What are Bantam Chickens? Bantam chickens have been trained for centuries. Basically, they are one of the oldest known domestic animals. Marco Polo wrote about banties in his book. Whilst all bantams are chickens, not all chickens are banties.
What’s the difference? The Bantam is a tiny reproduce overall. Some bantams have been bred from “normal sized chickens” to keep the features of the reproduce in a smaller size. Others are as they’ve been for centuries, completely unique. All bantams are smaller than regular chickens and they share some unique personality features. Folks who raise bantams say that they have more personality than chickens do, are way more ready to care for themselves, and find more of their own food. They appear to keep the grasshopper population down better than other kinds of chickens. Because they are tiny they are less difficult to keep in a built up area and so they’re a good way for town and suburb “farmers” to realize self sufficiency. Healthy bantams are curious. They’re going to check out anything that appears peculiar and loudly announce the appearance of visitors whether or not it is the subsequent doorway neighbor’s dog or the Priest coming for lunch.
They do well in tiny social groups of one rooster and 3 hens. Due to this, banties do remarkably well when housed in chicken tractors. Bantams lay eggs just like any other chicken. A banty egg is minute and it’ll take about 3 to make one standard sized chicken egg. The banty, though small, may be employed as a beef bird.
Basically breeders don’t raise them for beef but when the birds are culled the culls make a pleasant cacciatore.
Housing banties is pretty much like housing any other birds. They have to be protected from predators, the weather, and other dangers. Bantams need clean water, lots of healthful food, and the same care as other chickens. Housing is in generally smaller as the banty does not have the same space wants of bigger birds. A brilliant bantam house plan to house 2 flocks separately is at the Bantam Roost. Which ever sort of bantam chicken you fall madly in love with you may be sure that you’re going to enjoy the personality and the escapades of these “pocket poultry”.
Jadon Sluck asked:
A result of breeding, between the Bulldogs and the Mastiffs, the Bullmastiff inherited from the latter the stature and body, being at the same time fast and active like Bulldogs. Loyal, gentle, a good companion and play mate for children, he still remains and excellent guard dog.
Although the Bullmastiff gains official recognition in the year 1924, the modern breed being created from the early XVIIst century, it is obvious that between the two breeds there have always existed crossings. Both of British origin, but differently orientated through selection, they gave the final product a sum of qualities very appreciated among the breed lovers.
The main reason this breed was creates is the mixture of guardian abilities with courage, seeking to obtain a dog faster than the Mastiff that could protect hunting guards and can also help capturing and immobilizing illegal hunters. Actually the Bullmastiff was once called the Gamekeeper’s Night Dog, which means the night dog of the hunting guard.
It appears that perfecting the breed took some time - almost 30 years - its creator admitting the fact that he started with settling the standards, and only then achieving the correct mixture. Soon, the Bullmastiff gained fans all over the world and it was preferred to Mastiff because he was smaller, easier to control and to raise.
The Bullmastiff, a dog that will never act naturally violent, must not be abused in any way. He feels at his best next to a master that has lots of patience. In society he is pretty quiet and relaxed, assuming he has been brought in contact with people since he was little. When he is still a puppy he must grow used to petting and to strangers.
Equipped for guarding, the Bullmastiff has some incredibly quick reactions and he will protect his owner even with his life. In family he is a pleasing friend, loving and patient with little children. Playful, he will love children and let them do anything to him without fighting back. He needs wide spaces to exercise and run freely. But to be always around his master, the Bullmastiff will adapt to an apartment life as well.
peter john asked:
Like most dog owners, you probably assume that commercial dog foods with brand names that are easily identifiable - Purina, Iams, Pedigree, etc. and surely you would not give your dog something harmful. Unfortunately, after lots of careful observation and tracking it has been found that dogs fed commercial foods, both wet and dry, from the cheapest brands to the so-called “premium” brands are weak with less life span than those dogs who were fed vegetarian diets, as well as those fed raw meat and bones known popularly as the BARF Diet.
Undoubtedly the best possible diet to feed your dog is raw meat and bones with an occasional Wet feed made up of vegetables, fruits, and organ meat that will lead to three amazing results: much better overall health, excellent dental health, and longer life spans. If you recall the past food habits of dogs you will find that they evolved eating prey the pack took down and feeding the carcasses raw! They did not have processed commercial food from bags or cans, cooked meats or vegetables, fruits, and grains.
This is the fact every dog owners should concentrate and plan the diet accordingly for their dog. Many owners bear a common fear over the bones getting caught in their dog’s throat or splintering and cutting them internally. There is a solution for it and that is stop feeding your dog with a cooked bone and especially chicken bones. Raw chicken cages are ideal because they provide a good balance of meat and bone but at the same time remember not to feed your dog always with chicken instead alter their diet by supplying some pork and some beef now and then to vary their protein sources a bit and remember to mix up a slop of green veggies, carrots, apples, bananas, and some raw livers or hearts at least twice a month. It is recommended to have your pet checked for allergic reactions to any food and then plan the diet.
The raw meat and bone diet should be prescribed for your dog for 60 days. A meat and bones source that is close to a 50/50 meat-bone ratio for example chicken breast cages are ideal, or you can also try pork necks or beef ribs from any grocery store. If you do not see any noticeable improvements in your dog then it is better go back to his former diet and if you find healthier coat, more energy, better teeth, excellent blood work-ups then you can conclude the main idea behind the success of the raw meat and bones diet which imitate what dogs naturally fed on for tens of thousands of years.
Jamey Sackville asked:
Raw milk directly from the cow or goat block rounded of the repayment of wonderfully strong bacteria, vitamins, and enzymes that you only will not get from mass-bought milk.
Milk you find on your supermarket ledge is flawed for many reasons. One analyze is the big commercial dairies do not supply their cows lawn and hay which is what they are invented to eat, but instead their cows subsist in small feedlots being fed large amounts of grain which is actually not something a cow was doomed to eat.
As an outcome, these cows must be fed antibiotics which in twist are open into your milk. Bleach is also regularly added to make solid your container of milk is as colorless as can be. Scary, isn’t it?
Nevertheless even if this were not the crate, commercially available milk is pasteurized (heated) and homogenized (practice that breaks down butterfat), and you can be surely that all those beneficial enzymes and strong bacteria are long deceased by the time it reaches the grocery ledge. What you have left is just extinct liquid which can maybe start more spoil than good due to the swelling hormones and antibiotics (among other equipment) given to the unhealthy commercial-dairy cow.
Many people will squabble that drinking milk upright from the cow is not strong, and that pasteurization is basic to execute off gear like E coli. The reality is that milk together hygienically from a vigorous prairie-fed cow on a small family-owned raise is very vigorous, and the repayment far outweigh the risks. You’d be statistically much more apt to indenture E coli from your resident construct department than from that farmer’s cow.
The resource of the adulthood of our commercial milk is the recent Holstein dairy cow which has been bred specifically for amount to crop large amounts of milk far afar what a cow was ever doomed to create. Since she is fed so much grain (recall this is unhealthy for a cow), she requires antibiotics to keep her wholesome. Growth hormones also end in that milk you’re pouring over your breakfast muesli every morning.
The strongest and best-tasting raw milk will come from the “old” breeds of dairy cows such as the Jersey, Guernsey, Ayrshire, or Brown Swiss, or the older ranks of Holstein which were not bred to goods obscene amounts of milk. The usual butterfat of these old breeds of cows back at the rotate of the century was 4%. Today’s butterfat usually composes excluding than 3%. There is also the misleading notion that glide and low-fat milk is good for you. Full-fat milk is awesomely wholesome as the butterfat contains the vitamins An and D which are wanted for the absorption of calcium, and is also splendid in the passing- and method-connect oily acids that safeguard us against disease. You get no shape promote at all from drinking low-fat or no-fat milk, and you might as well just have a tumbler of water instead. That would actually be far more healthy.
Many are jumping on the raw milk bandwagon, and many more will climb on live in the emergence years as people educate themselves about what is actually departing into our food through the commercial processes.
If you have a small dairy farmstead near you, drop by, and taste some honest milk and see what you have been gone.
Lynda Wells asked:
The United State’s new Poet Laureate, Kay Ryan, withdrew one of her poems from publication just after the 9-11 attacks, thinking that the theme was just a little too close to home:
The chickens are circling and blotting out the day. The sun is bright, but the chickens are in the way. Yes, the sky is dark with chickens, dense with them. They turn and then they turn again. These are the chickens you let loose one at a time and small— various breeds. Now they have come home to roost—all the same kind at the same speed. ©-Kay Ryan   Speed.  It’s about speed.  The speedy decline of the U.S. currency, currently.  Speed.  The speed of the monetary crisis, crying foul. Speed.  The speed of the vanishing middle class, crass. Speed.  Get your bids in fast for glaciers going, going, gone with the bridge to nowhere. Too close to home, in deed.  
9-11 was the harbinger of implosion: “The sky is falling!” said Chicken Little. And, it is. Speed.
The chickens are flapping; the cows are out of the barn, following in the hoof-steps of the retreating bulls searching for feed.  Sorry, Bossy, that’s being chewed like cud in the mouths of politicos proclaiming alternative realities.  Lions and tigers and here come the bears, oh, my!
Hurricanes blow and POOF! Galveston’s gone with the wind; New Orleans still in the mud. And, suddenly we see the walls on the street collapse and blow away more than chicken scratch. Weapons of mass destruction fly by and we are they. Bail out?  Hardly.  The House is on fire, there’s a food fight in the kitchen, and the officials are fanning the flame.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, there’s a catch. Someone counted the chickens and now they hatched.
Lynda Wells, © October 1, 2008
Rozita Daud asked:
First of all you should simply read the label thoroughly, making sure to read every item on it rather than just giving it a quick scan. The ingredients are listed according to weight, from the biggest weight to the smallest. It is important that you are aware not only what the ingredients are, but in what quantity they are present. Here are some points to note:-
If meat is listed as the first ingredient, you cannot assume that the quantity of it was measured before the meat was rendered.
Animal by-products are added as a cheap (and low quality) alternative to whole meat.
The best quality dog foods contain no animal by-products.
If the moisture level is more than 11%, then the dry matter food base is of poor quality.
The best quality dog foods have a moisture content of 10% or less, which is the ideal proportion.
If the first ingredient is beef or chicken meal, this is a good sign, because these have a higher protein content than whole meat.
Meal means that the meat has been baked before use, which removes the bacteria and any toxins present.
Chicken meat has a high water content. Consequently the proportion of chicken in dog food can be misleading, because you don’t know how much of that stated chicken content was after baking, which as well as removing unwanted substances also drives off water.
If the label gives a proportion of chicken meal rather than ‘chicken’, then you are actually getting more chicken because of the unwanted matter which has been driven off in the baking process.
Being aware of the ingredients in your dog’s food is the only way to really know what he is getting, especially given the many different forms in which these foods are sold today.
Always remember that your dog will not remain healthy, and in fact can even become ill, if you do not feed him a healthy diet, or if your chosen foods do not contain the ingredients he needs.
If your dog starts lacking energy and losing playfulness, or his behaviour becomes poor, then he could in fact be unwell. Another sign of good health and proper nutrition is the coat, which in a healthy dog should be thick and shiny.
Do not be fooled into thinking that you are doing well by spending less on your dog. This is only the case if you are also sure that you are giving him a proper nutritional diet, which is essential for good health. If you do not choose wisely, then you and your pet will suffer for it. If you do select well, however, then he should be both healthy and happy.
John Williams asked:
How do you even begin to choose a food for your Cavalier King Charles Spaniel? There are so many brands of food, textures, and flavors. Cavalier’s food affects his coat, health, and temperament. So how do you choose? You should feed your puppy enough of the proper food to meet his energy requirements. Amounts may vary depending on age, size, activity level, and health. I would recommend checking with your veterinarian to make sure the Cavalier is healthy. Some Cavaliers may have special dietary needs for specific problems. This information pertains to a healthy Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
Types of Dog Food:
” Dry: usually less expensive, contain the least amount of fat, but the most preservatives.
” Canned: made up of 60-70% water.
” Simi-moist: contain a great deal of sugar.
” Home made: use a balanced amount of meat and grain with a smaller amount of vegetables.
Stages of Development:
1. Puppy: at 6 weeks of age introduce solid foods, by 8 weeks - fully weaned onto solid puppy food.
2. Adult: at 10-12 months, when the dog has stopped growing - can give adult dog food.
3. Senior: a change in lifestyle will occur in the dog such as exercising less, moves more slowly, and sleeps more, and starts to put on weight. This is a good time to change to senior dog food.
Choosing a Dog Food:
” Always check with your veterinarian before choosing a food. My veterinarian prefers dry food over semi-moist and canned because it is better for the Cavalier’s teeth. For puppies, the dry food can be moistened with water.
” Pay attention to the ingredients listed on dog food.
” The higher the ingredient the more of that ingredient there is in the food.
” Meat proteins such as chicken, lamb, or beef should appear at the top of the list.
” Grains should be next on the list and vegetables last.
” Beware of labels that list corn at one of the top ingredients. Dogs do not digest it easily.
Treats:
” Treats are a great way to reward you puppy and dog for good behavior.
” Treats are generally not as nutritious as regular food, so don’t use too many.
” If you find yourself using a great deal of treats, try using the regular food as a treat.
” Treats should be soft in texture.
” Treats should be about the size of a large pea.
Water:
” All dogs require a great deal of water.
” You may want to limit the water for a puppy to specific times, such as once an hour on the hour, to help with potty training. Take the puppy to his potty place about 10 minutes after he drinks.
” Once the puppy is potty trained, fresh water should be left out for him at all times.
” Wash the bowel and give fresh water during the day.
Feeding Schedule:
” Puppies: Start with 3 feedings per day. As the puppy grows to be about 5-6 months old, you can gradually back the feeding down to 2 feedings per day.
” Take the puppy to his potty spot 10 minutes after he finishes eating.
” The amount of food you should feed at one time varies with the breed, age, and energy level of the dog. The label on the food bag or your veterinarian can give you an idea of the amount to feed per feeding.
Foods to Avoid:
” Chocolate
” Onions
” Dairy Products
” Bones from poultry and fish - tend to splinter, stick into their throat, or cut into their intestines.
” Grapes and raisons - have been linked to renal failure
Jerry Richard Boone asked:
Mutations create variety in a population, and Natural Selection culls out the unfavorable results. But does this process lead to macro evolution? or micro evolution? Let’s check it out.
British peppered moth
Species can and do change over time. At least some of them do. One historical example is the British peppered moth. This variety of moth has made its home in Manchester, England for, well, as far back as anyone can remember. They sport a distinctive light speckled grey coloration on their wings. They perch on trees much the same color as themselves, thereby blending in nicely with their background.
Back in the 1840’s, Manchester was developing into a major center of British industry. Factories blackened the local vegetation with soot and other pollutants. Against the dark soot covered trees, the lightly covered pepper moths stood out like beacons for bird predators. As you can well imagine, the moth population plummeted. That, however, is not the end of the story.
By 1848, darker colored peppered moths began showing up. By the middle of the century, the darker variety had almost completely replaced the lighter pigmented forms in the polluted areas. In unpolluted areas, lighter colored pepper moths remained common. What do you make of it?
Evolutionists point to it as a good example of natural selection in action. If you read a book on evolution, you are likely to run across the peppered moth as proof of their theory. But when you think it over, it really doesn’t prove much of anything.
Peppered moths can vary anywhere from jet black to almost white or any range of shades in between. If lighter shades are suddenly more vulnerable, certainly, darker shades will predominate. But for all practical purposes, they are still the same old pepper moths they always were.
They didn’t gain any new organ, nor did they lose any old one. All we find is a change in the proportion of colors, and even that is temporary. Once the pollution cleared up, the population returned to its predominate peppered light grey look.
Was there any permanent change? No. Was there any “evolution?” Certainly not.
Breeding programs
Breeding programs are similar dead end tales. Breeders choose chickens that produce larger eggs, cows that yield more milk, and corn with higher protein content. But sooner or later breeders run into a natural barrier. Chickens can produce eggs only so large, cows can only give so much milk. Further genetic manipulations prove useless.
In the last century, breeders improved the quality of sheep’s wool and raised the level of sugar in beets from 6 to 15 percent. Then it reached its natural limit. Every breeder knows that selective “improvements” whether plants or animals can only go so far. Furthermore, if you discontinue the artificial selection, the “improved” traits will quickly revert back to what they were before the experiment began. As far as evolution is concerned, it’s just another potential example that doesn’t pan out.
Insecticides
What about insects? Don’t they develop resistance to pesticides such as DDT? Isn’t this an example of natural selection?
Whenever a new insecticide is introduced, the first few applications are very encouraging. A small amount kills a lot of pests. Nevertheless, in a large population of insects, you can count on a few to be genetically immune to the chemical spray.
Those favored pests will multiply and gradually replace those killed by the insecticide. Consequently, the same chemicals will become less and less effective over time. Resistance to one or more pesticides has been recorded in more than 100 species.
What has changed? A population of insects, which had a few individuals genetically immune to a particular pesticide, has been replaced by a population in which all, or nearly all, are immune to the same pesticide.
Even that minor change is not permanent. Discontinue the pesticides and the insects tend to revert back to what they were before. Once more, no lasting change. And no evolution has occurred.
Bacteria and Antibiotics
The same story is repeated with bacteria and antibiotics. New antibiotics tend to destroy the vast majority of bacteria. Some are immune. They survive, reproduce, and replace the old strain. When the antibiotic is discontinued, the bacteria eventually revert back to their old susceptible strain. Permanent change does not occur. Of course that is lucky for us. We can use the same antibiotic to destroy most of the bacteria again.
About now you might be wondering if Natural Selection ever works as advertised. The answer may be found on the Galapagos Islands.
Darwin’s Finches
Charles Darwin collected 13 species of finches on his visit to the Galapagos Islands. The birds had an uncanny resemblance to one another. In fact, the only noticeable differences were their size and beaks. Why different beaks? Darwin observed that the specialized beaks allowed the birds to feed on different foods.
Those with short stout beaks were capable of cracking tough seeds, while the ones with smaller beaks could handle the easier-to-crack seeds. One species had a long thin beak and used it for eating insects. Still another group with a different beak used cactus needles to poke grubs out of cracks in wood.
These birds were spread all over the Galapagos Islands, usually one specialized beak per island. How do we account for it? Today practically everyone agrees, Darwin was witnessing the direct results of natural selection.
This is how the scientists explain it. At one time, one species of finch made its home in the Galapagos Islands. That species probably originated on the South American mainland, then migrated to the islands. More than likely, the water level rose until the birds could no longer fly the distance between the islands.
Originally, say the theorists, the finch population displayed a good deal of variation in their beaks. When the birds became isolated, they had to make do with whatever resources were available on their island. Those fortunate enough to find food they could eat with their particular variety of beak survived. Those who couldn’t feed on the local fare died. Their type of beak perished with them.
As you can well imagine, after generations of this “beak-cleansing process,” the only thing left would be a pure strain of beak well suited to each island’s local food source. The distance between Galapagos Islands prevented crossbreeding between the finch populations. Differences accumulated, and separate species developed.
Here is something that may surprise you. Both naturalists and the religious side agree with everything we have said so far. A few dissent, but most concur. Some call it micro evolution, while others say it is adaptation.
Let’s briefly restate what we have just said. An original population of finches with genes for various shapes of beaks goes through the natural selection ringer and comes out as several different species of finches with just one variation of beak each. What we wind up with is a variety of birds, each less adaptable than the original.
That’s a far cry from a full-blown evolution scenario where something like a bacteria mutates and natural selects its way into a whale, an elephant, or a man. Of course, that is exactly what naturalists believe happened. They call it macro evolution, but peppered moths, breeding programs, insecticides, bacteria and antibiotics, fruit flies, and finches do not prove their case.
Adaptation or micro evolution works on a limited scale. Yes, peppered moths might turn a darker shade of color; fruit flies might be mutilated into odd forms; and finches might be develop different shaped beaks. But a darker colored moth is still a moth. A mutilated fly is still a fly. And a finch with a different beak is still a finch, even if they can’t interbreed with other types and are classified as different species.
No new organs are to be found in the moth, the fly, or the finch, and no old organs have been lost or replaced. All three are basically the same animals they always were. Changed? Yes. But a limited change. Design seems to be the explanation down to about the classification level, genus. Below that, genetic variation allows for adaptation and survival. It looks like design and variation were both built into the original plan.
Jadon Sluck asked:
Why do you want to take a dog-grooming course? Didn’t you learn how to bathe the family dog when you were a kid? Probably that is not the best way. You will learn allot in a course that will help you keep your pet clean and healthy without risking injury to your dog or yourself.
Learn about different breeds
First of all, a good dog grooming training course will teach you about the different breeds of dogs and the special grooming needs they have. A silky longhaired dog has different requirements that a fuzzy headed terrier and a good course will focus on the breeds of dogs the owners have. You will learn the best maintenance routine and supplies for your dog’s breed and temperament.
Learn about dog grooming supplies
In a dog grooming training course you will learn about the supplies you will need to carry out a grooming schedule. You will be instructed about good shampoos and skin care treatments for your pet. You will be told the best types of brushes, combs and dematting devices that will work for your breed of dog. Furthermore, the need for and proper use of devices such as toenail cutters with be provided. A good dog grooming training instructor will outline the best way to look for the parasites that love to get into your dogs hair and how to prevent them or remove them properly to avoid infection. Also in this category are ear mites, which you will learn to be on the lookout for and to treat.
Learn grooming techniques
In a dog grooming training course you will learn technique. Your dog is, at best, somewhat apprehensive about this grooming ritual and may even try to avoid it. Most dogs are easily distracted and have too much energy to hold still for long. You will be shown techniques to calm your dog before starting grooming, and to keep him from bolting out of the area covered with suds. You will be shown how to soothe your dog and introduce him to dog grooming tools like blow-dryers and electric trimmers. He may never get to like the buzz of an electric motor, but you will learn the best way to calm him or her enough so that he will stand still for it.
In short, a good dog-grooming course will provide a roadmap for successful maintenance of your pet and the proper tools to use to do this safely and efficiently. It will also give you the confidence and know how to groom your pet in a loving way. A good dog-grooming course can be a giant step in forming a good relationship with your dog and keeping him healthy.
Jadon Sluck asked:
We all know that cats are loving and truly wonderful creatures. These days, it isn’t out of the ordinary to see a cat in virtually every other home, sleeping in the window or cuddling up on the laps of their owners. Although cats have been popular pets for as long as most can remember, they weren’t domesticated less than 5,000 years or so ago. Domestication took place in the valley of the Nile, which is what research tells us today.
In the beginning, people were very grateful to cats and encouraged them to stay with them by feeding them various scraps of food. Once they were fed and perceived humans to be no threat, the cats would move in permanently with their human owners. As time went by, even the wildest of cat would allows humans to approach him, often times even hold and touch as well.
In those days, cats were very loyal and endearing pets. They proved to be great hunters, as they done their sleeping in short periods and were much easier to wake up than dogs. Cats also have better night vision than dogs, and much better hearing as well. If someone moved through the house or if they heard suspicious noises, they would wake while dogs would sleep right through it. Humans loved having cats around, and they seemed to get along good with dogs as well.
These days, cats are used for both companionship and show. They aren’t used much at all for hunting mice and rodent anymore at all. There are a lot of breeds available, from the traditional alley cat to the well known Siamese. All breeds are unique in their own way, and will provide you with years of companionship if you take care of them.
Before you get a kitten or older cat, you’ll first want to examine the source. If you are getting the kitten from a breeder, you’ll want to make sure that the breeder has a reputable reputation. You’ll also want to ensure that the cattery is clean and in good shape. The kittens that are still there shouldn’t be overcrowded, and their surroundings should be clean. The litter boxes there should be kept up and both the food and water dish should be clean and full. The kittens shouldn’t be caged, instead free to run around. All cats that are there should appear healthy, with shiny coats and none of their ribs showing.
When you get your kitten, it should be used to being touched and handled. The kitten should be sweet, not afraid in the least. Kittens that have been handled young normally have a better temperament. The better breeders won’t allow their kittens to leave the nest until they are around 12 weeks old, with some waiting until the kittens are 16 weeks. By doing this, breeders ensure that the kitten is in good health and his immune system has properly developed.
There’s no mistaken the fact that cats are great to own. You can get a kitten from a reputable breeder, through a local newspaper, or an adoption agency. Cats can also be obtained from a local pound, although people normally don’t like to choose this option. No matter which way you decide to pursue, you should always make sure that your cat is healthy. If you get a healthy cat, you won’t have a lot of problems later on down the road. Healthy cats were taken care of - and normally have everything up to date - including their vaccinations.
