What do you use to guard your flock?

[TrulyFowl]

YIKES - my biggest fear - daytime raccoons!!! We also live in the city, and my DH has built two of the most secure runs he could - hardware cloth under, up the sides and over the top of two dog kennels. All gaps sealed. The coop for the chickens and the house for the ducks are equally secure inside the runs. Truly like Fort Knox (or, until I plant some flowers around them, kind of reminds me of Alcatraz). But the ducks and chickens are out of the runs and free ranging in the yard all day, so a DAYTIME coon could wipe them out!!! You know how it is with these darned raccoons - you do your best, but you still think they're going to find a way to outsmart you!

 

[Sissy]

We do our best with Hardware cloth
and hope for the best .but Dh does have a trigger finger LoL

 

[Amethyste]

Quote:
The coon didnt last long.... he was informed that his time was up

Animal control came and did tests on it later, we were told that it was just a hungry teenage coon, no rabies. Sad tho really... we have been seeing more and more daytime coons this year cos not enough food etc I guess. At least that is what animal control told us is going on. I can't help but feel sorry for them in a way...only doing what they were meant to do...survive

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
I know this thread is getting old. But i want to tell you about a good sign with my Jelly.

She became much less low key as she became more comfortable here. She still likes to watch the chickens but if they're actually together, she has been too aggressive, and we were afraid she would inadvertently hurt them. We have been comforted, though, that she will bark at anything that is out of line, and so we don't worry as much about raccoons and the like since Jelly likes to sleep outside.

Anyway, today, she's now about 8 months old i think. Somehow, the coop door was opened during the day (an important mystery to solve), and some of the chickens were wandering around the yard. My husband and his friend discovered them, and they, along with our neighbor's 9 year-old boy, were trying to round up the chickens and get them to go into the run.

Then Jelly noticed what was going on. My husband said, that Jelly came right over and rounded up all those chickens and herded them right back into the run! I'm so happy and proud!

I'm just beaming!

We have a lot more work to do with Jelly, but this is such a huge good sign to us, i had to share.

 

[ruth]

I'm so glad to hear she is catching on and working out for you. The Shepherd in her will be invaluable as a LGD as she ages. I find 8 months to be the perfect age for really working with them, off leash, with the flock. Prior to that, they are more hyper and too much puppy. After that, they really learn quickly. At least that's how it worked with Scarlett. It seemed to really click by the time she was a year old and she began working the coop alone daily.

We just had an "interesting" morning. There was a stray dog in our yard. Mid-size dog, mutt. DH chased it off twice. But it came back, went in back yard, in coop and then all heck broke loose. Our "pack" saw it. I got Scarlett (GSD) inside (since she's in heat) but Addy and Scout (the two GPs), and Rex (the GSD) took off after that dog. Cornered it on front porch and were literally going to rip it from limb to limb - each dog was tugging a different body part. We called them off, leashed the dog and took it off the property to release it. It took off running and hopefully will not be back. But, the dogs proved their worth and knew what to do when a "predator" came into the yard.

And, before I get blasted, Scarlett is going to be spayed next week as soon as she finishes her heat. We took her in once before but it turns out she was in heat then and they said to wait. Well she went into heat again before we could get her fixed. But she and Scout will be going to the vet next week. The one thing I don't need is females in heat drawing stray dogs here. And with my pack of 5 dogs running amongst my animals, they seem to have it under control and don't need any more help.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Wow! That will be great when the neighborhood dogs don't frequent my yard for fear of the limb from limb treatment.

Jelly's still a hyper puppy. But i was delighted again today when one of the chickens followed me out the door without my noticing, and Jelly wouldn't let the little guy get anywhere. I can tell she's trying to be gentle now. A couple of months ago, she was just pouncing.

 

[theFox]

Marlin, Remington, and H&R.

 

[matthewschickens]

We have 2 geese that guard our flock very nicely.
They will alert us and attack anything (including us) that attacks.
But they are not good watching the sky.
We are also in the process of training a Border Collie.

Matthew

 

[chickeydee]

22, german shaperd, yorkie,mini schanuzar.and my peanuts. Mostly my 22 . My dogs are train not to go after the chickens ,but they do bark if they hear something

 

[Orpstralope]

Personally I've got a beautiful dog name Easy who loves our chickens. He's good about protection, along with my roo who isn't scared of anything. Besides that .22 Semi Rifle, 3.5 inch Magnum Rutkey Shot in a Benelli, .357 Mag with shot shell load, and a throwing axe. Foxes/coons/possums/stray cats love my yard. Also an electric fence around the coop, but i kinda prefer using weapons - it stops the problem immediately. I use CB rounds in the .22's so that it doesn't make much sound and scare the chickens.