Livestock Guardians

[smoothmule]

I have 2 Livestock guardian dogs that watch over everything here. It's a farm....it's a zoo...they seem to get it and they know what belongs and what doesn't. I also have a Texas Heeler that is pretty good too and he rides with me in the buggy when I do chores, helps move cows and horses when I need to move them. I will say, without these canines, things here would be less monitored and managed, whether I'm here or at work (I'm an RN and work in surgery and endoscopy, 10 hour days plus on call).

I feel go knowing they are taking care of things till I get back home....

It's so weird how they work. If I have a new calf out in the pasture, and I call them up to feed and mamma comes with out the calf (leaving it out laying down in the grass) These dogs will just lay out in the grass, a hundred yards or so and just Watch them. No coyote issues here! Lol. They are both around 100 pounds. Great Pyr/Anatolian/Komondor crosses.

 

[BRYANT]

like anything there is good ones and bad ones. Had one of them so called guard dogs, Anatolian, come pay me a visit a few weeks back killed three Llamas, two babies and a mother died 3 days later. He even came back the next day to do it again.

 

[TexasBred]

I have 2 Livestock guardian dogs that watch over everything here. It's a farm....it's a zoo...they seem to get it and they know what belongs and what doesn't. I also have a Texas Heeler that is pretty good too and he rides with me in the buggy when I do chores, helps move cows and horses when I need to move them. I will say, without these canines, things here would be less monitored and managed, whether I'm here or at work (I'm an RN and work in surgery and endoscopy, 10 hour days plus on call).

I feel go knowing they are taking care of things till I get back home....

It's so weird how they work. If I have a new calf out in the pasture, and I call them up to feed and mamma comes with out the calf (leaving it out laying down in the grass) These dogs will just lay out in the grass, a hundred yards or so and just Watch them. No coyote issues here! Lol. They are both around 100 pounds. Great Pyr/Anatolian/Komondor crosses.

I've had a couple of good ones too. Just big ol' babies until there is a need to get riled up a bit and then they are deadly on coyotes, stray dogs etc. So far mine have helped raise all the calves, two liters of kittens and 3 baby geese that she watched like they were hers.

 

[Allenw]

like anything there is good ones and bad ones. Had one of them so called guard dogs, Anatolian, come pay me a visit a few weeks back killed three Llamas, two babies and a mother died 3 days later. He even came back the next day to do it again.

I've been told they will kill anything they aren't used to, they will travel too.

 

[True Grit Farms]

like anything there is good ones and bad ones. Had one of them so called guard dogs, Anatolian, come pay me a visit a few weeks back killed three Llamas, two babies and a mother died 3 days later. He even came back the next day to do it again.

I've been told they will kill anything they aren't used to, they will travel too.

That seems to be a common problem.

 

[BRYANT]

like anything there is good ones and bad ones. Had one of them so called guard dogs, Anatolian, come pay me a visit a few weeks back killed three Llamas, two babies and a mother died 3 days later. He even came back the next day to do it again.

I've been told they will kill anything they aren't used to, they will travel too.

This one wont travel any more

 

[Ky hills]

like anything there is good ones and bad ones. Had one of them so called guard dogs, Anatolian, come pay me a visit a few weeks back killed three Llamas, two babies and a mother died 3 days later. He even came back the next day to do it again.

I've been told they will kill anything they aren't used to, they will travel too.

That seems to be a common problem.

When I had sheep I tried some Pyrenees, they worked good as long as they stayed in the field, problem was they could get out of darn near anywhere and might go 10 or more miles. I didn't keep them too long.
Tried a llama that was supposed to have been made a steer or what ever you call that in llama. Paid a vet to come from quite a ways to do it, evidently he didn't complete the job, cause I had to protect the sheep from that thing. Finally cured the predator problem with my sheep by getting rid of the sheep.
My strategy for keeping coyotes away from calves is having some "ear" on some of the cows and a couple longhorn crosses.

 

[BRYANT]

I've been told they will kill anything they aren't used to, they will travel too.

That seems to be a common problem.

When I had sheep I tried some Pyrenees, they worked good as long as they stayed in the field, problem was they could get out of darn near anywhere and might go 10 or more miles. I didn't keep them too long.
Tried a llama that was supposed to have been made a steer or what ever you call that in llama. Paid a vet to come from quite a ways to do it, evidently he didn't complete the job, cause I had to protect the sheep from that thing. Finally cured the predator problem with my sheep by getting rid of the sheep.
My strategy for keeping coyotes away from calves is having some "ear" on some of the cows and a couple longhorn crosses.

Llamas are ok with about any kind of stock but I have never tried them around sheep, but I know a man that knows stock and he says a Llama will hurt sheep ?????

 

[Ky hills]

That seems to be a common problem.

When I had sheep I tried some Pyrenees, they worked good as long as they stayed in the field, problem was they could get out of darn near anywhere and might go 10 or more miles. I didn't keep them too long.
Tried a llama that was supposed to have been made a steer or what ever you call that in llama. Paid a vet to come from quite a ways to do it, evidently he didn't complete the job, cause I had to protect the sheep from that thing. Finally cured the predator problem with my sheep by getting rid of the sheep.
My strategy for keeping coyotes away from calves is having some "ear" on some of the cows and a couple longhorn crosses.

Llamas are ok with about any kind of stock but I have never tried them around sheep, but I know a man that knows stock and he says a Llama will hurt sheep ?????

After I moved the llama away from the sheep, I put him with cattle and didn't have any problems then. As for the sheep, I will just say that I went out to check the sheep that were getting close to lambing and the llama had a ewe down and it was laying on her. My cousin who has knowledge of horses said that the vet probably proud cut the llama, like they sometimes do a horse. I had never heard that term before.

 

[BRYANT]

Some , not all, male Llamas can be very mean and even hurt people. I got 4 they are easy to get along with and my mother that lives on this place likes them they come to her house for treats. This place that they are on is not very big only 16 acres but they keep every leaf and small branch trimmed up clean to about 7 foot.

 

[farmerjan]

We have run llamas with our sheep. An intact male wanted to try to breed the ewes and that is how they hurt them. Birthing smells triggers the mating instinct they say. All the female and FIXED males that we have with the sheep have been great. We had a donkey that was good with anything half grown but would try to kill the baby lambs. Had another donkey that was GREAT with the ewes and new lambs. We do not have the fences for guardian dogs. Great pyrs are about the worst for traveling that I have heard many talk about. I have heard that Anatoli's are more protective of their "human herd" . Komondors are supposed to be more apt to stick around. I would think that a Kom/Toli cross would be a good one. Used to farm sit for a guy who had Maremma's, and one was great, the other would kill the half grown lambs. Both would get out and travel some, but he didn't have very good fences and only a couple of sheep for them to guard so I think they were bored. They were great around people.
Some friends that have meat goats run several llamas with them and have no problems; have both males and females, and have had one or 2 babies.

 

[greybeard]

Finally cured the predator problem with my sheep by getting rid of the sheep.
My strategy for keeping coyotes away from calves is having some "ear" on some of the cows and a couple longhorn crosses.

:clap:
Good choices on the solutions, both of them.

 

[ddd75]

i've had GP's, Maremmas, and currently have an Akbash / GP mix.

my first GP was amazing, always stayed.. never got another like her though.

the maremmas were terrifc dogs and very good property guardians.. they are very aggressive toward other people. you have to be careful they don't attack anyone. I really liked them.

this new pup.. she's not even a year yet.. but she stays right around, does a pretty good job of guarding.

The cows take care of themselves, if they don't, they are hamburger.

coyotes around.. 1/2 the herd will chase them down. if birds are around.. they'll stand over top of their calves until its safe.

 

[lithuanian farmer]

Would be interesting what kind of protection would help against wolves. Very bad situation here. People saw packs of 12 wolves... Wolves attacking in a daylight, slaughtering big numbers of sheep, attacking mature cattle... You'd need quite a number of dogs for protection.
A small edit: we've not aloud to shoot wolves by a law, even if you see it in the action.

 

[greybeard]

You ain't a real farmer or rancher unless you have an LGD or at least that's what all those that breed and sell them tell me.
The trick and objective is very simple. It is to have your LGD run the predators off your property and on to your neighbor's property and his LGD will run them off on to another neighbor's property and then that neighbor's LGD will run them back on to your property so your LGD can make himself useful again and you git the warm fuzzy feeling that the initial expense and all that dog food was worth every penny.

I don't have an LGD and neither do any of my neighbors, and because of it we've all been labeled as Trigger Happy Cowboys because we just shoot whatever comes around, therefore unfairly depriving those breeders and the dog food companies of all that revenue.
(yes I know, we should be ashamed of ourselves and are probably not true Americans but bullets are cheaper than dog food)
(I just have 'regular old dogs' that keep me company because they feel sorry for me and begrudgingly let me know when a vehicle is driving down the road)

 

[Chocolate Cow2]

I have a mammoth donkey (jenny) I keep with my fall calving herd. There were some problems a few years ago with an unseen predator. The cows were awfully nervous and aggressive towards me. Someone suggested a donkey. I found one, bought her and put with the cows. Initially, the cows looked like a defensive line (football) towards that poor donkey. They treated her as if she was another predator. Guess she proved herself to them because now they're always with her. I've gotten calls from neighbors telling me they're sitting alongside the road watching my donkey attack a coyote. Donkey won't let me touch her. She's very independent and 100% maintenance free. She cost $250. She loads into the semi right along with the cows & calves when we bring them home for the winter. I kinda like her.

 

[BRYANT]

Would be interesting what kind of protection would help against wolves. Very bad situation here. People saw packs of 12 wolves... Wolves attacking in a daylight, slaughtering big numbers of sheep, attacking mature cattle... You'd need quite a number of dogs for protection.
A small edit: we've not aloud to shoot wolves by a law, even if you see it in the action.

the old type green anti-freeze will work pretty good

 

[BFE]

Against my better judgement, I bought the missus a Pyrenees female pup for Christmas yesterday. She comes from my neighbor/landlord, so I'm familiar with the dog family, they stay home really well. I swore I'd never own anything but Rat or JR terrier types again, so I'm eating a big helping of crow.

 

[ddd75]

Against my better judgement, I bought the missus a Pyrenees female pup for Christmas yesterday. She comes from my neighbor/landlord, so I'm familiar with the dog family, they stay home really well. I swore I'd never own anything but Rat or JR terrier types again, so I'm eating a big helping of crow.

at least your wife has a mans dog. :hide:

 

[BFE]

Against my better judgement, I bought the missus a Pyrenees female pup for Christmas yesterday. She comes from my neighbor/landlord, so I'm familiar with the dog family, they stay home really well. I swore I'd never own anything but Rat or JR terrier types again, so I'm eating a big helping of crow.

at least your wife has a mans dog. :hide:

I would take offense to that statement if I had any pride left concerning my manhood! A wife and three daughters later, I've learned how to take my lumps!

Just remember, it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog, and those little terriers have tons of fight in them. I never liked small breeds until I owned one, thought they were all yappers. Boy, was I wrong.