

@jchny2000 - the new quail sound like a great investment. I miss raising them, but just don't have the time for more birds right now - probably won't until I finish with school. My kids miss their eggs, and so do I. But for the time being, I will just be focusing on my Ohiki, fibro phoenix, and fibro Sumatra. I still have my pair of barred phoenix that I think I would part with - I change my mind every other day on whether or not to keep them. They are beautiful and have the non-molting gene.

From perusing the thread, I see that some folks have had their challenges with predators. I still have a couple of extra boys if anyone needs a roo. At this point, what I have left are bantys. Give me a shout if you need a little guy with spurs!

Great weather today - I was grateful for the sunshine and warmer temps as I worked on cleaning some cages and rearranged some birds. Also had a lovely visit with another IN BYC member & her DH, but I apologize that I can't recall her list handle at this moment.

I hope everyone has a good week ... hang on - here comes Monday!

 

[Leahs Mom]

I just wanted to thank everyone for the warm welcome to the site.
I currently have four ISA Browns, two Black Stars and Two Silver Wyandots.
Getting ready for my first winter with birds.
Any suggestions for this variety of birds?

Scrapple

@scrappleandeggs
First... Can you describe your housing? Can't give good advice unless we know what your housing is.

And some photos would be great!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: The spats are usually short lived and will be over in a couple days. Its better to add a few, rather than one for that reason alone. The lavender/chocolate link has me very intrigued. My first drake was chocolate, and did not produce many ducklings. Not sure where the line came from, and only have my Huey left from that group. They were a gift from my SIL. I feel that drake had low fertility, frankly. I had one duckling the first season from him, and he was lost from the severe cold that winter. I added a new line of scovys from @Little Ameraucana Mom a few years back once I realized how much I adored the breed. I have had awesome hatches ever since, and the drakes have been flat huge. Huey and her daughter brooded 3 hatches this year alone. Thats a lot of ducks! I have been more careful to keep more ducks, I eventually will probably only keep scovy going forward. Pekin grow fast, as well as rouens but its not the same laying and brooding patterns. DH want to keep the other breeds since they lay year around, ugh.

Quote: Agreed! I want to learn a lot more on the muscovy genetics. Just a completely different duck breed, and I frankly would prefer to only keep them. DH likes the pekin and mallard derived breeds. I do love my mallards tho, they are tiny and comical like a bantam chicken.
I am hoping to socialize and eventually add this pup to our pasture. We will have the fence charger, several rows of wire.
I want to socialize Our new pup first with the normal babies, the small dogs and barn cats. He will go outdoors with me daily to learn whats "ok". Come spring he will be a part of our pastures.

Quote: I am so grateful for all the input! I discussed the running issues with DH, and we are already adding hot wire for it. Its time we do. I have several hogs now and they need to pasture also. We are putting in a 50 acre charger and adding several rows of wire. I added a lovely sweet jersey cow this weekend, and a small donkey that's just precious. I want them to have plenty of space to enjoy for pasture so DH has been drilling to put posts in. Anyone setting fence, the ground is like concrete without normal rain. Its been terrible. Many of our local farmers are seeing damage and broken plow blades and rippers. One fella we spoke with said 90 acres and the rippers are done for.

I just wanted to thank everyone for the warm welcome to the site.
I currently have four ISA Browns, two Black Stars and Two Silver Wyandots.
Getting ready for my first winter with birds.
Any suggestions for this variety of birds?

Scrapple

As long as your coop is draft free but has ventilation above the roosting area these breeds should do well. Adults really do not need heat, unless we hit sub zero. Ventilation is hugely important, moisture will bring frostbite. Clean dry coops and ventilation is the key there.

@jchny2000 - the new quail sound like a great investment. I miss raising them, but just don't have the time for more birds right now - probably won't until I finish with school. My kids miss their eggs, and so do I. But for the time being, I will just be focusing on my Ohiki, fibro phoenix, and fibro Sumatra. I still have my pair of barred phoenix that I think I would part with - I change my mind every other day on whether or not to keep them. They are beautiful and have the non-molting gene.

From perusing the thread, I see that some folks have had their challenges with predators. I still have a couple of extra boys if anyone needs a roo. At this point, what I have left are bantys. Give me a shout if you need a little guy with spurs!

Great weather today - I was grateful for the sunshine and warmer temps as I worked on cleaning some cages and rearranged some birds. Also had a lovely visit with another IN BYC member & her DH, but I apologize that I can't recall her list handle at this moment.

I hope everyone has a good week ... hang on - here comes Monday!

I will probably always keep them. Cancer patients, and dialysis patients need that protein and exceptional nutrients the eggs provide. Its a super fast snack to grab a handful of the hardboiled eggs. and wow the meat is so awesome

I had a mix of so many eBay eggs. The adults were getting smaller.. and laying had stopped. It was time to upgrade and get a good base of breeders. These chicks are just growing amazingly fast, and I have not lost a single one. DH even noticed how big the chicks are and he rarely comments.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I am off to bed in a minute but have had a pretty awesome day. We FINALLY have a cow, who is an absolute gem. She leads well, is gentle and so sweet. We had a good walk tonight. She got to see the new pasture and nibble a bit. I keep going outdoors to just love on her! Fanny has won my heart. I will be drying her up, getting to know her and just enjoying her company. My dad is so excited, Gramma always kept Jersey. He was hugging her tonight too and I swear I saw a tear or 2 from him. Her little friend a miniature donkey has also taken well to my goats. Fanny was so gentle with my oldest doe, Sugar, and they were giving kisses. Can't say enough how happy I am, and all my chickens are running around the new additions like they were always here.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@jchny2000

A Jersey!!!!!!!

(Jealous.... Where did you get her?)

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

@jchny2000

A Jersey!!!!!!!

(Jealous.... Where did you get her?)

A friend had a major life event, and had to rehome her animals. I have literally bought the farm, as far as the animals, the equipment. She knows I will do all I can to ensure every one of them will either stay or find forever homes. The livestock, they will stay period. I am sorting through the birds, but want to be sure they also have forever home too. FYI there are swedish flower hens. I had already thought of you....

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

@Leahs Mom here is my sweet girl. Just love her.