Texas

[TexasLisa]

My chickens are so weird. That isn't a roost you silly rooster.

And here I thought they liked to be on top of things!!!

Lisa

 

[PSJ]

I went and checked it out. You didn't say anything wrong. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[wlhtx]

Some of mine shun the roosts too. I'm having a horrible time getting some of the older girls to stop sleeping in the nest boxes. I keep putting them on the roosts. They keep jumping down and going straight back to the nest boxes - with that stink eye look on their face that looks a lot like "leave me alone you crazy woman, I'll sleep where I want!"

 

[TexasLisa]

My DH and I have been moving the 4 BR chicks onto the roost for the past week. Once we are sure they are staying, we have 3 SS chicks to move off the top of the nest boxes. They will be a nightmare. These 3 were raised by our broody hen. (The 4 BR were raised by me and think I am their momma.) Anytime I get near the 3, they squeal like I am murdering them. At this rate, I may just do that! But I am enjoying the challenge. Seems like I learn something new everyday!

Lisa

 

[showbarnmom]

Once I moved my roost up high, and the boxes down low, mine stopped sleeping in the boxes.

 

[Little Wing]

Good Morning Texans!!

I think my babies are growing up! They will be 9 weeks old tomorrow. My DH and I got in from church around 9 last night. We went to close the coop up. I have 4 BR chicks who think their roosting spot is on top of the coop. Luckily my husband is 6'4" and can reach them. Everybody was inside the coop! Not necessarily all on the roost, but we are getting there!

Lisa

Good morning Lisa. That sounds like progress!

Tall does has it's advantages.

Now I've got to go see what was said.. Is it still there??

Y'all are gonna make me go read the tree huggers blah blah again? They were burning up about a page an hour over there yesterday. Y'all got em fired up.
Gotta go. The chickens have finished their oatmeal and raisins and its time for their massages and then its a quick shower and nail clipping.

 

[showbarnmom]

Oh....heads up Tx....will be in Galveston this weekend! Woohoo! I will wave as I drive through.

 

[wlhtx]

Yeah, my nest boxes are about 3 ft off the ground, but the roosts are higher... I'm just thinkin' you can't teach an old chicken new tricks. (This bunch was re-homed to me and didn't have a roost where they were before.)

 

[jajeanpierre]

It took us forever to get our younger dog past the don't-try-to-kill-them-when-they-are-free-ranging stage...

Did you see what was bothering the birds?

How successful are people, generally, in getting dogs to leave chickens alone?

I had a fantasy of having free range chickens on my two acres. I've had big and small parrots for all my dogs' lives (except for Saucy), so I thought my dogs would not bother the birds. Saucy came to me as a five-year old, I think.

When I was away in June, my 20-year old son was sloppy closing a pen at the same time he was sloppy with keeping track of my four mini Dachshunds outside. The birds and the dogs met unsupervised...... The dogs killed three chickens--tore them to itty bitty pieces, apparently. I think I know which Dachshund (Saucy) it was, but maybe it was all four.

Years ago before I had Saucy my other three got hold of a really tiny emaciated 4-week old feral kitten. I was living in the Virgin Islands, it was dark and I was afraid they had a mongoose and, believe me, there was no way I was putting my hands down into that fight! The three of them (7 pounds, 8 pounds and 11 pounds) each had hold of the kitten and were pulling in all different directions. When I realized it was not a mongoose, I grabbed the kitten up expecting it to be mortally wounded. The kitten had ONE tiny scratch on its belly, and I know the three of them were grabbing at its belly. I suspect it was just the one new dog who did the killing but maybe she taught the others how to be effective at it and how much fun it was. I know they were all having fun running around with the chicken parts in their mouths. I suspect my son was a bit violent when he got hold of the dogs. Now if I have the Dachshunds outside and they even look interested in running circles around their pens, I yell at them and they immediately stop.

I also have a pit bull mutt. I would say he has a fairly low prey-drive instinct. He loves to chase the deer off the property, although he's not stupid about it. When a deer dropped a fawn near my front door, he wouldn't chase her and pretended he didn't see her. She must have had some words with him before I came out. He also loves to chase squirrels, following them and barking incessantly as they leap from tree to tree. He loves to play (rough) pit-bull fighting games with the little Dachshunds if they accidentally are let outside together. He dances around them and does pretend snapping at the backs of their necks, they get really ticked off and fly at his face yelling and screaming and chasing him. He loves that--after all, that was his goal when he was pestering them (and hurting them, too)--he gets to dance around like a ferocious fighting dog. He also wants to play rough with the cat if someone leaves the back gate open. The cat stays in the fenced backyard and my bedroom. He'll chase the cat, but if he actually catches or corners the cat, he doesn't grab it. He just dances around barking and pretending he is a killer fighting dog.

It is dangerous behavior for the other animals, but so far he hasn't crossed the line. There is a fine line between the prey drive on a Border Collie and one who kills sheep. It's the same hunting instinct.

So far, I've kept the chickens penned. I've had a little 4-month old bantam Cochin escape that ended up outside of the backyard fence while trying to evade my capture. The pit bull did not show any interest even when the cockerel was running around down the drive right under his nose. I even tried to use the pit to herd the bird back into the back yard by calling him over to head off the chicken and scare it back to the backyard.

It's not a good mix of animals, but they are here. I do my best to keep everyone separate and safe. The Dachshunds range in age from 11.5 years, two at 10 years and one at almost 8 years, so they won't be around forever. The Pit bull 2.5 years, but will have increasing arthritic changes to a leg/shoulder that was smashed when he was hit by a car as a puppy--which was how he came to me in the first place. I found him and took him to my vet to be put down. She fixed him without consulting me and handed me a $1000 bill with more expenses to come. I stupidly paid and changed vets.

Ultimately I want to get a livestock guard dog, but I'm not getting another dog until some if not all of my Dachshunds are gone. The pit is young, but pain will ultimately shorten his life.

If I think the pit has any tendencies to go after the chickens, I won't free range them except possibly for a few hours before roosting with the pit in a crate in the house, but that is just a pain to manage.

As a little girl, we had a Golden Retriever that LOVED to chase squirrels--he was motivated to catch those squirrels!--but in the house would have hamsters and duckings crawling all over him and never showed any sign of prey drive. My pit has occasionally barked at the macaws when they've gone to ground at the fence specifically to harass the pit.

Thoughts, please, on dogs and chickens and is there any hope to get the pit and the chickens outside together.

Thanks.

 

[showbarnmom]

Yeah, my nest boxes are about 3 ft off the ground, but the roosts are higher... I'm just thinkin' you can't teach an old chicken new tricks. (This bunch was re-homed to me and didn't have a roost where they were before.)

Keep moving them at night. May take several weeks.