Perhaps you'll appreciate this...

[chad]

In the past few days a stray cat has been coming into the yard trying to get at our free-ranged layers. No injuries or losses yet, but I've been keeping my loaded .22 handy.

At the same time our young broilers are housed in a stall in our barn. Our Great Pyrenees dog, Seri, occupies the barn and its attached paddock 24/7, keeping coyotes away.

Mr. Cat should have been as smart as the coyotes. My wife just emailed me that this morning she found the cat, dead with a broken neck, in the paddock, and one very pleased-with-herself Pyr standing over him. Hee, hee!

Seri gets a nice raw steak tonight!

 

[pixiechick]

Wow! I need me one of those dogs!

 

[Jacky'sMamma]

Poor Kitty... shoulda stuck to the kibble @ home.

Good DOGGIE!

 

[pixiechic]

Interesting. I've never heard of using a Great Pyrenees as a guard dog, nor known one that would kill a cat. They are typically very gentle dogs.

 

[chad]

Quote:
In fact the GP was bred as a LGD. Seri is in fact very gentle overall, and I suspect she would be gentle with a housecat if we had one, as she is with our layers. It's a whole new ballgame when her charges are threatened by a strange animal, however.

 

[Whistling Badger]

Are you serious, Pixie? Pyrs are THE guard dog that sheepherders use around here. They will kill coyotes when they can catch them, and they will even run off bears and wolves. Amazing dogs.

They tend to be quite gentle with people, though. Unless you're messing with their sheep. I once found myself up close and personal with the business end of one who thought I was bothering his sheep. It's an experience I'll never forget.

You get a well-bred pyr and get it to make friends with your chickens, and I doubt you'll ever have any predator problems. I'd get one myself if they didn't bark so much. But that's one of the things that makes them great at what they do.

As for the cat, everything dies sometime. Sounds like it lived life to the fullest and died quickly. A critter could do worse...

Tom

 

[Eggseronious]

My friend has two in a 3 acre fenced in with electric 3 wires. He lets his chickens free range that area and never loses a chicken except to an owl every now and then. But he pole traps them.

 

[Buster]

I have a friend who rode his dirt bike with some other friends through a huge flock of sheep and 5 great pyrenese dogs came out of the flock and tried to knock them off their bikes. They will think twice before riding through a flock of sheep again.

 

[chad]

A neighbor of mine breeds, raises, sells, Great Pyrenees, and has a flock of sheep as well. Her dogs are quite friendly and gentle; but they patrol her property overnight and she says, "I wouldn't want to be anybody but me trying to cross this property after dark."

As for predators from the air, last summer I watched as Seri spotted a hawk circling the hens, ran over into the middle of the birds, pointed her nose up into the air, and barked like crazy until she chased the hawk away.

 

[Guitartists]

Good doggie!