San Diego Chicken meetup and Chat thread

[flower]

About dogs and chickens. Having the two together in an open area is a problem. I know when I am in the run with the birds my GS will bark and cause the birds to get excited and I know that the dog is doing this for her own amusement. But sometimes when one bird is outside the run and I am trying to lead it to the door and back with the flock, it seems as if the dog is trying to help. But if the birds get too riled up and takes off, the dog is in for the chase. Most dogs love to run and chase anything that moves. I would never trust my dog alone with a non caged birds.

 

[luvanimals2]

HI Nancy,
Good to hear from you. You have a lot going on for sure! Cute story about you Delaware. I guess she likes that hay you've brought in

I have two dogs that I say are good with chickens, but really, only when I'm right there. I was working on a new pen some distance away and I could hear one of my free ranging chickens in distress.
I ran to investigate and there was my very best chicken dog chasing after it!! I guess some things just are too good for them to pass up. Like us they lose control once in a while.
What does your rooster ordinance say? I can have 6 on my 4 acres. Seems ridiculous. It's for noise abatement and that's the limit on dogs too. I guess if I had 6 barking dogs and six crowing roosters going all at the same time day and night it'd be a problem for someone. . . . You obviously had a neighbor complain. What did you get the violation for? Sorry to be so nosey, but I think it's something that were all going to face at some time or another.
Hope you get settled in soon. Take a day off and come down no matter what!! It's good for you, it'll recharge you!

Allison

Allison, Well, all of my dogs are rescues and who ever really knows. When I brought them up from puppies, I would feel better about it. The weird thing is that I have raised chicks in the family room and once in a while one will get out of the cage and they would stand there and Luna would go and inspect but she has never harmed them. One time, she tried to bring a Delaware off a ledge when I was careless and she did not kill her but caused some nerve damage while yanking her down.

My new home has a unlimited amount of roos. Yes! Not a typo. I called 4 times before I put an offer in for the home to make sure. My new neighbors are great. One side has chickens and the others have been informed and they are cool with it. So I am very lucky. The Notice of Violation came to my old house which DOES NOT allow roos but 24 hens. I left some roos there and I informed the neighbors that have been cool to this point. I kept asking if they were okay with them there and the answer was yes or I would have taken them out sooner. It has just been a long drawn out process to have coops built and then I am waiting to do a block wall w/ one neighbor. Hopefully, things will calm down. No, no worries. I do not mind answering questions. It is a learning process.

Nancy

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Hi Everyone, I can barely catch up. Just so many things going on and trying to get my old place ready to rent out. It will take a burden off of me. Then I got a notice of violation for my roos. Been trying to get a hold of the case worker but she does not seem to want to return my calls. Hmmmm.............

I am hoping to make it to the next meet up. It has been so long and I am super excited to come and just relax for the day. It will be nice to see everyone again and to meet the newcomers.

There have been lots of ups and downs with tne new place. I lost a hen to unknown reasons a few weeks ago and then this past weekend, a pullet came over to the regular yard and my female dog went up to take a closer look and grabbed it and it died in my arms. I really do not think she meant to do it because she has been around chicks but I guess I will never really know.

I have to say that it is a myth that when broodies hatch eggs that there are more girls than boys. HA! My broody that hatched out 17 eggs, I can pretty much figure it out and 50/50 would have been great. Maybe not as bad as Cari's odds but pretty darn close. Ugh..............

Just a quick story before I end this. The other day I was feeding the vultures and a Delaware hen came out of the coop/enclosure. I left her outside and kept checking on her, to make sure she was not in my garden eating lettuce. She was fine all day, wandering around and eating bugs and grasses. She was very happy. My Freedom Rangers and the 17 babies were out also, I was supervising here and there. It was late in the day and I wanted to put the Delaware back into the coop so I went looking for her. I could not find her anywhere. Then I thought a coyote came and grabbed her but the babies were calm and chomping away so I went to look for her again. This time I had a real bad feeling that I lost her. I was so mad at myself. The same day I went to the feed store to buy a bale of hay for the chickens to play/eat. I brought it into the other yard w/ a wheelbarrow. I went back into the coop thinking maybe I already put her back so I counted, no, no Deli hen. I am SICK to my stomach by now. I am leaving to go back into the house and cry and I see this head popping out of the wheelbarrow. I tried to grab her but she was wedged in w/ the hay. I finally got her and held her in my arms. So releived. I figured she was in there eating the grains from the hay. The next day, I was moving the hay into the coop and I saw exactly what she was doing. She laid her egg in the wheelbarrow. Sorry so long. But I thought it was such a cute story.

Have a GREAT day everyone!

Nancy

Hi Nancy! So glad to hear from you, you really need to come around more!

We miss you our chicken friend!!!

Glad you got everything worked out at the new house, it seems awesome and hope you are very happy with it! Looked beautiful from the pictures!!! Too bad about the old house though, are you just going to remove the roosters? Are there any other animals left at the old house? That will be an exciting time for you when you get to rent it out, much less stress I would think than trying to manage two houses!

Loved your Delaware story! Too cute!!!

I had a similar thing happen last week, I was closing all the chicken coops one night and I was counting and counting, and I recounted like 4 times and sure enough there was a pullet missing, so I'm in my pajamas with a flashlight wandering around all over the hills after dark and I could not find her... it took me forever! Finally I found her she was perched on top of the fence behind the coop all by herself! I grabbed her and put her in the coop and she hasn't had any problems since.

It's like why on earth would she perch there all by herself for the night? LOL.

 

[SunnyCalifornia]

Same thing happened to me, I thought I lost one of my Buff Orpingtons. We searched EVERYWHERE with flashlights, under every bush, in every tree, my kids were near hysterical, as our Buffies are some of our favorites.

Inside their enclosure, I have a coop, and its against the wall. The birds like to sleep ontop instead of inside, so I had pulled it about six inches away from the fencing, so they wouldn't stick their heads out and get it whacked off by a raccoon or something. Anyhow, my buffie had fallen off the roof, into the 6" gap, and was stuck about 3' off the ground, so we couldn't see her at all.

She was fine. She hadn't been stuck too long, and enjoyed some extra hugs and treats while we checked her over.

 

[perchie.girl]

I usually am very careful to keep things either flush with the wall of the coop or at least enough room so they can walk out on their own. Wellll..... I was messin with stuff and moving things around to get the rake around the water barrel. I look back there and thought.... hmmm too much space.... maybe not. So I finished up and went home. I go up to the house every two days. But for some reason I came back the next day.... I counted beaks and Miss Peggy was missing (my one legged Guinea) I looked behind the barrel and there she was She looked like shed been pulled through a knot hole backwards. Kind of ruffled but none the worse for wear.

I found a bunch of plastic cage wire pieces and rolled them up and shoved them into ""holes"" where a guinea could get wedged in to.


deb "who messes with her guineas now and then by rearranging the "furniture""

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Hey guys, just FYI, I've asked for an ETA on delivery of the feed, I'll post it as soon as I get it, thanks!

 

[PsychoChicken]

About dogs and chickens. Having the two together in an open area is a problem. I know when I am in the run with the birds my GS will bark and cause the birds to get excited and I know that the dog is doing this for her own amusement. But sometimes when one bird is outside the run and I am trying to lead it to the door and back with the flock, it seems as if the dog is trying to help. But if the birds get too riled up and takes off, the dog is in for the chase. Most dogs love to run and chase anything that moves. I would never trust my dog alone with a non caged birds.

Sometimes you can't trust your cats either! Case in point :

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Great picture PsychoChicken! That made me truly LOL!!!

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Yeah, GREAT picture!!!

 

[dedicateddourly]

Sometimes you can't trust your cats either! Case in point :

Psychochicken, with that perspective, your hen looks gargantuan, lol.