we have 2 great pyrs that we got to protect the sheep. they are a year old now and do anything BUT protect the sheep...
they chase the sheep relentlessly
they bite at the goats
they maul the turkeys
they maul the chickens
they bark at me when i walk outside towards them
yesterday, i let out peepers, our one remaining chick that survived the weasel attack last fall, of her cage for the first time ever...in the early part of winter, we had brought her inside at night to keep warm and finally decided she was big enough to transfer out to the main coop. but, since she was still little, we kept her in her own cage to keep the big chickens from attacking her. well, she wandered into the pasture and thelma and louise said 'game on!' and attacked her. she was bloody and missing lots of feathers and her right wing is drooping. i gave her rescue remedy and put salve all over her wounds, i don't see anything punctured or bad. we kept her in a box next to our woodstove and she made it through the night. she's a bit perky this am, i hope she pulls through this. i'm so mad at those dogs, i told greg last night i want them gone. they don't do anything but harass the animals and eat tons of dog food. worthless.
so, today, i'm emailing the previous owner (she had requested we contact her if we ever decide to give them up) and see if she wants them back or knows another home for them. i also have another friend who likes them, maybe she'll take one! i want them gone. i'll take my chances with the sheep not having protection. maybe we can get a donkey or alpaca instead.
another beautiful day here. we are hoping to butcher our 12 remaining broilers. hopefully i'll get a little more knife throwing practice in too. tomorrow is supposed to get cold and rainy again so i want to enjoy this weather while i can!
9 comments:
We just gave our great pyr away. He had eaten one too many chickens. You can find llamas cheap. :)
Our great dane has a scheduled appt this week as well. She got into the pasture (I didn't tie gate shut hard enough) and attacked both ewes. They are OK (thank god for thick wool coats), but that was the final straw (actually she used up her final straw a while ago).
Buggers, good luck finding homes for them and a suitable protection replacement.
We had Great Pyrs and Anatolian Shepards as guard dogs. They are hell on chickens. To have them be effective livestock protectors requires getting them young. As young as they can be weaned, and then making then live with the goats all the time. They need to bond first with the goats, second with the human in charge, and with no one else. If you miss that chance all they are is big troublesome poop machines. As for the problem with chickens, if they kill one you should wire it around their neck tightly enough that they cant chew on it. Leave it there for a couple of weeks. They will never look at chickens again. Good luck finding them a home. If you cant, you should get one of them bred and keep the puppies.
alan, we have had our fair share of chicken killing dogs! we've tried everything, including tying the chicken around their neck after rubbing it in their face and nose. nothing has ever worked for us.
and bummer of this is, we've had the dogs since they were pups and locked them in with the sheep and goats when we got them for 3 weeks straight. one of our young turkeys vanished a short time after we brought the pups home and i suspect they ate it although nobody else believed me at the time. guess i was right! (one of those times when i wish i wasn't).
too late for breeding, we spayed them several months back! personally, i could do w/o any dogs myself. i'm more of a cat person. :D
twofroghome - thanks!
gina - i'm sorry to hear that she wasn't able to change her ways. it's quite frustrating to put that much effort into an animal and have them not work out.
team b - llamas are much quieter too! ;)
Sorry to hear about that, we have always went the route of electric fence for our "morsel" animals, and our cows are pretty safe from most predators.
My husbands Chow attacked everything in sight, except people. We kept that dog until he died. The breeder wouldn't take him and DH couldn't put him down. We have never had a problem with our Aussies, and we only expect them to protect us, and they have been trained to stay away from the animals.
Dogs are expensive to feed, especially if you aren't getting in thing in return for feeding them.
Hope you can get rid of them.
A side question. Where did you get your knives, and can you recommend a guide for beginners. I need a stress reliever, and archery (our families lethal sport) takes too much set-up time.
alan - this is a great website for learning to throw knives:
http://www.knifethrowing.info/how_to_throw_knives.html
they also sell a few knives there. mine were a gift and these are what i have:
http://www.1sks.com/store/united-cutlery-shoulder-harness-throwing-knife-triple-set.html
hope that helps!
SO sorry to hear that about your dogs. If I were close I would take them!!! I LOVE GREAT PYRENEES! I have never had a farm and had dogs to protect the livestock. I agree with Alan that dogs and chickens don't mix. What I do know is that it takes about 2 to 2.5 years for Great Pyrenees to settle down and relax. They are some of the most energetc breeds as puppies. And right when you have had your fill they settle down.
But you know... if you don't like dog you don't like dogs! :)
I hope they find a good home. Farms here in Missouri loves Pyrenees and you see them on the goat and sheep farms all over the place.
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