Oregon Fall Poultry Swap! 9/25/10 11am **all details on first post!*

[chickboss]

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Yeah, can't really see your dogs taking that job! They'd all be like "you want me to sleep WHERE??"

Well, maybe if you put a couch outside...

Yeah, especially Kylie. Pampered city dog that she is, she has had a hard enough time getting used to the country... LOL, give up her favorite throne? I think not...

 

[Tsagirl]

Ok guys I can not wait for the swap because my welsummers that were spossed to be pullets are roos! They are 4 months...anyone want them...they are FREE!!!! Breeder lines,,,and FREE! I will meet people.

Thanks loads!

Tsa

 

[oregonJen]

Yes, It did wipe me out emotionally especially. We had never lost a single bird over the first 2-3 years, so when we suddenly started loosing them it was quite a shock! The raccoons unlatched 2 closed hutches and killed everything inside, as well as coming back for the Serama about a month later. We had every critter immaginable killing our chickens. If we locked them in at dusk, the predators would learn to show up 5 minutes before dusk. Some were taken in broad daylight but many were killed inside their fully enclosed chain like pens (weasels, minks and pine martins), it was devastating!
The Livestock guardian dogs have been bred for hundreds of years to do just that, protect something. They still like to get some positive attention or a treat, but they are truly happy as protectors and not house pets. Mine would be miserable in the house. Most do not do well with any sort on confinement and the breeds we have do bark a lot. They do not bark and nothing, they bark at the neighbors cat, a rat, noises in the barn that don't sound normal, or possibly something they know is off in the woods like a Cougar, Deer or Bear. The personality of one of our males is very similar to a wolf or a wolf hybrid. Someone told me that the maremma sheep dogs were crossed with wolves. These are very active dogs (especially at night) and if I tried to "hang out and play with mine" all we would be thinking was how could he get back to his flock and why was I wasting his time. At least that's what I figure he is thinking. Mine love people, but instead of their primary goal in life being pleasing their owner like my retriever cross, their primary goal is protecting their flock and keeping them safe. They would go nuts if I tried to bring one in the house! Even as pups we tried to keep them in the house for a few days to socialize them with us, but they hated it! These pups were also about 50 pounds at 10 weeks old.
We keep one with the goats, two with the chickens and one free- ranging. About 2 months ago one of my goats kidded and she was a first freshener and didn't know what to do. We weren't home and she decided to have these babies in the mud. One of our LGD's reached through the fence, got the baby goats out of the mud and cleaned them (as the mamma goat did not). My son found them about an hour later we guess all dry and doing well. This dog is the one that protects our chickens and was also raised with the goats, so she was protecting her flock, which to her, is anything that lives in those yards. Yes, they can bark a lot at night and sometimes they do wake us up. But if they are barking at least they are keeping those predators from killing my chickens (when they are able to). Before these dogs we had tried everything. Sitting outside all night with a gun, using several live traps, everything we could think of including locking every single chicken in at dusk and nothing worked well. So there you have it. Now that we have around 100 dairy goats it is even more important that we have this type of protection. One of my friends had 16 goats attacked by a neighbor dog, 8 lived, another friend had a cougar come right into her barn and kill a goat and the next night come back for dessert. She finally shot it and then was under investigation by the Dept. of fish and game (standard procedure I guess?) We have invested a lot of our time, money and hearts in these animals so we try to protect them in every way we know how, and I agree, these dogs are not for every one or every farm, but I don't think a Llama will protect my chickens, LOL!... though I might try one down the road with the goats as the neighbors don't care for the dog barking. Our "pet dog" which is a 4 pound Papillon, sleeps in the house of course and is treated like a pet.

 

[Noncentzter]

Update! The BLRW and the BW Crested Polish roosters are both gone.

 

[ZooMummzy]

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Congrats! Always good news

I'm hoping to be able to say the same about my list soon too!

 

[LittleChocobo]

The chicks I had included a black/lav split silkie rooster that I was planning to bring to the swap got killed by my roommates' dog -- they left the run door open while showing their friends my chicks, and never closed it when they were done. The entire flock of 5 were killed. Guess I'm going to start padlocking and wear the key around my neck or something -- I never thought I'd have to keep my chicks safe from my roommates themselves, just the dogs and cats.

Anyway, is there any chance that anybody would take cash for pullets, instead of properly swapping birds/products? Or anything I can do? I can bake things.

 

[ZooMummzy]

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I am so sorry to hear about your loss

That just sucks, to put it mildly! I think I can speak for most people when I say "cash is good"

I'm not sure if the same stuff is planned, but in the past, we've all kind of pot-lucked and brought things for everyone to share. Baking is another

 

[LittleChocobo]

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I am so sorry to hear about your loss

That just sucks, to put it mildly! I think I can speak for most people when I say "cash is good"

I'm not sure if the same stuff is planned, but in the past, we've all kind of pot-lucked and brought things for everyone to share. Baking is another

Thanks... I'm working on the run again this week, and there's a county fair I'm going to also. I wonder what kind of foods people like..

 

[chickboss]

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I very impressed with what you say about your dogs. I think I will definantly start looking into them and looking for breeders. It will be awhile, but sounds like something that would be well worth the investment. We went to Grants Pass yesterday, and bought a pick up, and I was just thinking on the way home becaue it was late, how much peace of mind a LGD would give me in cases like this when things run later than expected. Thank you for you input. I can't wait to chat at the swap..

 

[chickboss]

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I am sorry to hear about you loss. I imagine it to be esspecially hard when it is due to human error. I don't know what you are interested in, but I could hatch out some little mutts that should be great little layers if you are interested. I would give them to you. If I got on it, we may know by the swap if they were hens or roos. That is if you were just interested in layers for eggs. I totaly understand if you want purebreds.