Maine

[diana507]

Felt good to do a deep cleaning of the coop today! Girls seemed pretty happy. I also finally put a dust bath in their coop. Waiting to see how long it will take them to figure it out. I saw tonight when I shut them in, they finally walked in it. So now they hAve figured out it won't eat them, I hope they will use it. Instead of bathing in the shavings on the floor or the pdz on the poop board.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Yes, my banty hen used to get to raise everything. She raised all our ducklings (pekins, too... by the time they were a week old they were bigger than her, but she'd diligently sit on them, still). Poor girl got eaten by a fox this spring. I was so mad. She was such a good broody and mom.

 

[oldfartfarmer]

Yes, my banty hen used to get to raise everything. She raised all our ducklings (pekins, too... by the time they were a week old they were bigger than her, but she'd diligently sit on them, still). Poor girl got eaten by a fox this spring. I was so mad. She was such a good broody and mom.

She's Beutifull

 

[buckabucka]

Yes, my banty hen used to get to raise everything. She raised all our ducklings (pekins, too... by the time they were a week old they were bigger than her, but she'd diligently sit on them, still). Poor girl got eaten by a fox this spring. I was so mad. She was such a good broody and mom.

That's adorable, SCG! I hope I choose a good broody for my spring hatch.

 

[lazy gardener]

she was 2 1/2 so not a puppy, but still a teenager, BUT I taught her what NO means,
and what OWW means, (kids say OWWW when nipped or bit) so she DOES NOT BITE
she has grabbed a chicken by its neck, and lifted it up,,,as soon as it squeaked she dropped it,
she has had her moments, in the first year, but a NO from me a few times, got her over it,
maybe i was lucky and she saw them more her pups than food or chasing,
she does go nuts chasing squirrels, but I've always encouraged her too
she sits in the driveway and watches the deer walk through our woods,,THANK GOD,, she looked to me once for permission,,
i gave a firm mean growling NOOOOO,,they walk through our woods morning and evening and bed down back there,
she leaves them be,
but like i told my G?F the first time i see her chasing them she's going down,,,Maine has no quams with this nor do i, won't stand for it,
and yes i love her to death,
she's my warning if I'm going to have an attack as she feels it before i do, and sleeps by my side or at my feet

its up to you not the pup to teach her,
me i teach my dogs the old fashion way, and I've had three in the last 30 yrs that could have been seeing eye dogs,
I love my dog more than most humans, but a dog is only as good as its master, dogs are not people, and do need firm training,

saying awww bad doggie won't cut it, its gonna poop on the floor again,
grabbing its nose and cramming its mouth full,,and a good firm smack, a firm toss out into the yard,,,will teach it, some quicker than others
as puppies i wind my dogs up into a lather in a corner, picking on them, as PUPS, then put my hand in there mouths, saying OWWWW and NO,,
i had little kids,,i tormented them like a kid would,,, none of my dogs ever bit a human, not that i didn't get my nicks in the training, but thats different, they learn,
NO biting, my one daughter when first walking would lead my now gone dog, around the house with her finger in its nose, it was harder to teach my daughter to not do that than it was to teach the dog not to bite her

my dog knows, if it bites my chickens, ill bite her,
besides
she knows where her scrambled eggs come from,


whew,sorry for my rant,,
forgot to ask what type of dog do you have?

She's a Jack Russell Terrier mix. She's a smart girl.

the big dog are pics are of my dog Bessy-Boo
ridgeback and shepard mix from the coastal humane center, she was going into the ovens in alabama when they pulled her out and put her with all the other dogs they brought up 3 yrs ago,

the little dog is my long time G?F's its a purebred who is 10 and just learned how to be a country DOG and not a fluff-pillow-ornimate
G?F almost passed out the day she came home and saw her little princess eating a REAL dog bone,,,,Grrrrr don't take my bone momma,,GRRRR,,, her Name is Maggie, a carin? terrier
she doesn't like the chickens but tolerates them, as they drop stinky stuff on her patio,
bessy does what real dogs do and cleans it up,,OMG gross,,so dang gross momma come get kisses,,yeck

Oh ya my G?F is a city girl now out in the country,, that there is another funny story

Thanks for the nice pics! Yeah, dogs do like chicken poop!

 

[oldfartfarmer]

 

[CoopChick719]

Love the pictures & the stories, OldFF! I have 3 Pomeranians who think they're Shepherds!! I only have to watch 1 of them, of course he's the smallest one, he's got Napoleon syndrome! He gets this look in his eye once in a while. His father loves to run through a group of chickens to watch them scatter. He runs away with the biggest grin on his face, the brat!! My female is only interested in the "treats" the chickens leave her. I tried to break her by sprinkling cayenne pepper on some of the larger treats. She followed right behind me gobbling them up. I thought my husband was going to bust a gut laughing. He couldn't even breath he was laughing so hard.

diana507, I can't wait to clean out my coop! I'd love to just power wash everything but that will have to wait for a much warmer day for that!

Here's the culprit (Finnegan) who grins after scattering the chickens. He looks sweet & innocent! The little one (Darby) is behind him.

 

[oldfartfarmer]

Love the pictures & the stories, OldFF! I have 3 Pomeranians who think they're Shepherds!! I only have to watch 1 of them, of course he's the smallest one, he's got Napoleon syndrome! He gets this look in his eye once in a while. His father loves to run through a group of chickens to watch them scatter. He runs away with the biggest grin on his face, the brat!! My female is only interested in the "treats" the chickens leave her. I tried to break her by sprinkling cayenne pepper on some of the larger treats. She followed right behind me gobbling them up. I thought my husband was going to bust a gut laughing. He couldn't even breath he was laughing so hard.

diana507, I can't wait to clean out my coop! I'd love to just power wash everything but that will have to wait for a much warmer day for that!

Here's the culprit (Finnegan) who grins after scattering the chickens. He looks sweet & innocent! The little one (Darby) is behind him.

Cute little DARHT chicken VADER you have there lol

 

[CoopChick719]

Thank you! We like him

 

[buckabucka]

We have found a place where the rats are getting into the chicken run! It is at a corner post, and because the ground was too frozen to get to the bottom of things, we are not sure if they chewed through the post, or if they found an area where the hardware cloth is not very secure. It was difficult to find a way to seal the area around the post when I put in the hardware cloth last summer. I should have stapled it to the post, but I did not.

SCG, I am thinking about ordering the JT Eaton bait, but wondering if you need a special bait station? I have a bait station, but saw comments in the reviews about how this bait is the wrong shape, so I'm not sure if it will work. Our bait station holds roughly 1" square X 2.5" long bait chunks on a rod, with a hole running through the block for "mounting". Meanwhile, I'll put out the bait I do have again, but so far I haven't had much luck with them going for it.

I think these rats had to be very persistent to find a weak point for entry. It's pretty incredible really. I suppose they are not busy surfing the net, so they have all day everyday to figure it out.