Washingtonians

[Stumpfarmer]

Back in the day (meaning when I was around a lot of farmers who were born before 1900) it was normal for a farm to have a gun dog, a herd dog, and a ratter- and a breeding pair of one of those so we always knew somebody with puppies when we needed them. Around here it was usually German Short Haired Pointer, old fashioned Border Collie (long tailed, long coated, black and white) and Rat Terrier.

On the other hand, the GSPs we've owned (back before one of them won Westminister and the breed got screwed up by dog show people) were eager to learn everything so they could be with their people, and worked cattle pretty well as well as goijg after rodents in the hay barn. And the worst livestock harrying dog we ever owned was a seven-pound rat terrier who killed lamb after he took out every cat in the neighborhood.

 My brother has a Scotty that is viscious with rats, squirrels & chipmunks.....beautiful dog though she is, I believe she'd kill every bird I have.

Yeah, terriers can be tricky animals to own; I haven't seen many which were farm-raised and hard on birds, though, they seem to stick to quadrupeds. The only time we lost chickens to one of our own dogs was when my sister's tiny cockapoo pup took out a flock of game fowl Dad took in trade on an old grocery bill. That trade also included a Nubian buck which chased logging trucks.

Scotties used to be hard-willed, hard-coated dogs (James Thurber said they had a bite like an alligator) but the ones I've met lately are half the size they used to be, relatively soft-coated, and more people-oriented than the old type. They're on the list of possibles, although I'd prefer a Norwich or Norfolk or Border or Welsh or Irish, which are not easy to find, alas (Cairns and Westies are overbred; a whole lot of them are puppy mill animals. I wish who ever came up with the term "back-yard breeder" had to deal with the consequences of that social stigma: more dogs, more bad genetics, and more unsocialized dogs. Small-scale purebred breeders weren't perfect, but there was a lot of disapproval for breeding a {byc censors the correct term for a female dog, how quaint} before you had places for the pups).

ALSO: I forgot to say congrats on the new grandchild! Babies are the best humans ever.

 

[mikeyb]

The pink was for CR..

 

[FirewifeJess]

What a bummer. I've determined my flock is just laying less these days. I spent almost all day outside and gathered each egg right after it was laid. No egg stealing rodents here, and still only 7 eggs (on a good day!) from 10 layers. Even with lighting, I guess we won't be back up to 9 eggs a day until spring What a disappointment! We might even have to buy eggs That's even worse.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

What a bummer. I've determined my flock is just laying less these days. I spent almost all day outside and gathered each egg right after it was laid. No egg stealing rodents here, and still only 7 eggs (on a good day!) from 10 layers. Even with lighting, I guess we won't be back up to 9 eggs a day until spring What a disappointment! We might even have to buy eggs That's even worse.

Yeah, I'm having few eight-egg days right now, and a lot of three or four egg ones.

 

[FirewifeJess]

Quote:
How many girls do you have laying now? I have a dozen total, but only 10 are laying. The 2 littler ones are 18 weeks; hoping they don't hold out until spring! eesh. What I don't get, is that I thought first year pullets supposedly laid pretty well during their first winter, not to mention we have sup. lighting in the coop in the mornings. Hrmph.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

What a bummer. I've determined my flock is just laying less these days. I spent almost all day outside and gathered each egg right after it was laid. No egg stealing rodents here, and still only 7 eggs (on a good day!) from 10 layers. Even with lighting, I guess we won't be back up to 9 eggs a day until spring What a disappointment! We might even have to buy eggs That's even worse.

Yeah, I'm having few eight-egg days right now, and a lot of three or four egg ones.

How many girls do you have laying now? I have a dozen total, but only 10 are laying. The 2 littler ones are 18 weeks; hoping they don't hold out until spring! eesh. What I don't get, is that I thought first year pullets supposedly laid pretty well during their first winter, not to mention we have sup. lighting in the coop in the mornings. Hrmph.

I've got two BLRWs, an Australorp, three EEs and three Hamburgs who are dependably laying an at least an egg apiece every other day, although one of the EEs has laid an egg every day for the last two weeks and one of the BLRWs is nekkid and not laying right now (and I get three eggs from the Hamburg and EE pens two or three times a week); I have another BLRW who hasn't given me an egg since May but she's beset with the worst rooster in the world and is going to get solitude and extra treats for a while after he's gone to see if that helps, and two Hamburg pullets who are pinking up every day and might start laying any time. So that's... nine layers, one nonlayer on probation, and two pullets at point of lay.

 

[hallerlake]

Spent an hour working on my doghouse/brooder. The chicks are still too cute to put outside but I figured it will probably be raining by then. At least, I hope it will be raiining by then.

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

Bah, my BF says my two Leghorns went way up in the tree as soon as they figured out he was trying to catch them and put them in the coop. They are so freakin' FAST!!! I knew I shouldn't have trusted that one person could herd them all into the coop alone. I feel sooooooooo awful right now. Worried the coon will come back and get them tonight. Since he couldn't get them down he at least was able to harass them up into a much higher spot than they ever roosted in before, so hopefully if the coon does come around tonight, it won't see them. If they make it through tonight I'm going to be tempted to lock those stupid birds in the coop for a whole month. Who knows if they will EVER start putting themselves to bed in the coop?

 

[Sudsy Chick]

Quote:
How many girls do you have laying now? I have a dozen total, but only 10 are laying. The 2 littler ones are 18 weeks; hoping they don't hold out until spring! eesh. What I don't get, is that I thought first year pullets supposedly laid pretty well during their first winter, not to mention we have sup. lighting in the coop in the mornings. Hrmph.

I've got two BLRWs, an Australorp, three EEs and three Hamburgs who are dependably laying an at least an egg apiece every other day, although one of the EEs has laid an egg every day for the last two weeks and one of the BLRWs is nekkid and not laying right now (and I get three eggs from the Hamburg and EE pens two or three times a week); I have another BLRW who hasn't given me an egg since May but she's beset with the worst rooster in the world and is going to get solitude and extra treats for a while after he's gone to see if that helps, and two Hamburg pullets who are pinking up every day and might start laying any time. So that's... nine layers, one nonlayer on probation, and two pullets at point of lay.

Out of six laying hens - we get two to three eggs per day, up from one a day! Molting is taking its toll here. I cannot wait until the "teenagers" start laying =)

 

[Sudsy Chick]

Spent an hour working on my doghouse/brooder. The chicks are still too cute to put outside but I figured it will probably be raining by then. At least, I hope it will be raiining by then.

Your chicks are adorable! =) How many do you have? Brabanters or Spitzs? Or crosses?