What kind of Guardian does your herd have?

[carolinagirl]

This room looked a little bit empty so I thought I'd start a thread. So tell me....what kind of guardian does your herd/flock have? Are you happy with your choice?

I have.....actually I almost have an Anatolian Shepherd. He's 12 days old so he can't come home for a while longer, but I am really happy with my choice. I actually found this breed when I was looking for a home guardian. I had a list of criteria, and the LGD breeds fit pretty well, with an Anatolian being a perfect fit. And since I may want to breed them later down the road (after OFA certs and a good show record), I decided I needed to get some livestock for him. I chose Barbados Black Belly sheep and Katahdin sheep. So now I have the sheep....but no puppy yet. But he's mine....I just have to be patient.

It took me a long time to find my breeder and I am currently searching for the breeder of my female pup. I am hoping to get her early next year.

 

[elevan]

I have a llama.

He didn't start out as a guardian though. We sort of rescued him. I say sort of because when I went to pick up 3 of my goats, I saw the ladies husband chasing their llamas around with a broom handle. I politely said that I'd been looking for a llama and if they were ever interested in selling one I'd love to buy one. She said "How's $100 sound"...I said I'd be back the next weekend.

Jerry was very wary of men (as you can imagine) and it took months before my DH could build his trust.

He wasn't interested in the goats at first. Not until the first batch of kids arrived after he came. That was when he started protecting them. He's now a wonderful guard.

Oh, and he is an intact male.

 

[carolinagirl]

That's a great story! I adore llamas but they don't do too well here in South Carolina with the heat and humidity we have. I had 3 for a while but they really suffered in the heat and I didn't have a good shady cool spot for them so I sold them. they were so sweet and gentle!

 

[yinzer81]

I have donkeys. I know it's not suppose to work but it does. It took them a little while to get use to eachother, I have 3 donks and just 2 goats and 26 chickens.(soon to be 50) The donkeys are very protective of their area, so I don't know if they're actually guarding the goats and chickens, or just their property. Whatever it is, they chase everything, including deer, and my dog and cats, out of the pasture. So far I haven't lost any to preditors, and my chickens free range all day, only go in the coop at night. They're all jennys.

 

[jodief100]

Great Pys. I "bought" two as adults that supposedly had lived with goats. I say bought becasue I paid for them but it was a mercy mission. The female, Snowy is terrified of men. They were skinny and obviously nto well cared for. They have come along great. Snowy is getting better with beign terrified but she still will only come to me and not hubby. She does a good job with the goats most of the time but certianly is not perfect. The male, Junior has put on 50 lbs since I got him and is turning out to be a good guardian. He chased the kids the first 6 months or so but he was only a year and still being a puppy. Jack is 8 months old and I just got him a fe wmonths ago. He is bonding well with the bucks and is growing into a good LGD. He still chases little goats which is why he is with the bucks for now.

 

[ksj0225]

I have a 9 month old great pyrenesses female. So far she is a super star!!!

Next week she gets spayed and shaved. Yes I know some say don't shave them. And if you do, I should have shaved earlier in the spring however.

TICKS, TICKS, and more TICKS...

I can't keep them off of her... So a shave down it is.

 

[lilhill]

A Great Pyr here. Daisy was 13 months old when we got her and she is almost 5 now. Don't know what we would do without her. I am thinking about getting another one for her to train.

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

Great Pyrenees here, too. Ours in 10 months and already proving to be exactly what we were looking for.

 

[carolinagirl]

It's good to see all these dogs excelling at doing exactly what they were bred to do.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

We have 2 Great Pyrenees - 1 male and 1 female. The male is the one that runs towards the disturbance while the female stands back with the goats.