Landrace/adaptive breeding discussion

[LaurenRitz]

What sort of signs of stress?

Panting, wings flared, huddling in deep shade, eating less, drinking more.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Panting, wings flared, huddling in deep shade, eating less, drinking more.

Are you viewing that as a negative?

 

[LaurenRitz]

In a sense. I feel those that don't struggle with the heat are more likely to survive here long term.

While not a cause for culling, it's something I need to keep an eye on.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

In a sense. I feel those that don't struggle with the heat are more likely to survive here long term.

While not a cause for culling, it's something I need to keep an eye on.

How hot is it where you are?

Here in north Florida, the heat index has been over 100°F for well past a month with no rain. The chickens should be panting, spreading their wings, and laying up in the shade. Some of mine have even taken to laying in pond mud. My oriental gamefowl are the first to start spreading their wings and panting, and they're probably the most supremely adapted chickens to extreme heat than all.

 

[LaurenRitz]

High nineties, feels like in the hundreds most days, running 50 to 80% humidity.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

#10 has appeared with an unknown number of chicks. This brood should be very interesting because she’s half-Fayoumi.

We had a heavy rain yesterday evening, the first for many of these chicks. So far no obvious losses. #9 has lost some chicks but that may have happened prior to the storm. I saw her before the storm
and it seems like she had fewer chicks, but I did not think much of it. She has about 8 now.

Many of the mommas are staying out in the blueberries. Possibly at night, but if not, definitely moving into them at daylight and not caring to stay close to the farmyard for me to throw out the daily feed ration.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Has anyone seen a broody hen leave her chicks at night, and stay with them during the day? Although I'm not certain she is the one pushing the daytime routine. It's possible that the chick finds her in the morning and just follows her around. He's only three weeks old, which seems very young.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Has anyone seen a broody hen leave her chicks at night, and stay with them during the day? Although I'm not certain she is the one pushing the daytime routine. It's possible that the chick finds her in the morning and just follows her around. He's only three weeks old, which seems very young.

That’s what mommas #1 and #2 did. Abandoned them at night, stayed with them a bit during the day for a few days, then totally walked away. 100% survival rate so far of those 15 that were so abandoned. So maybe the mothers knew best.

Sadly, I lost my 12 year old hound this evening. Apparently she and my bulldogs bayed something nasty and although they just came away with a few punctures and sore limbs, she got tore up bad. She drug herself home with a torn-open belly. Damage seemed most consistent with that from a boar hog. At her age, I elected to put her down.

The equation of predator control is going to change. My bulldogs only patrol the immediate farmyard. The hound delved deep into the surrounding woods and kept the varmints way back. Her loss will be hard to replace.

 

[troyer]

Sadly, I lost my 12 year old hound this evening. Apparently she and my bulldogs bayed something nasty and although they just came away with a few punctures and sore limbs, she got tore up bad. She drug herself home with a torn-open belly. Damage seemed most consistent with that from a boar hog. At her age, I elected to put her down.

The equation of predator control is going to change. My bulldogs only patrol the immediate farmyard. The hound delved deep into the surrounding woods and kept the varmints way back. Her loss will be hard to replace.

Consider a working line of Cur, I had a Mountain x Stevens Cur male. He was hands down the best overall hunting/farm dog I've ever had. While he protected the house and animals, his main focus in life was hunting.
I got him when he was 11 weeks old and took him into the woods at 14 weeks. My focus with him was to make him a varmint dog. When he was 17 weeks old he "treed" his first possum five feet up in a shrub, he was able to see him.
He treed his first coon at 21 weeks without any prior practice from watching another dog, from 17 to 21 weeks he was obviously trailing something but couldn't quite figure out where it was.
When he did bark treed he did it a bit half heartedly, but, when I brought the coon down it seemed to click in his head that if he puts it up I'll get it back down.
Even as a young pup he never foolishly engaged but rather wore out the varmint and then used a chokehold to end it. When he was 7 months old and I went out for 2-3 hours I could expect 3-4 coon during that time, this was in an area that was hunted regularly by others besides myself.
At approximately 12 months of age he dispatched his first adult coon by himself by digging it out of a shallow hole, after that no coon or groundhog was safe from him if he caught it on the ground.
During spring and summer he focused heavily on groundhogs.
Because of life challenges I had to give him away in late spring of this year, thankfully he went to someone that appreciates him as much as I did.
He was a couple days short of being 18 months old.
One of the keys to him becoming skilled in tracking at such a young age is because I took him out 3-4 nights a week and put him smack dab into the middle of where the varmints were.

Boar is a whole nother' story from coon and groundhog, we don't have wild pigs here, so I don't have any experience with them.

If given the opportunity I would just as easily try a Catahoula as a Cur.

 

[Perris]

Has anyone seen a broody hen leave her chicks at night, and stay with them during the day? ... It's possible that the chick finds her in the morning and just follows her around. He's only three weeks old, which seems very young.

One of mine did this, but with much older chicks - 3 months old or more, and in a multiple coop setup. She would leave the coop her brood were in once they'd settled for the night, and go rejoin adults in another coop. This went on for weeks, as the chicks became independent and she drifted apart from them. I thought it was preferable to the stereotypical broody behaviour of driving the chicks away when she wanted to resume her normal life.