Keeping Chickens Free Range

[Peeps61]

Keeping chickens free range can sure be an adventure! I was looking under the Azalea bushes in the front yard for eggs, and saw a whole clutch of them. I meant to clear them out so I could collect eggs and be sure they were fresh. But, when I went back, my SLW hen was sitting on them. So, I'll give her a few weeks and see if any hatch - should be interesting. Various hen breeds with a buff laced polish rooster. Hope it works!

 

[duluthralphie]

Ralphie, my lab i had several years ago seemed to be very laid back from a pup......or either me being 20 years younger makes me remember it differently.

What do you mean by high value? Does more protein cause rude behavior? And which food do you recommend. I have tried Pedigree, Iams puupy food and Old Roy. Probably no one recommends Old Roy.......i dont really know how it compares.

I see two chicks now, cuteness all over the place.

I am thinking the 20 years younger is it..

I am sorry I did not explain "high value" treats well enough. It has nothing to do with food value. This is the way your dog reacts to the treat. An beef stick piece versus a piece of his dry dog food. The beef stick in most dogs will get them more excited than the piece of dog food, making the beef stick higher value.


A dog and especially a pup will become too excited to think when offered a high value treat, they will be impatient for it. So then you back off to a lower value treat so the dog concentrates on what you want him to and not the treat...


On the other hand if the dog is not performing because he thinks your treat "vacuums".......... You need to go up the ladder and get a higher value treat that he will perform for,..


Did that make sense?

 

[Donna R Raybon]

My half GP, half Anatolian shepherd will bark and give chase to hawks and vultures/buzzards. He also hates hot air ballons. The big birds he is great deterrent, but the little hawks about size of a robin can sneak by him. They are mostly a problem here in winter if i have hatching or birds under three pounds.

German Shepherds are driving dogs that farmers used to move livestock down lanes bordered by walls. They don't have the intensity of 'eye' that a herding dog like Border Collie. If your dog doesn't have the giving chase gene, then it certainly can bond with livestock and protect. You might loose a bird or two as dog learns that flying predator is a threat. As a child we had GS that would protect poultry. And we had GS that would kill a bird in a heartbeat and no breaking them. Those GS had to be penned away from birds when we allowed chickens to free range.

 

[vpatt]

I am thinking the 20 years younger is it..


I am sorry I did not explain "high value" treats well enough.  It has nothing to do with food value.  This is the way your dog reacts to the treat.  An beef stick piece versus a piece of his dry dog food.   The beef stick in most dogs will get them more excited than the piece of dog food, making the beef stick higher value.


A dog and especially a pup will become too excited to think when offered a high value treat, they will be impatient for it. So then you back off to a lower value treat so the dog concentrates on what you want him to and not the treat...


On the other hand if the dog is not performing because he thinks your treat  "vacuums".......... You need to go up the ladder and get a higher value treat that he will perform for,..


Did that make sense?

Yes, i understand. Thank you. So i wont use meat.....maybe i will try his food and see how he responds. If i think that is a dud i will try something else.

He chased two chickens away today so now he will only go out loose when they are in the coops......morning and night. I will have to use a leash at other times. What a neat wrinkle that is ...living here in the woods and using a leash. Hopefully, by the weekend the second pen will be up and i will work with him more then when i know he can only run around the pen. (I'm not having much luck with my help showing up to put up the fence.) I did end up with 200' of wire. But I'll have to fight to get them to use it all. My husband thinks the smaller the pen, the better. But i still have plans to let them free when this dog or another one can be trusted. Anyway, I'm stressed. The dog is acting up some inside too. I think he finally gets that he is not going to keep jumping on me. But i have battle scars. The crazy thing is he's not mean just rowdy.

And hey, are you saying I'm old? No way.....lol, but i very likely am older than you, I'm older than a lot of people.

 

[vpatt]

My half GP, half Anatolian shepherd will bark and give chase to hawks and vultures/buzzards. He also hates hot air ballons. The big birds he is great deterrent, but the little hawks about size of a robin can sneak by him. They are mostly a problem here in winter if i have hatching or birds under three pounds.

German Shepherds are driving dogs that farmers used to move livestock down lanes bordered by walls. They don't have the intensity of 'eye' that a herding dog like Border Collie. If your dog doesn't have the giving chase gene, then it certainly can bond with livestock and protect. You might loose a bird or two as dog learns that flying predator is a threat. As a child we had GS that would protect poultry. And we had GS that would kill a bird in a heartbeat and no breaking them. Those GS had to be penned away from birds when we allowed chickens to free range.

We definitely have hawks, but they have not been a major problem for us i think the foxes are our main issue. And that is in the day time. We havent had problems with anything at night. They are locked up tight.

I guess time will tell whether Wyatt will make the grade or not. He ran the two chickens off in a downpour so i got completely soaked looking for them. Only one has come back.

I have seen 3 new chicks so far, but 4 shells.

 

[duluthralphie]

Yes, i understand. Thank you. So i wont use meat.....maybe i will try his food and see how he responds. If i think that is a dud i will try something else.

He chased two chickens away today so now he will only go out loose when they are in the coops......morning and night. I will have to use a leash at other times. What a neat wrinkle that is ...living here in the woods and using a leash. Hopefully, by the weekend the second pen will be up and i will work with him more then when i know he can only run around the pen. (I'm not having much luck with my help showing up to put up the fence.) I did end up with 200' of wire. But I'll have to fight to get them to use it all. My husband thinks the smaller the pen, the better. But i still have plans to let them free when this dog or another one can be trusted. Anyway, I'm stressed. The dog is acting up some inside too. I think he finally gets that he is not going to keep jumping on me. But i have battle scars. The crazy thing is he's not mean just rowdy.

And hey, are you saying I'm old? No way.....lol, but i very likely am older than you, I'm older than a lot of people.

I will take that bet and win hands down....... Labs are never mean just rowdy.... We always joke about ours being so friendly they would help a burglar find all the good stuff to take.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

Yes, i understand. Thank you. So i wont use meat.....maybe i will try his food and see how he responds. If i think that is a dud i will try something else.


He chased two chickens away today so now he will only go out loose when they are in the coops......morning and night. I will have to use a leash at other times. What a neat wrinkle that is ...living here in the woods and using a leash. Hopefully, by the weekend the second pen will be up and i will work with him more then when i know he can only run around the pen. (I'm not having much luck with my help showing up to put up the fence.) I did end up with 200' of wire. But I'll have to fight to get them to use it all. My husband thinks the smaller the pen, the better. But i still have plans to let them free when this dog or another one can be trusted. Anyway, I'm stressed. The dog is acting up some inside too. I think he finally gets that he is not going to keep jumping on me. But i have battle scars. The crazy thing is he's not mean just rowdy.


And hey, are you saying I'm old? No way.....lol, but i very likely am older than you, I'm older than a lot of people.

I will take that bet and win hands down.......   Labs are never mean just rowdy....  We always joke about ours being so friendly they would help a burglar find all the good stuff to take.

Yes, I have only owned 2, but that is exactly how I would describe them. My second one was a yellow lab, as dumb as a box of rocks, but she had a heart of gold. She could out run a rabbit, but a rabbit with any brains at all could easily outsmart her. It sure was fun to watch her chase them

 

[vpatt]

The little red hen came strolling up the path just now. She jumped into the coop and started singing the egg song!! If she has laid an egg i havent seen it! I've noticed her comb has turned red so maybe tomorrow or the next day. She outsmarted Wyatt! And i think im gonna have a few new chicks by tomorrow.

I started out right about the same time as the Peanuts comic strip.

 

[duluthralphie]

My Black Lab Pearl had a bad night. She got too close to the Turkey hen with 2 Black Australorp chicks. The Hen jumped on her pecked her, chased her, jumped on her a few more times. Pearl had the look of "what did I do?.

She was without her muzzle because my DW was being nice to her. I was afraid Pearl would bite or kill the hen so I was yelling at Pearl "NO. Leave it, No."

Pearl gave me the look that said "I ain't doing nuttin, Yell at this crazy bird to leave me alone".


Then the Turkey left Pearl and went back to her chicks. Pearl laid right down, I am sure she thought she was in deep do-do.


The Turkey hen checked on her babies, saw Pearl lying down on the grass, and ran over and jumped on her again. Then went back to the chicks again... Poor Pearl....

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

. Poor puppy!