Texas

[RachaelS]

My Whatnot is a Barred Rock as far as I know. I say that because I got her from the same place I got two chicks that were suppose to be Wyandottes.I wasn't being too picky when I bought them because I wanted chicks for Scrambled to brood cause she had just set a nest of "fertilized eggs" that did not hatch. She sat that nest for over 21 days, then she left it, jumped up on the perch in the chicken yard and appeared to shout "I am done, those #*? eggs aren't hatching. When I was looking at chicken breeds on BYC I realize they look more like Welsummers, except they lay large white eggs.
I am thinking they are some sort of mix and the country store guys didn't know the difference.

Brown leghorn

http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=ytff1-tyc-sc&p=brown leghorn&type=

 

[lovingmyhens]

Well, it is done.  The wife and I went to the feed store close to our home in Mission and went chick shopping.  She is supposed to be MY voice of reason when it comes to shopping for anything.  We were to look at and maybe purchase 4 barred rock pullets.  Came home with 4 barred rock and 4 rhode island reds.

I named one red "Dora"  because she likes to explore and escaped the garden.  (It's penned in and waiting to be planted)  So, Dora squeezed under the fence and ran to the back porch where Sarah (wife) and I were hanging out.  She wanted to hang out with us.

Pics please!!

 

[lovingmyhens]

I wish I would learn to preview my posts. I am seriously not illiterate.

It's all good! I just read over and thru any misspelled words or things that don't make sense. Comes from being a 3rd grade teacher. Lol

 

[ellie32526]

Pics please!!

Sounds like another victim of chicken math to me. Congrats! I wanted 6-8, now have 13 hens and 2 roos. go figure.

 

[ronniewayne]

Good morning Hungnguyen,

You need a dog with little or no prey drive. Check for prey drive--that's the instinct to chase things--balls, sticks, people and animals. Herding dogs have high prey drive but (usually) without the desire to kill. They are not suitable around chickens because they'll chase them and try to herd them which is not how chickens want to live. Retrievers, hunting dogs and hounds all are bred to have a strongly developed prey drive with or without the drive to kill depending on their function.

Check carefully for prey drive. Innocently ask if the dog likes to play fetch. Is the dog good with cats? Small children? Throw a ball past its face and see how interested it is in it. There's all kinds of way you can get an idea of how developed a dog's prey drive is. Birds, especially chicks, are absolutely irresistible for many dogs that are otherwise safe around small animals.

Also, it seems you've written in the past that you lost two dogs because of the heat. You really need to evaluate what kind of protection from the environment you are offering your dogs, because dogs just shouldn't ever die of the heat. Something is wrong.

Dogs do not cope well with temperatures above their body temperature. They have very poor cooling systems. They do not sweat. The only way they dissipate excess heat from their bodies is by increasing their respiration rate (panting) which can cause its own problems, or by digging a hole in the cooler ground. If your dogs are outside during the summers in Texas, they need not just shade, but enough deep shade that the ambient ground temperature around that shade is cool. A 10 x 10 foot covered area out in an open pasture with the blazing sun beating down on the pasture around it will give you dead dogs no matter how much water you provide. The dogs need a large area of deep shade. Keeping a wet and damp area will help keep the dogs cool.

The color of the dog, the type of coat and the type of head makes a huge difference for how well a dog tolerates excessive temperatures. Avoid any short-faced dogs.

Listen to the dog breathing--does is make a lot of snuffling or snorting sounds if excited? Does it snore at night? That would indicate either a soft palate that is too long (the biggest problem in short-faced dogs) or one that is too flaccid. Either way, a soft palate can close completely and block the airflow--and dogs do die from it. This is especially a problem in heat, during exercise, times of excitement and during air travel. That's why airlines refuse to fly short-faced dogs such as pugs, bulldogs and pit bulls. Pit bulls are not allowed on many flights because of their short-faced heads, not because of their temperaments (which, by the way are outstanding!).

The best color would be white or sand color. Avoid anything dark. Also avoid a breed that has too short a coat or too long/thick of a double coat. You need enough of a double coat (outer guard hairs with a fluffy undercoat) to insulate the dog's skin from the sun beating down on its back, but not so much undercoat that it traps heat in the body. Great Pyrenees, although fantastic livestock guard dogs are unsuited for the Texas heat because of their coats. I suspect they have a few issues with their throats as well. The best dog for guarding livestock in our climate would be an Anatolian Sheepdog.

Here's a link to their national rescue: http://www.nasrn.com/

You might be able to find a dog or two through this rescue. Like all big mastiff-type breeds, they pose a challenge with their very strong temperaments. These are tough dogs. When my little Dachshunds die off from old age, I will be looking into getting this breed.

You really don't need a puppy to train, an adult dog might be your best bet because the temperament is known and fixed and they don't have overly playful silly puppy behaviors where a puppy might kill all your chickens for fun one day, but as a grown dog be an extremely reliable livestock guard dog.

Think carefully of how you are keeping your dogs. You need to protect them from the elements. No animal should die from the heat. I would take that as a personal failure on my part if something like that happened to any animal in my care.

On my own property, about two thirds is completely covered in mature live oak. The native grass under those trees never goes brown in the summer, even during last summer's brutal heatwave and lack of rain. I don't water, either. The other third of the property has only a few much smaller live oak on it. The grass was parched. The difference in temperature between the two areas is shocking. Under the canopy, I never felt it was particularly hot, even in the heat wave. As soon as I stepped out into the open, I could feel the heat radiating up from the ground and my legs became uncomfortably hot. I had to shade many new trees to try to reduce the heat radiating up and desiccating the leaves, even though the soil was always moist.

All the best.

I agree with everything here as I am in north east tex. I have a great Pyrenees and a 1/2 Pyrenees 1/2 Anatolian ..the 1/2 suffers less with the heat for sure but both make it fine .. they do dig big holes to cool off in in the summer. a puppy even with working parents is not a good choice as even these will kill your chickens not as prey but as playmates ..they will step on them and play with them but the chicken cant take a 80 pound puppy playing with it. it has been my experience that after they are 18 months they settle down and will protect what ever is in the pen with them against any predator. they are nocturnal stay up all night and bark sleep most of the day. they love children and their family will protect you also. great dogs I wouldn't sleep nearly as well at night if I didn't have them.
good luck in your search..

 

[lovingmyhens]

So jealous! But I've got my hands fill with my 4 hens and all the other various rabbits, cats, turtles, hamsters, guinea pigs, ect. But I do get excited when I go looking for an egg!

 

[jajeanpierre]

Sounds like another victim of chicken math to me. Congrats! I wanted 6-8, now have 13 hens and 2 roos. go figure.

I was certain I would have no roos. No, no, no, no--NO Roos. None. I currently have six. SIX!!! Two Ameraucanas are beautiful and deserve to be shown and bred. Two are ugly Wheaten Ameraucanas that haven't been troublesome enough to over come my incredible list of plausible excuses to avoid processing them. Another, a Silkie, is ugly but doesn't cause any trouble at all, so why should he be killed? The last is my pathetic double-copy frizzle (some call them curlies or frazzles) who is just too pathetic to get rid of. Instead of processing him, I am in the process of buying him two very good show quality and fairly expensive pullets from two of the more important Cochin exhibitors and breeders in the US. There is something very wrong with me.

 

[hensfortherapy]

Brown leghorn

http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=ytff1-tyc-sc&p=brown leghorn&type=

Thanks, That's my girls. That is just so funny. I never even checked to see if they looked like Wyandottes. You can tell I am not a serious poultry person. My hens are my pets. I will be more careful buying chicks in the future.

 

[RachaelS]

Quote:
If they are pets and make you happy, no need to be careful

 

[hensfortherapy]

If they are pets and make you happy, no need to be careful

Ooh After seeing all the beautiful choices I will try to add a few fancy ones if I get the opportunity. I like to have a broodie hen raise chicks. I have never added an adult hen to the flock and I don't plan on having roosters unless I move to unrestricted acres. I do not plan on moving. I moved 4 times in 4 years. I am done.