Official Poll: How do you protect your livestock from predators?

[Support]

It seems that using LGDs are the most preferred method by many.

 

[Ridgetop]

Properly trained LGDs are the best protection by far. If you have small children and predators they will protect the family members too. We got our first LGD about 30 years ago and have only been without one for several years when we didn't have any livestock. We started with a Maremma Shar cross (all we could find back then and had him shipped in as a pup) then added a Pyr a couple years later to help out. Our dogs were all Pyrs for many years until the last one. Because of roaming issues we had with all our Pyrs, we checked out other breeds and switched to an Anatolian. Love, love, love her! She does a great job. Eventually when she is 6 or 7 we will get another younger one to help her.

We bring the sheep in at night to a 3 1/2 sided pole barn but before we had guardian dogs, the rabits and goats were attacked in the barn even though we have yard lights that burn all night, and the barn is only 30 feet from the house. (We have large house dogs too.) After getting our LGDs we had one more attack on the rabbits about 15 years later, when a pack of 6 or 8 huge husky type dogs killed our 13 year old LGD and drove off the 1 year old LGD (she was the runt of the litter and only weighed about 70 lbs full grown). The pack was resting in our field in the morning and we used our guns then. The city finally had to get involved in getting rid of this pack - they were owned by a neighborhood woman who was breeding huskies with Pyrs to make giant dogs! They were mean and only left our property when we started shooting them. Even though we live in town we were told by animal control to take our guns with us when we went to the barn (30' from the house!) because this pack had killed a herd of 6 goats, a flock of 12 sheep, an entire aviary of chickens, pheasants, etc., lots of local dogs, and all the farm animals at a school for disabled children! They also killed a miniature horse and her foal.

Poison is illegal here, and we don't like poison even for rats because our local raptors eat them and get poisoned. We lost an aussie x queensland pup when our neighbor started poisoning rats. We use barn cats for rats. Our animal shelter has a feral cat program where they will bring out feral cats that have been fixed, and give you a cage, litter box, food, etc. for 3 weeks while the cats get used to the barn. Then you release them and they live out their lives as wild creatures and control the rats in the barn. We just got 3 since we are finding lots of drowned rats in our livestock water barrels.

Fences are useless against coyotes since they can jump a 6' fence from a standstill. Since we are on a steep hillside, holes under our fences are a naturally occurring event. We attach short lengths of 6' chain link fencing to the bottoms of our perimeter fences to keep our dogs in and predators out. We let the chain link trail several feet onto the ground inside the fence. Weeds and brush eventually grow though it, anchoring it to the ground as good as a concrete foundation! We have used hot wires, but you have to check them physically frequently and our steep hillside fences are almost impossible to get to on a weekly basis. if the wire grounds out, you have to do an inch by inch check.

A well trained LGD that does the job and is a loving family member too is indispensable. I think they are the number 1 animal on the farm. Our daughter was telling her mother-in-law the other day that every animal on our place has a job. Cats catch mice, sheep do fire clearance and put meat in our freezer, rabbits feed us, and the dogs protect the livestock and us, and we feed them all. We have a great symbiotic relationship with all our animals! Oh yes, and their poop fertilizes our vegies! LOL

 

[Alta Loma Ladies]

I HATE yotes, a pack of 5 can cost a lot of $$ quick. We have some big ones down here--minus 1.

 

[Ridgetop]

An ounce or 2 of lead is definitely permanent - for coyotes and marauding strays. No repeat offenders! Shoot, shovel, and shut up as they say. (except on this site among friends LOL!)

 

[animalmom]

An ounce or 2 of lead is definitely permanent - for coyotes and marauding strays. No repeat offenders! Shoot, shovel, and shut up as they say. (except on this site among friends LOL!)

Amen to that!

 

[Poka_Doodle]

My protection doesn't always work so well as she is also a pet dog and getting older

 

[GLENMAR]

We have dusk to dawn lights on the outside of the barns to light up the barnyard at night. 3 LGD take care of the goats and warn predators to stay away from the barnyard. I also keep a radio playing 24/7 in the barn. I enjoy music while doing chores, and I think it helps keep wild things away at night.

 

[Poka_Doodle]

My protection doesn't always work so well as she is also a pet dog and getting older

I also use my brothers spotting the coyote and there protection. We saw 1 about 1/2 hour after I made that post

 

[Alta Loma Ladies]

We have dusk to dawn lights on the outside of the barns to light up the barnyard at night. 3 LGD take care of the goats and warn predators to stay away from the barnyard. I also keep a radio playing 24/7 in the barn. I enjoy music while doing chores, and I think it helps keep wild things away at night.

I do the same thing, had a tv out there for a while, until a bird flew into it. rg's

 

[Ridgetop]

We have bright yard lights too, but our LGD is the reason I sleep sound at night.