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cymraes

Will LGD protect chickens?

cymraes
14 years ago

Today our neighbor's lab killed three of my chickens. We have talked to this neighbor multiple times reagarding keeping his dog on his own property. He moved here from the city and feels his dogs can run whereever they please. I am not the kind to shoot a dog, but I think after today I might. It is not the dogs fault that his owner is negligent, but he has been warned. I was wondering if a Great Pyrenees would bond with chickens and protect them?

Comments (8)

  • brendasue
    14 years ago

    YES!

    However it takes a special lgd to do so. It takes training to do so. Some will not ever get over the idea of how fun it is to chase a cackling chicken.

    The best scenario is to find a breeder who currently has their adults guarding chickens or fowl. The adults will have started training on the pup. Let the pup stay with the parents for as long as possible-paying board if you must(minimum 4 months). What the adult dogs didn't cover, you will need to finish & it will be ongoing until they are 1 1/2 to 2 years old.

    Alternatively you can locate an adult pyr, used to guarding poultry.

    If the dog wasn't guarding chickens, you would keep the chickens in a predator proof pen where the dog can see/smell/sniff the birds without hurting them. Bond them for a while (2 weeks to 8 months) or as long as it takes. This, however DOES NOT guarantee a fowl guardian. Fowl guardians are hard to comeby/train, but extremely rewarding when accomplished..

    Although rescues & dog shelters have their place, I do not recommend you getting your bird guardian from these places unless the dog is a proven poultry protector. I also highly recommend getting a full blood lgd, or one mixed Only with other lgd breeds.

    I also highly recommend you visiting www.lgd.org so you can be prepared to train your lgd. I do beleive there is an article about lgd's and poultry.

    I have 3 out of 4 of my dogs guarding poultry. The 4th, well she just isn't there yet, she's 9 months. Actually, I'm not sure she's going to be a good poultry guardian-with persistence maybe. Hey, 3 out of 4 aint bad, huh? btw my 2nd dog trained my 1st & 3rd to guard bird & other livestock. I lucked out when I found her.

    Good luck to you!

    Brendasue

  • goldenpond
    14 years ago

    I had a neighbors black that would come over. Nearly knocked me off a ladder when I was painting so I took the paintbrush and made a white skunk stripe from hiforehead down his to his tail.Other times I dressed him in a T-shirt and Bubushka and sent him home I always sent him home decorated somehow so they knew he had been to my house.They finally got the hint and kept him home.

  • gardendawgie
    14 years ago

    Great Pyrenees do protect chickens. But like all animals that are required for work, it is not guaranteed that every animal will do the job. But in general GP are an excellent pick and should do the job. Some people use 2. The pair can do a better job on cayote packs.

    They should protect all your animals if you have different ones.

  • msmitoagain
    14 years ago

    goldenpond, LOL. I would have loved to seen their faces when it came home looking like a giant skunk.

    That's funny.

    Here is a link that might be useful: MY BLOG

  • mersiepoo
    14 years ago

    Goldenpond, lol! You are highly creative in a non combative way, that is so great!!

    Reminded me of my friends dog, he would go out running during the day, and some neighbor would get mad because of this and smear poop all over their dog. THAT convinced them very quickly to stop letting their dog run loose!

  • goldenpond
    14 years ago

    HA I never did the poop but now that I recall I did have a HUGE bottle of ESTEE LAUDER overpowering pefume.Sometimes I would spray his backside(never his nose I did have a heart) and send that dog home stinking like a ....well stinking

  • gardendawgie
    14 years ago

    http://www.gpcgc.org/pyrforme.htm

    Here is a link that might be useful: info

  • gardengalrn
    14 years ago

    That is hilarious!! Well, the painting and smearing of the neighbor's dog, that is. I'm sorry for the original poster losing 3 chickens :( One of my biggest pet peeves (excuse the pun) is a dog owner who believes their dog should be able to run "free." Perfect, loving Fido becomes another critter altogether when given free roaming and a neighbor's yard full of chickens, cats or other small animals. Like someone said, it is not the dog's fault, it is the ignorance of the owner. Lori

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