Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[kokosmom2]

I'm trying Jim. Her prey drive is really strong. I'm even using an electronic collar on her

 

[jvls1942]

don't wait until she is stalking to take action.
put her on a leash and lead her to the chickens.
then when she shows the wrong interest, correct
her. (Not with the shocking collar)
you don't want her to make a connection of the collar,leash and shock. or you will never be able to get a leash on her again.
it will take time to train her,.
but the time you spend training her will be less than the time it takes to cover your yard and time spent watching the dog for the rest of her life.

 

[GranolaGirl72]

Just chiming in on the winter coop. Unless you have a permanent roof over your run already, I agree, do not make more work for yourself. They will either decided to walk in the snow or not. I have a run that I wrap in painters drop cloth this last winter, but we built for that. Babying your hens will result in problems over the winter. Do not heat the coop only the water, do not leave a light in there. Seal for drafts, not for warmth. Unless you have naked birds, they should be fine. What part of the state are you in?
Chickens will fly over that fence when they decide they want to, clipping only way to stop that. Dogs with bird drive like ours can be trained to tolerate the birds, but I would never trust ours with them. Believing that I could would result in dead ones. Jim has a breed that will train to protect, I have a breed trained to flush and grab.

 

[GranolaGirl72]

Case in point, he just brought me a bird. As far as nesting boxes, we had beautiful wood ones that were suspended from the floor and that I could reach into from the small door. They refused to lay in them, even with fake eggs, would crawl underneath. Repurposed the ones we built, and now they lay in these. $4 from the Walfart...

 

[Daethen]

I am in SW Wisconsin, I have no trouble with the flock in the winter. Even the silkies and frizzles did fine. I staple cardboard on the walls and ceiling in the winter and also only heat the water which I leave in the coop in the winter. I have a run for mine made of heavy duty chain link that I got at the salvage yard. I have eagles and hawks so I also covered the top of the run with chain link. My run is 6 ft. tall so I can walk into it.

 

[jvls1942]

good afternoon,

I am about to rescue a 3 year old neutered maremma LGD.
I think the people are bringing him here today.
I have no intentions of keeping him,
I don't know too much about him,
will keep you informed.
(if he doesn't eat me or something)

I sold 6 hens yesterday. the guy picked out the ones he wanted. we still got 4 eggs today, so I guess he picked the wrong ones..
tip: when picking out egg layers, don't pick out the fully feathered and nice looking hens.
the ones with feathers missing on their backs are the ones the roosters are interested in, \
i.e layers..

........jiminwisc.......

 

[Daethen]

So if you aren't keeping him, what do you plan to do with him?

 

[jvls1942]

the woman and her sister brought "Charlie" here to meet me,.
He looks exactly like Zeke. a year older, and noticeably bigger. very friendly. didn't bat an eye at the chickens, showed him the puppies, just mildly interested in them..
Zeke barked at him from his usual distance.
No nervous response or real interest..
I petted him all over his body, it didn't bother him..

what I would do with him is find him a good farm home.
I have a call in to a sheep farmer in Wyoming
waiting for a call back..
however they didn't leave Charlie here.
at the last moment she couldn't part with him.
I told her about the man in Wyo.
I think she wanted a place more locally where she could visit the dog. IDK..she didn't say..

her big issue was that he fights with her dog over food.

they have had him to trainers, shrinks etc.
none of which did any good..

it is her daughter's dog. the daughter has brain cancer and cannot keep the dog any longer.. in fact the daughter had to move in with mom because she can't live alone..

for the time being, they are keeping Charlie at grandma and grandpa's house. they are in their mid 80's..

the dog fighting has escalated beyond just food. now the dogs cannot tolerate being in the same room together.

......jiminwisc........

 

[Daethen]

That is sad and has to be hard for the mom.

 

[wyoDreamer]

[/QUOTE]

I got a call from Wyoming about the pups.
the guy has 1200 acres and hundreds of sheep. lost 8 to preds in the past few days.
really wants a full grown dog.
I might sell Zeke to him. he will drive here to pick him up.
wait and see..

..........jiminwisc......


[/QUOTE]

tell the guy from Wyoming that he needs a pup or two also, it will grow into guarding the animals and learn from the adult. They grow pretty fast and two dogs will work better than just one.