Sad beginning, happy ending

[CumberlandView]

Hi All. I'm a long time lurker but decided to join so I could solve the sad case of my entire flock being lost in one night. To say the least, you all are the chicken gurus so who better to help me, right?

Anyway, I live in Middle Tennessee in the middle of 850 wooded acres teeming with predators. I've had chickens now for 10 years and this is the first time I've lost even a single bird so my two Great Pyrenees do a great job. Unfortunately, our big male is now 12 years old and can mostly only bark which the predators seem to have figured out. Up until the past year, I didn't even have to fence my vegetable garden because he kept out even the rabbits and squirrels!

I also have Foundation Quarter Horses and one slightly goofy Friesian, two Labs, a Rottie, 5 cats and varying numbers of pearl Guinea fowl.

There are also two human males here - one an adult (DH) and the other who thinks he is.

I just bought 7 new birds - Copper and Cuckoo Marans, Speckled Sussex, Black sex links - who are currently living in a stall in the barn while I'm planning the complete rebuild of the coop (currently a sad structure made of left-over and salvaged everything).

So hello y'all! Thank you for all the advice, info and just plain fun posts.

 

[aoxa]

Welcome! Nice to see someone new, but with years of experience joining our forum. Lots of things to look at, and lots of new things to learn.

I am sorry to hear you lost your flock to predators. That must have been devastating!

Are you planning on getting a new LGD to do the job of your retired boy? 12 years for an LGD is like 100 years for humans.

I currently have a 7 month old LGD female. She is not old enough to trust fully. I would love to hear your experience with raising them from pups. Especially your thoughts on keeping them off the road and out of the neighbours' yard. We don't have nearly that much land. Maybe 4 acres of cleared land. The rest is wooded. The neighbours are very close and hate dogs. It's a struggle every time she is off the lead or out of her kennel.

I love your avatar by the way, beautiful image!

 

[Kevin565]

. So sorry for the loss of your flock

. I don't raise chickens so don't have personal experience with them but I hope the experts can get you going in the best direction for you.

 

[weimarmama]

& from Alabama. Glad you joined us. I am so sorry to hear about your flock

 

[CumberlandView]

Welcome! Nice to see someone new, but with years of experience joining our forum. Lots of things to look at, and lots of new things to learn.
I am sorry to hear you lost your flock to predators. That must have been devastating!
Are you planning on getting a new LGD to do the job of your retired boy? 12 years for an LGD is like 100 years for humans.
I currently have a 7 month old LGD female. She is not old enough to trust fully. I would love to hear your experience with raising them from pups. Especially your thoughts on keeping them off the road and out of the neighbours' yard. We don't have nearly that much land. Maybe 4 acres of cleared land. The rest is wooded. The neighbours are very close and hate dogs. It's a struggle every time she is off the lead or out of her kennel.
I love your avatar by the way, beautiful image!

Ah aoxa - Anyone who compliments my beautiful Mojo (avatar) is my friend already!

Congrats on your LGD! I assume she's a Pyr? I've owned them for years both rescuing and raising from pups and you said it perfectly - they are unique problem children and yet so worth the extra trouble. Keeping them at home is by far the biggest challenge and the first year is the hardest. Regardless of whether they live on 4 acres or 850, they tend to roam (just ask my neighbors who keep me on speed dial). I've found that LGD's do best when they have a job (something to protect).

I walk my pups/younger dogs regularly on perimeter jaunts where every time they even look in the direction I don't want them to go, I correct them with a tug and a reprimand. Then I enforce infractions with kennel time-outs and I locate the kennel (it's portable) next to chickens or horses I want the dog to guard. It requires patience, consistency and lots of time. The yield is a dog who understands his job and more importantly where it should be performed.

Good luck and nice to meet you. Feel free to ask questions. We'll figure it out together!

 

[jbirds2012]

 

[sumi]

Hello and welcome to BYC

So sorry to hear about your flock

Hope you get the predator situation sorted. Maybe get a new puppy?
Oh, Mojo's gorgeous

Love that colour.

 

[20736]

Welcome, sorry about the flock loss.
One of the things I like about poultry is the unpredictability and challenges that come with that.
Good Luck with the restart. Hunker down and retaliate when your enemies least expect it.
Do you know what got your chickens?

 

[CumberlandView]

Welcome, sorry about the flock loss.
One of the things I like about poultry is the unpredictability and challenges that come with that.
Good Luck with the restart. Hunker down and retaliate when your enemies least expect it.
Do you know what got your chickens?

For lack of better info for a sounder guess, I think it was a weasel. Who knows? There are so many predators to choose from!

 

[aoxa]

Ah aoxa - Anyone who compliments my beautiful Mojo (avatar) is my friend already! Congrats on your LGD! I assume she's a Pyr? I've owned them for years both rescuing and raising from pups and you said it perfectly - they are unique problem children and yet so worth the extra trouble. Keeping them at home is by far the biggest challenge and the first year is the hardest. Regardless of whether they live on 4 acres or 850, they tend to roam (just ask my neighbors who keep me on speed dial). I've found that LGD's do best when they have a job (something to protect). I walk my pups/younger dogs regularly on perimeter jaunts where every time they even look in the direction I don't want them to go, I correct them with a tug and a reprimand. Then I enforce infractions with kennel time-outs and I locate the kennel (it's portable) next to chickens or horses I want the dog to guard. It requires patience, consistency and lots of time. The yield is a dog who understands his job and more importantly where it should be performed. Good luck and nice to meet you. Feel free to ask questions. We'll figure it out together!

She is a Pyr x Maremma mix. Best of both I think

Here she is after her first warning about a stray dog. I didn't feel safe letting her take care of the dog, but we needed it caught, so my little corgi actually tackled the dog and we returned it to the owners with a very thorough tongue lashing.

He's small but he packs a punch lol. The stray was just a beagle, though 'just' doesn't mean much. It could have easily killed quite a few birds. I plan on getting some alpacas next year, and hope that will be what she protects, and the chickens will just be a bonus and part of the scenery to her. We have an underground electric fence right now, but hope to install a regular electric fence with some barbed wire to keep her off the busy road. You know once they get a smell, it's hard to distract them. We find tying something to her lead helps slow her down enough to catch her taking off, or gets her tangled up in the woods if she tries to take off that way. She has an awesome kennel that we spent over $700 on. A flimsy kennel would stand no chance against her. She sometimes bounces off the wall lol.

This is her proximity to the barn and the woods. The black thing is shade cover that she can see through.

She actually loves her kennel, and goes in when directed now. Thank God. She is the strongest dog I have ever handled. Sometimes it frightens me. I don't know how to keep her from jumping and mouthing. Submitting her does not work like it does with my other dogs. She still mouths us when excited. She ran full force at my 90 year old grandmother. That was a scary sight. We got to her in time (again, thank GOD! lol). Thanks for the advice! They sure are a hard headed breed to raise. Smart though.. very smart. I think she plots ways to throw me off