Texas

[Briza]

Oh I am sorry for your trouble with those buggers! But the story is fun to me as some of the best times in the yard are spent with my Granddaughter running around waving our arms like stranded wacko people yelling "No Hawks! No Hawks!" They are in fact Mortal enemies to both Chickens and Fairies!

That's one I'll have to remember when I have children or babysit relative's kids.

Incuview Update: Started with 30 jumbo French Guinea eggs. The hatch from that number is 60%, however I don't feel that is fair as I knew the Jumbo Guineas have a problem with fertility. I candled down to the final run of 18 eggs that showed to have development, of those 18 all hatched which would be 100%. I also added five chicken eggs later that should be about a day behind the guinea hatch day. One of those just hatched. I also added a duck eggs that I did not know how far along it was and it has hatched. I am a little leery of the digital readouts and the humidity gauge but all in all for the money I am quite pleased with the incuview for the first run.

Do you have a baseline French Guinea hatch rate to compare it to? I feel that would be helpful to know. If those birds have fertility problems to begin with, whatever their usual hatch rate is should be the standard it's compared to.

 

[McK Farms]

Bryan, TX in the house! Native texan but new to chickens. Have 1 roo (bought as a pullett). 5 chicks almost ready to lay eggs. Cant wait! 4 cows, 3 calves, 1 horse, 1cat plus some ferrel ones, one chihuahua. Those who have bigger dogs. Which ones are chicken friendly?

 

[jtn42248]

Bryan, TX in the house! Native texan but new to chickens. Have 1 roo (bought as a pullett). 5 chicks almost ready to lay eggs. Cant wait! 4 cows, 3 calves, 1 horse, 1cat plus some ferrel ones, one chihuahua. Those who have bigger dogs. Which ones are chicken friendly?

Hey Bryan TX welcome to BYC. I am just north of Coleman about half the way across the state from you, about 300 miles. Sounds like a nice menagerie you have going there and I am sure you will enjoy the chickens...especially once they begin laying eggs. As for dogs, we have 7. Everything from an 11 year old Pomeranian to a 1.5 year old Anatolian mix. I am not sure there is any such thing as a dog that comes chicken friendly out of the box. But most LGD like Anatolians and Pyarinese will be protective of any livestock they grow up with. In fact, in the "old days" Anatolians were raised with sheep (as sheep) from the day they were weaned. That way they thought of themselves as sheep and would protect their "family" to the death.

 

[orumpoultry]

We have everything from pit bulls to Chihuahuas. Everything was side of the road special here. My best bird dog is my catch dog. Even in his old age he's still an amazing dog for using to recollect lost birds. Especially quail.

My Pyrenees have always been a favorite. Only when raised right though.

 

[needlessjunk]

Bryan, TX in the house! Native texan but new to chickens. Have 1 roo (bought as a pullett). 5 chicks almost ready to lay eggs. Cant wait! 4 cows, 3 calves, 1 horse, 1cat plus some ferrel ones, one chihuahua. Those who have bigger dogs. Which ones are chicken friendly?

Welcome from Round Rock. I also agree there is no breed that comes chicken friendly but most can be trained. I have a coon/blood hound mix that has learned to that the ducks and chickens and our cat are off limits but yet has killed 2 cats in the yard and chases the squirrels like crazy. I also have a beagle mix that picked up very quickly that the ducks and chickens are not to even be looked at. My dogs are eager to please as well and it took a while. I don't 100% trust them to be left alone while we are gone and I still keep an eye on everyone anyway when we are home. LGD still even need training but usuall pick it up quickly.

 

[orumpoultry]

Welcome from Round Rock. I also agree there is no breed that comes chicken friendly but most can be trained. I have a coon/blood hound mix that has learned to that the ducks and chickens and our cat are off limits but yet has killed 2 cats in the yard and chases the squirrels like crazy. I also have a beagle mix that picked up very quickly that the ducks and chickens are not to even be looked at. My dogs are eager to please as well and it took a while. I don't 100% trust them to be left alone while we are gone and I still keep an eye on everyone anyway when we are home. LGD still even need training but usuall pick it up quickly.

Like you said. My dogs wont touch our cats. Strays? Forget it. They don't last. My dogs will kill quail if it gets loose and I don't immediately snatch it up. But they'll guard our property with their life.

 

[wilded]

That's one I'll have to remember when I have children or babysit relative's kids.

Do you have a baseline French Guinea hatch rate to compare it to? I feel that would be helpful to know. If those birds have fertility problems to begin with, whatever their usual hatch rate is should be the standard it's compared to.

I was told that they would have to be artificially inseminated to get any kind of acceptable fertility. None of the guinea eggs I took out of the incubator had even started to develop so I don't really feel it was fair to count them in the hatch percentage. I broke each open to check. The brown thick shells are just very hard to candle until later when you can compare the developing ones to those infertile ones. ET

 

[Briza]

Bryan, TX in the house! Native texan but new to chickens. Have 1 roo (bought as a pullett). 5 chicks almost ready to lay eggs. Cant wait! 4 cows, 3 calves, 1 horse, 1cat plus some ferrel ones, one chihuahua. Those who have bigger dogs. Which ones are chicken friendly?

I think it would be best to get a dog that picks up on training quickly over relying on any breed to stay true to its reputation. I'm still working on my GSD mix. She's finally picked up on the idea that she is not to be within a foot of any of my birds. Now she just eats their poop which has proven a much harder habit to break than picking up chicks and running around with them.

I was told that they would have to be artificially inseminated to get any kind of acceptable fertility. None of the guinea eggs I took out of the incubator had even started to develop so I don't really feel it was fair to count them in the hatch percentage. I broke each open to check. The brown thick shells are just very hard to candle until later when you can compare the developing ones to those infertile ones. ET

Are you planning on doing a side-by-side comparison of natural insemination vs artificial by any chance? I'd be curious to know how wide the gap is in fertility. I have read that some lines can reproduce naturally but I don't know how accurate that is.

 

[wilded]

I think it would be best to get a dog that picks up on training quickly over relying on any breed to stay true to its reputation. I'm still working on my GSD mix. She's finally picked up on the idea that she is not to be within a foot of any of my birds. Now she just eats their poop which has proven a much harder habit to break than picking up chicks and running around with them.


Are you planning on doing a side-by-side comparison of natural insemination vs artificial by any chance? I'd be curious to know how wide the gap is in fertility. I have read that some lines can reproduce naturally but I don't know how accurate that is.

No I will just keep putting them in the incubator and throwing out the ones that don't develop. ET

 

[hensfortherapy]

http://www.google.com/search?q=chic...e-heirloom-serp..6.5.1104.2Tq3PoE_4g8#mhpiv=8

Sorry for the long link I couldn't figure out how to shorten it on my phone.

Oh please don't let my kids see that or I'll be getting it as a gift.
It is cute. I keep trying to let my kids know that just because I keep chickens does not mean I want to decorate with them.