tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8546718730043897500.post4659711718061174606..comments2024-02-27T15:19:59.496-08:00Comments on Backyard Farming: Backyard Farming Disaster - Layer ApocalypseMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04169799115572882024noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8546718730043897500.post-560247444238057122011-03-28T18:19:01.980-07:002011-03-28T18:19:01.980-07:00wow, i have lost chickens to dogs, racoons, possum...wow, i have lost chickens to dogs, racoons, possum, fox ...you have had some serious chicken tragedy! sorry to hear about it. the whole dog breed thing seems hard to pinpoint. our chow/shepard ate a couple of birds over our first summer. our herding mutt (she is 4 breeds that herd) loves to herd them, gets too excited sometimes and kills them. she thinks they taste good too. the chow mix stopped killing them after some serious scolding. the herder is better...but not completely trustworthy. i think alot of it is age and training -not completely about breed. i realize this comment is 2 years after the fact...but your blogs are SO interesting!Lisa D.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8546718730043897500.post-86707417910558217352010-02-12T22:38:39.126-08:002010-02-12T22:38:39.126-08:00I just added your blog on mine.
Excellent help! Th...I just added your blog on mine.<br />Excellent help! Thank you for this great tutorial!!<br /><a href="http://www.itsolusenz.com" rel="nofollow"> website development </a>Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02276955676101104266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8546718730043897500.post-42433661154536048362009-12-08T09:45:11.702-08:002009-12-08T09:45:11.702-08:00I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your girls...I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your girls! Living on an urban farm myself, that is always my greatest fear, that a wild neighborhood dog might get at my free roaming birds. I hope that Dixie is able to recover from this! Good luck with the training and thanks for sharing your story. I absolutely love reading about all your farm adventures.Tea Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02667946607800678904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8546718730043897500.post-42542583943934341142009-11-21T04:21:14.834-08:002009-11-21T04:21:14.834-08:00So sorry to hear about your loss! It is devastatin...So sorry to hear about your loss! It is devastating, and even more disappointing because your own dog did it. I really think Dixie didn't mean to kill them, she was just playing. Good luck with training her!katiegirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03232045088235784636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8546718730043897500.post-59399019531090455022009-11-19T18:49:24.127-08:002009-11-19T18:49:24.127-08:00We used a shock collar for our Retreiver/Pyrenees ...We used a shock collar for our Retreiver/Pyrenees mix, but the most effective thing for us was called 'Alpha-training'. There are books about it. You teach the dog that YOU provide the food, so it doesn't need to 'hunt' or even chase other animals. It works really great for our dog. She helps us round up the chickens when they get out of the coop, but she doesn't eat or harm them. It's made a huge difference. Now the chickens are free-range in our yard and the dog is with them all day without a problem. Good luck! I'm so sorry for your loss! It's devastating to lose a laying flock. How thoughtful and kind of your wife to get new layers!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17166247149959534772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8546718730043897500.post-86898409416982375102009-11-19T04:37:33.916-08:002009-11-19T04:37:33.916-08:00Thank you all for your condolences. Dixie never at...Thank you all for your condolences. Dixie never ate the chickens. She just killed them. Maybe the retriever in her. For now the our new hens are cooped up and she can't get to them. I like the advice about the training collar.Dale Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01806698744292076677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8546718730043897500.post-73966170579786640552009-11-18T09:49:40.737-08:002009-11-18T09:49:40.737-08:00As a chicken owner/lover of ten "girls" ...As a chicken owner/lover of ten "girls" I would be absolutely devastated, I can't imagine the horror you and your family faced. You should not blame your puppy or yourselves. i guess maybe you could refer to it as a learning lesson, the hard way. I am sorry for your loss.Dog Trot Farmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10613054262731973539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8546718730043897500.post-4595042567456000592009-11-18T09:22:27.532-08:002009-11-18T09:22:27.532-08:00I'm so very sorry for your loss. I can't ...I'm so very sorry for your loss. I can't imagine...<br /><br />Perhaps look into what other breeds might be in your retriever mix Dixie. Retrievers are bred to have soft mouths for retrieving birds. It's possible that one or more of the other breeds in her mix either has a higher prey drive or a not-so-soft mouth (or both).<br /><br />A guardian breed might be more suitable (one with no prey drive, but instead a drive to protect the flock).<br /><br />Again, so sorry for your loss.PickingUpStitcheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05208128936950489420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8546718730043897500.post-3290828065138873072009-11-18T08:25:53.842-08:002009-11-18T08:25:53.842-08:00Oh, that is terrible. I'm sorry.Oh, that is terrible. I'm sorry.Jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17525034596178639693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8546718730043897500.post-48764274594036036732009-11-18T07:51:51.883-08:002009-11-18T07:51:51.883-08:00I don't know about retrievers, they have been ...I don't know about retrievers, they have been bred for ages to catch birds. How do you teach that out of them? We have a cattle dog that guards our chickens and she does amazing. They love her and she pushes them out of the kitchens scraps with her nose but still shares with them. When we get a new dog we really want a black lab, but the whole retriever thing makes it hard. I think we will take a friendly hen and physically teach our new dogs about how to be around chickens and how they are not a source of food and not to played with for fun. Good luck, it's so hard to break a habit once it's started.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06680818361476289194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8546718730043897500.post-19743572189673651142009-11-18T07:49:52.593-08:002009-11-18T07:49:52.593-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06680818361476289194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8546718730043897500.post-76806481670282847142009-11-18T07:14:32.560-08:002009-11-18T07:14:32.560-08:00Oh, I'm so sorry. I can only imagine a small ...Oh, I'm so sorry. I can only imagine a small amount what that would be like. When we had our first set of chicks, I didn't shut the basement door well enough and our dog at the time found his way down and killed two. Our new dog (2 1/2 years old, with us for 6 weeks) just got into our coop last week. Thankfully (and a miracle, to boot!) he didn't kill one. We're training him right now with the vibrating/shocking collar we had for our old dog. When he got close, we vibrated it one time. The next time he got to that point we vibrated it, he took one step further and we gave him the smallest shock - and so far we haven't seen him go back. I hope you find something that works. I can tell you love those birds like we love ours!Juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01959841561323203499noreply@blogger.com