Texas

[Ms Jellybean]

Don't bother with making coffee. Just milk or water and your friendship!

Lisa

YUM!

Very yum! I had several pieces before putting it in the fridge.

 

[lovingmyhens]

That's funny!  We had two rabbits when I was a kid.  I'd like to get one again, a siamese looking dwarf kind, but my son is highly allergic to them.

Cute!  I found a bunch of signs on Amazon.  I may have to order a few when I get my chicks next year.

Is there a 4H club around?

Beautiful flock!

I take the bus to the fair when I go. I haven't gone in years though.  No one I know wants to go just to look at all the animals.  That's my favourite!! 

Chicken math!!

I worry more about human predators than anything right now.  Time will tell if I have the other kind.  Of course I need to actually have chickens first.

I get attached to animals of all kinds.  I have cried when my fish die.

+1

You should call animal control (city or county depending on where you live) and see what can be done.  Relocating  is not something that should be considered an option for the above reasons.



Dang it is windy here today!  We have a wind advisory.  It's from the south but it sure is a cold wind.  Brrr!!!!!

Yea you can't imagine my surprise when, the end of jan last yr, my daughter said she heard noises up in th top part of the rabbit hutch and we opened the lid and low and behold 5 little tiny bunnies. I nearly passed out.

 

[lovingmyhens]

Bob Bailey and his wife Marian Breland ran Operant Conditoning and Behavior Analysis Workshops (known as Chicken Camps) for trainers of all kinds of animals.  They used chickens as the model to train the trainers.  It was the go-to place for dog obedience trainers to improve their training techniques.

For those familiar with psychology, Keller and Marian Breland and Bob Bailey were proteges of B.F. Skinner.  That group was involved in the training of all kinds of animals for the Navy for the war effort starting back in the late '40s I think.  Anyone remember the coin-operated dancing chicken boxes that were around in the mid west, I think?  Those were put together by this group.

My understanding of a chicken's rate of learning is that it takes 50 reps for the animal to learn a behavior.  That is far higher than something like a crow or a parrot.  The reason I think chickens are so suitable for a training camp is that they take so many repetitions to learn a behavior and aren't smart enough to figure out what behavior you are trying to teach them the way many other animals will.  There isn't a lot of room for trainer error in timing with chickens, whereas a parrot, dog or crow will think about what you are really trying to get them to do, so any  timing errors are compensated by the learner.  With a chicken, you will get the behavior you reward for and they will show trainers where they are making mistakes in their timing of the marker (usually a clicker's click) that marks the correct behavior.

I trained a parrot to learn to pick up a plastic disc, and depending on the color of the disc, deposit it in either the right dish or the left dish in  6 or 7 ten-minute sessions spread over 4 days under the tutelage of a professional trainer.  I wouldn't expect a chicken to be that attuned to do what I wanted.  They are more motivated by what they want.

Ok so, if a child is told from age 5, let's say, to put a small dot (called a period) at the end of a sentence, maybe 6 times a day for 5 days each week they are in school until say, yesterday. And today, they write a sentence and turn it in and they have no little dots at the end of their sentence, what does this say about humans???? Me thinks chickens are smarter than the third graders.

 

[ClovisMan]

Okay....15 chicks delivered alive to my house. After 24 hours, I still have 15 LIVE chicks! And they seem real active. I guess I'm doing it right. Figured they would turn out like my tomato plants did last year.

 

[Teri Metcalf]

Thought y'all might enjoy this Facebook post from Being Liberal:

Chicken Little

One day the first grade teacher was reading the story of Chicken Little to her class.
She came to the part where Chicken Little warns the farmer.
She read, “…and Chicken Little went up to the farmer and said, “The sky is falling!”
The teacher then asked the class, “And what do you think that farmer said?”
One little girl raised her hand and said, “I think he said: ‘Holy Sh*t! A talking chicken!’”
The teacher was unable to teach for the next 10 minutes.

 

[ronniewayne]

A few Pictures from the snow!

preston love the silver campiness I have some to be shipped the 1st of march from ideal and then some from sandhill the 1st of april. they really look nice

 

[jajeanpierre]

Ok so, if a child is told from age 5, let's say, to put a small dot (called a period) at the end of a sentence, maybe 6 times a day for 5 days each week they are in school until say, yesterday. And today, they write a sentence and turn it in and they have no little dots at the end of their sentence, what does this say about humans???? Me thinks chickens are smarter than the third graders.

Ah, but what is in it for the child? There has to be a motivated learner to learn and reliably perform the target behavior. I can motivate a chicken or a parrot by simply withholding food. Some animal trainers make their animals work for all their food. If they don't work, they don't eat. It is a choice the student makes. Now, if you tied all food to putting a period at the end of every sentence, I bet your five-year old would soon learn to do the behavior. There might be a bit of a problem in the beginning if s/he couldn't figure out how to solve problem of burning hunger pains, because all animals can shut down when in pain. Chickens won't work when they are satiated.either. The trick with kids is to find what motivates them and then take it away. Sadly, bread and water unless you put a period at the end of every sentence is probably illegal. It isn't with animal training.

 

[showbarnmom]

12 of 36 hatched so far! My first incubator hatch I'm so excited!

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

I am planing on moving, I have been looking at Central Texas. West of I-35, South of I-20, and North I-10. I have traveled thru this area when I was working as a Truck Driver. I have liked what I have seen and the people I have met.

There is a lot I do not know, where are the people most chicken and live stock friendly. This is what I am looking for, 1 to 5 acres, 1-2 bed room house, well or well and city water, electric service, Internet and phone service, within 10 miles of grocery stores and doctors. I need pasture or grass for Miniature cattle.

They use about 1/3 to 1/2 a normal Steer/cow would need. (By the way they dress out to 60% meat! smaller bones! less fat! more marbling. Fatten on grass, no grains needed for tender meat) Dairy 1-1/2 gal milk per day. They are between 47" and 36", breed down from standard breeds. At this point 10 breeds are recognized as miniature, the Texas Long Horn is one of them. The size and condition of the land will directly affect wither I can support 1, 2, or 3 head. Ideally, a cow & calf for beef and 1 Jersey with calf for milk. But I will be happy with just 2 Jersey for milk (1 freshen while the other is milking).

I love to hunt and fish also. I am open to advice.... I need a lot of advise on were to look, if you have a Realtor you like and trust PM me then name. I hope to be able to take a trip in May to check out places. Right now I am downsizing, and getting ready to put my place up for sale. I am on SSI, with no other income. Need to have living expense down.

Reference, few know about miniature cattle:

 

[hungnguyen]

12 of 36 hatched so far! My first incubator hatch

I'm so excited!

Good so far