Alpha Hen in flock of two??

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I guess I was a bit confusing grouping my cat with skunks and coons. I don't have a pet skunk, though I was feeding one for a long time thinking it was cats. I have heard they make good pets too. I do have 5 dogs that keep me busy and company.

I'm not surprised you are thinking of your chickens as pets, I have had some in depth conversations with chickens over many issues. They can be great company too and enjoy gardening.

We have no one I would trust to take care of my animals. If I ever go anywhere ever again I would just pick up the eggs when I got home.

That's great they are getting along better. They need each other.

 

[Linda V]

I wouldn't tell this to anyone else on here, but I think you'd "get this" - cuz it sure shocked me today!

Since the alpha hen (Abigail) was not allowing Henrietta to eat....I decided to follow some Dog Whisperer advice and see if it would work on her! (I'm a "rabid" Ceaser Millan fan) sooo...I took my long, green plastic rod and gently put it thru the hardware cloth of the coop pen and nudged Abigail away from the PVC feeding trough so Henrietta could eat!
It worked great but I could tell she did not like it...lol!

So this afternoon I went out there to hang out with them for a few mins and again...Abigail was not allowing Henrietta to eat! However....this time when I came up to them - Abigail went to the other side of the pen and Henrietta went to the food trough and started stuffing herself! I couldn't believe it!

However....Alpha Abby didn't last long....and started to drive off Henrietta again. So, once again out came the long thin green plastic rod thru the cage. It took a little bit of manuvering around but finally Abby went to the other side of the pen and Henrietta knew that this was her cue to go back to eating!

I had to stay out there about 6 mins acting like a warden until Henrietta was finished eating and then I backed off and let them switch sides again.

This sounds like I'm making it up, but I swear it's like Henrietta knows when I'm out there, I'm going to scoot Alpha Abby off the feeder for her and keep her at bay till she's done....or am I completely nuts about this?

Anyway....I always say "Whatever works...works!"

I'll be back later on...I found an amazing solution to our new addition to the coop that can be moved along with our tractor coop but separately! Check this out!

Linda in NC

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I love Cesar Milan too and I also find dog behaviors similar to chicken behaviors, especially in their hierarchy. What you are doing makes sense as you are being the dominant chickens. I do similar things with my roosters when they are young and they always grow up with a respect for me.

I keep a pack of 5 female dogs using Cesars way. My dogs are well behaved, mostly, and everyone is surprised how decent they act. So I commend you on coming up with the stick idea, it's very cleaved and it's cool that it works.

Some people don't get his techniques and say he's cruel, but I find him brilliant, especially if you actually understand him. To me it's the only way to raise a dog. Most people expect the dog to learn English, but Cesar Milan speaks dog to them, that's why it works, so you need to understand dog language before really understanding his ways.

That's a good idea for a temporary run. I have seen folks make tunnels out of chicken wire where they use them to change run areas. We use that 2x4 welded wire when making temporary fences, it pretty reasonable in price and easy to work with and move.

 

[Linda V]

Hi again!

Thanks for your comps! I kinda figured you might be (lol) a Ceaser fan too!

We both hate chicken wire, so that will never be used....we love the 1" x 1" square, galv. metal mesh fencing material but now that we know that's what we want to do, we can't find one tall enough so when we create the half-round tunnel for the run...they're all too short. Still looking, however and depending on where you buy it, it's very cheap too! (Lowe's beats HD this time)

John was really impressed with the one I sent you on here today...he was also tickled it didn't involve any wood - as it would have to be treated lumber. We spent a lot on that coop and treated lumber for the handle and frame to mount the coop on plus the wheels so we are not about to spend a dime more than we have to. Fortunately, John is a natural-born handy man and loves working on projects!

We got upset with our girls tonight....Alpha Abigail jumped on poor, sweet Henrietta so we went out there and decided to move them slowly and carefully to a nice, grassy patch instead of on the pine straw. Oh my gosh! They immediately started pecking at the nice green grass (chem-free) and are having a blast now! Guess Abby got bored or something? Anyway...they are both busy and we have a storm coming our way....

Earlier today I put a clear new shower curtain over the part of the coop to keep the rain out and John put an exterior piece of plywood over that part of the pen that is open on the top - see the pics I sent you. I'll seal/stain it like the rest of the coop as soon as I am able. My coop is no longer barn red. Before we assembled it, I went over the white with white sealer/stain and the red is covered with CA Rustic - seal/stain - to match my fencing, deck, porch, etc. It looks awesome!!!

Anyway...I only ran the long, green, plastic rod thru the mesh on the pen part and if Abby got to close to it, I gently touched her and she'd back off - eventually she stopped trying and let Hen. eat! I can't wait till we get this super long "run" done so they'll be too busy to annoy each other.

Well...I need to go now and I'm hoping some day you'll give me something to call you.

I'm 70 by the way, white, and retired 7 yrs ago. John is my "life partner" but because of taxes, insurance, etc., we cannot get married. We do have our LW&T set up just as a married couple would so if anything happens to me...he'll get it all! Same with him....so as far as we're concerned, we have been married 5 yrs now.

Talk to you tomorrow, friend!

Linda in NC
8:20pm