The Sussex thread!

[rhs7111]

Quote:
No, you should not simply wait for the next attack...but part of being the responsible caretaker of a dog is knowing when to rehome the dog...if the dog isn't safe around properly secured livestock, then yes, the dog needs to be rehomed to people who don't have livestock themselves, or near their home. But NO, killing the dog or blaming the dog for this attack is not responsible. The dog OWNER, not the dog, is responsible.

That said, I am of course very sorry that your poor chickens suffered such horrible deaths.

 

[carolinagirl58]

So who would want a 100 pound male pit bull that can't be kenneled, can't be chained, and goes nuts whenever it storms? Rescue places won't take him because he can't be kenneled. Animal shelters will euthanize him for the same reason. If a fence or chain won't hold him, what do you suggest we do? There is a major problem in this area with pit bull fighting rings. So advertising a "free to good home" pit bull is a pretty sure bet he will be "adopted" by a dog fighter. If he was a cute fluffy poodle it might be easy to rehome him. but he's not....he is a large, powerful dog that would be hard to place even without his behaviour problems. I don't like to see any dog euthanized, but it's better than him falling into the hands of a pit bull fighting ring. Sometimes painful decisions have to be made. Making these painful decisions is part of responsible dog ownership. So you tell me....what would YOU do??

 

[rhs7111]

Quote:
I will PM you later today with the name of an organization that will likely take him, or otherwise help you with this situation. How long have you had him, and more importantly, how long has the dog been exhibiting this sort of behavior? Is this his first attack on livestock or other animals (pets and/or wildlife)? How often does he get loose? Going nuts when it storms isn't uncommon for any dogs. Has he ever lived in the house, and if not, why? (I'm asking how he behaves when in the house, not accusing...)
Does the kennel he escapes from have a top (i.e. is it fully enclosed, or just walled)? If fully enclosed, exactly how does he escape (does he dig underneath, etc.)?

Having this info will help.

 

[carolinagirl58]

Quote:
My son got this dog when he was a puppy and I think he is 5 now. He has been this way since he was probably a year old or so. He has never shown any signs of aggression towards kids or small dogs. And he plays well with my female pit bull too so I doubt even big dogs are an issue for him. My son has a 3 year old child and he is great with him. This is his first attack on livestock. He lived inside for a while as a pup but since my son and his family live in a fairly small trailer, he quickly ended being too big to be a house dog. He behaved fairly well in the house and stayed in a crate then. I doubt a crate would contain him now though. When he escapes from a kennel, he does not go over or under....he rips through the chain link. When chained his collar has to be tight or he will pull out of it. Typical snaps and swivel hooks break so those can't be used. To escape from his chain, he twists in circles until the chain tightens into a knot and finally snaps. Sometimes it twists his collar until the collar breaks. I have watched him do this. I don't know how he manages to not strangle while doing this. David let him run loose when he's out in the yard working and the dog usually stays home just fine. when he does leave his yard, the only place he has ever gone is to my house and that's normally only at night. He is always chained at night though and rarely ever breaks loose, unless its storming.


I do hope the organization you know of can help him.

 

[carolinagirl58]

Quote:
thank you. I know that there is little that can be done to protect against very determined predators. This dog really is a sweetie, but he is the most powerful dog I have ever seen. I am getting an Anatolian Shepherd in August but it will be a long time before he can protect my animals. In the mean time......I am going to be a nervous wreck, wondering what animals are next. This is the thing I hate about keeping animals. You love them, care for them, spend a lot of money on the, and some dog can come along and destroy them all. It's just not right. I spent hours building that quarantine pen trying to think of every possible precaution I could take to make it strong and safe for them. And the dog just bulldozed his way right through and drug them all out. My other chickens are in a chain link kennel that's inside another larger chain link dog run. I am so glad I had not moved them out to the field into the chicken tractors or they would be dead now too.

 

[har]

Last fall I bought 16 light split to coro pullets and some roosters. They grew really well and are fine looking chickens today. They are laying really good and have no complaints. In fact I really like there personality and etc.

So the problem that I would like to address and see if anybody else is having the same thing is that I used the split rooster on the split hens as did a friend of mine. The chicks (several hatchs) are growing slow and they do not have any body mass to them. They are just small and not growing like I would expect them to. I have some that are 4 months old and maybe 3 out of the 16 look to have any size to them.

I bought some pure light sussex eggs and with shipping and everthing I hatched 3 out 12. These pure light sussex are really showing up the splits with there growth rate and body mass.

Any idea what might being going on here??? Any help would be appreciated. I'm thinking stick to purebred

 

[Brandon97]

Our silkie X light sussex cockerel, im sorry he's not pure bred but hes gorgeous and i had to post him!

Our pullet sugar, i bought a bird at the same time called spice (sugar and spice) terrible pic though...

 

[carolinagirl58]

I did not read the entire thread and feel like the answer to this question is probably in there somewhere, but can someone please give me the short course on genetics? I have 4 pullets that are specked sussex roo over a light sussex hen. I was told that if I cross these pullets back with a SS roo, I'll get 50% SS and 50% split. I am not sure what is meant by a split sussex. I have seen the term a lot and just need a little help understanding what it means. Thanks! Oh...these are my pullets.....

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

Quote:
The Speckled is a red/gold gene and the Light is a sliver gene. You would not get any splits with this mating.

If you use a gold gene male on a silver gene female, the offspring will yield gold females and silver males. However, they will not be pure color. I personally would not mate the gold gene and silver. Been there and learned the expensive lesson.

Splits happen with the crossing of some varieties. Like the Blacks and Self Blue (Lavender) genes. You get a 50% black and 50% Split (black but carrying the lav gene) in the F1. Then when you breed the splits together you get the lavender colr in the F2. Hope this helps.

However, the Sussex is a unique breed. The photos look more like a Red Sussex.

 

[pdsavage]

Her sussex are from a Speckled sussex roo over light sussex hens.

The breeding charts says if she breed her hens em to a ss roo that she would get

half would be SS's and the other half would be like red sussex split pied/molted

I might have done the chart wrong
I started with a SS roo over light sussex hens then bred the hen from that parring to a ss roo and thats what the chart came up with.

http://home.kpn.nl/h.meijers69/kruising.html?mgt