Michigan

[Mom 2em All]

Lol, I totally get that way. Ohhhh.... Sure. Lol. Nothing too abused-animal-looking though, ok? Lol

haha!
Black fuzzy naked neck Uggo?

HEY RAZ!!!!!!!!!!!! Whatcha think your neighbor is going to do when I show up with four chickens..and possibly two ducklings? OH OH OH!!!
Maybe I can SNEAK them in, and then Nigellas and BYFM can be very dramatic when they LEAVE with them- and your neighbor will think you gave them all away...

 

[RaZ]

haha!
Black fuzzy naked neck Uggo?

HEY RAZ!!!!!!!!!!!! Whatcha think your neighbor is going to do when I show up with four chickens..and possibly two ducklings? OH OH OH!!!
Maybe I can SNEAK them in, and then Nigellas and BYFM can be very dramatic when they LEAVE with them- and your neighbor will think you gave them all away...

I guess it depends on how closely she is watching my yard. I'm thinking that I need to put up a few privacy panels back by her pool.

 

[snowflake]

I have had several Great Pyrenees and I love them. I have had some that bark a lot and some that don't. In my opinion, they are very easy to train. Mine always came when they were called. Mine have always been guard dogs to the sheep so if they did bark I welcomed it. They can hear and see a lot farther than I can so I always figure they hear something.

Are they good with chickens? they are really more guards then herders right? what I had read was from the rescue center?

Every morning I check the progress of the Decorah Iowa eagles. Started watching before the first egg was laid. Watched as she sat through snow storms. Saw a raccoon get a lesson the the inadvisability of entering an eagle's nest. There is something about bald eagles that keeps me checking to see the progress of our national symbol. The entire time has been fascinating and the 3 eaglets will soon be leaving the nest. I witnessed their growth from down covered eaglet to full grown birds. The past week they have been tk onrying their wings and have recently started "branching". They take short flying hops to a nearby limb and then back to the nst. Currently all 3 are sitting on the edge of the nest and I know that they will soon be gone. While the whole process has been fascinating to watch I can't help but feel a little sad that I will no longer be able to check up on them. I guess that too are about to graduate.

Speaking of graduates, I'd like to congratulate all of you who have reached such an important juncture in your lifes. Well done. Go forth and prosper.

way cool,,, We had a pair of eagles nesting not to far from here, the people across the street from were the nest was put up such a stink about all the traffic & people stopping to try and get pics, they put no parking sings up and down the whole st. no parking or standing
even though they are flying I thought they don't leave the nest till they are 3yrs old???could be worng

Well I have to say that my chicken love is waning. I'm not sure if our management skills are horrible or if we just didn't realize what it all entailed. We have about 105 chickens left. We've lost about 15 due to fellow chicken homicide and predators. We had them out in a chicken tractor, but we were losing so many that we had to put them in the bottom of the hiproof barn. They are inside all of the time now, which I'm not a fan of. When we did let them range, they wouldn't go back in at night and my hubby was rather unhappy to be chasing chickens to get them back in. I thought it was instinct for them to back in to safety to roost at night. Are mine just stupid? Not to mention the feed cost! Its about $7.00 per day to feed them! I can really use some tips to help us out here. We wanted to raise them for profit and I don't see how it can happen at this point. I guess this is more of a hobby situation, and we just don't have the high number of birds to make it worth while. Does anyone make money doing this? Any help would be great, we're about to cut our losses and get out of the "biz" if we don't figure something out soon. Thanks for reading my vent, but it feels so good to get it out!

did you get cornish x? they are stinky!! they should go back in the coop though. you may need to keep them locked up for a week or so till they know were home is or they will keep trying to find the old home.... Nova gave good advice... I have 25 Freedom Rangers they are a bit easier then the cornish x had those a couple yrs. ago... the FR do free rang better then the cornish. I use a portable net to fence them in by day, move the tractor every night and spray down the poo. Keeps the oder down. ....chickens for profit is not impossible but you need to have the right people to pay the price. Good luck,

 

[vjwilmoth]

haha!
Black fuzzy naked neck Uggo?

HEY RAZ!!!!!!!!!!!! Whatcha think your neighbor is going to do when I show up with four chickens..and possibly two ducklings? OH OH OH!!!
Maybe I can SNEAK them in, and then Nigellas and BYFM can be very dramatic when they LEAVE with them- and your neighbor will think you gave them all away...

We finally got the kids pool set up today. Goodness, what an all day event! Leveling the ground...no you can't get in yet, spreading out the pool....no you can't get in yet, pool has 2" of water....no you can't get in YET! Pool is finally full and it's bedtime...NO YOU CAN'T GET IN YET!

 

[chicken grandma]

Sunday works for me- I will have to bring my grandson home to GC anyhow...

Nope, I am not baby sitting your grandson......... well, maybe

 

[vjwilmoth]

Okay, I have to go to work tonight so make sure you're all nice and chatty.

 

[NovaAman]

Yay! I am glad some one thought I had good advise!

 

[farmgirl_09]

Actually we got all laying and dual purpose breeds this time around. We didn't even venture into meat territory until we figure out processing requirements and such. I'll have to try the light trick and maybe that will help. They've been in the barn long enough to know where "home" is. Oddly enough, we can't get the chickens in and we can't keep the ducks out.We let the ducks out to have some fun in the pond and they were back under the "chicken" tractor in no time. I guess we bit off more than we can chew and its time to consider it a lesson learned. We're going to dwindle down the flock and then maintain 10-15. A nice little backyard flock will do the job just fine.

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

farmgirl, sorry things haven't quite worked out like you had hoped.

I am also cutting back on my flock. Due to health reasons I have to cut back enough so that I only have one coop to clean and take care of, not four.
There will be another swap meet at the Family Farm and Home next Saturday from 8 till noon.

 

[RBahmer]

Are they good with chickens? they are really more guards then herders right? what I had read was from the rescue center?

Now that all depends on if they were raised with chickens. Yes, they are LGD's. My herd dog is a Border Collie. My last Pyrenees killed my chicken but he wasn't raised with them either. He never bothered her as long as she wasn't in with the sheep but as soon as she got into the sheep pen it was all over. Same way with cats. If they stayed out of the sheep pen he never bothered them. Would even let them eat with him. But once in the sheep pen they were fair game. I never corrected him for this because basiclly he was doing what he was supposed to be doing. Hope this helps.