Sam sleeps soundly

[BCSnob]

Bad Sam

Sam was not raised to protect poultry but he has been running the fox off the fields whenever he sees them. So we figured our 13 chickens would be safe just like the remaining 3 ducks, especially if they continue to stay in the barnyard during the day. We lock the chickens and ducks up at night. During the day Sam sleeps in the back of the barn off the barnyard. Today he slept through 2 chickens being taken from the barnyard and one dhocken being attacked in the barn 40' from where Sam sleeps.

Mark

[Go_Dogs]

Coyote Attacks

An interesting news story about coyote attacks on local alpaca farm. Apparently, this is a new situation, for this farm. They got a guard donkey. They have farm dogs, (Vizlas?) but they were attacked, too.

As I said, when we lived on the farm-coyotes had moved into the area. They were taking sheep and the farmers were using dogs, llamas, donkeys, etc. An inexperienced farmer, using LGDs can cause more problems. We had LGDs wandering onto our farm, trying to get our poultry. Our geese were invaluable sounding the alert, and launching the attack.
From experience, I would start a non-dominant pup as barnyard guard. An older dog will be hard put to ignore his instincts around chickens.
BTW: The absolute best barnyard dog that I ever had was a pit bull. Got her as a 12 week old pup. She WANTED to learn. Obeying me was her joy. Smart as a whip, she could read my mind.

[BCSnob]

Cat,
You have to remember this is a life and death situation, mild corrections that are not effective means there could be another dead or injured chicken.
Mark

[CatandJim]

BCSnob wrote:
The sly "fox" was back again today.

Two chickens went missing in about 10 mins. This time the culprit was caught with the evidence still alive. After paying no attention to the ducks for years or the chickens for months and never in our sight, VERY BAD SAM was caught in the act. The chicken he had will live, one is still missing.

Ut oh!! Same has messed up big time! I know you will get him retrained and back on duty quickly.

I must admit I'm a bit surprised by some of the methods others have mentioned... but I have no experience with this type of working dog.

[BCSnob]

Clearly Sam distinguishes between ducks and chickens and the verbal reprimands that worked with the ducks did not work with the chickens.

[Go_Dogs]

LGD and poultry

Interesting info here about this problem.

[CA_POPPY]

These corrective techniques remind me of a dad clarifying things for the 16 year old son who has challenged him. :B I wonder if the chicken-flogging would work? :W

[BCSnob]

I figure we will set up training sessions with him in the barnyard (or in a barn stall) with the chickens and he will get corrected very harshly every time he looks at them.

He tried playing with the ducks when we first got him (he was about 8 months old) and it only took one or two verbal corrections and he never bother the ducks again. It shouldn't take much to fix this problem now that we know there is one.

[Go_Dogs]

This is so sad. I really feel terrible for you. Once, we got an older dog, (shepherd),and she tried to grab a few chickens. I grabbed her off the ground, and slammed her down, she never saw me coming. Dragged her into the coop yard, made her lay down, belly up, sprinkled corn on her and left the chickens peck the corn. It was the ultimate Alpha dog, humiliation. Believe me, we wore both exhausted afterwards, but I got my message across. Chicken killing can not be tolerated. Many farm dogs have been shot for such an offense. Keep us posted, and good luck.

PS: I will add that I had my foot covering the dog's neck. If she moved, I put pressure on her throat. I was also growling at her, "Are you going to touch a chicken, again? Are yooooooou?" It was extreme, but effective. After that, I would only start pups around the poultry.
I wonder if these flock guardian dogs are so tuned in to sheep, that they still have predatory instincts towards fowl/small animals. After all, what were they supposed to eat when they up in the mountains, with no humans around? They are bred to function independently.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

My son's younger Maremma was occasionally killing their chickens - not eating them, just squashing them "playing". A couple of hits from a shock collar (timed perfectly just as she was moving to give chase); plus simply maturing into an adult dog (she's 2 now) has stopped the chicken loss. Unfortunately, the older one will sneak an egg now and then - and he's allergic to them 😞 So they're dealing with skin allergies from that....sheesh...dogs.

[BCSnob]

Good tip on the flogging. I figure we'll be correcting him every time he looks at them; he's a bit of a wuss about being corrected by us.

[resmas]

BCSnob wrote:
The sly "fox" was back again today.

Two chickens went missing in about 10 mins. This time the culprit was caught with the evidence still alive. After paying no attention to the ducks for years or the chickens for months and never in our sight, VERY BAD SAM was caught in the act. The chicken he had will live, one is still missing.

Not cool Sam! I am so sorry!

I hope you find a way to stop the behavior... We "flogged" our LGD with a chicken she had just killed and was eating, it seemed to sink it we were not happy about her killing them. That was back in late 2011, and she wasn't quite 2 yrs old...

Now, I can look out the window and see chickens sitting on her, or dustbathing next to her in the hole she dug under the trailer. I don't know if she grew out of killing, or if the flogging lesson stayed with her, but I am happy they are co-existing!

[BCSnob]

The sly "fox" was back again today.

Two chickens went missing in about 10 mins. This time the culprit was caught with the evidence still alive. After paying no attention to the ducks for years or the chickens for months and never in our sight, VERY BAD SAM was caught in the act. The chicken he had will live, one is still missing.

[resmas]

BCSnob wrote:
You need smooth coated Border Collies.
We need more of them and less rough coated ones.

The next one WILL be smooth coated!

[BCSnob]

You need smooth coated Border Collies.
We need more of them and less rough coated ones.

[resmas]

BCSnob wrote:
And she has a nice short coat!

Thank the Lord! Shaving 2 border collies and a horse with Cushings each spring is enough. I don't want to shave her, too.

(I shave the BC's because it makes house-cleaning easier. Shorter hairs clog the vacuum less, and track in way less mud, water, leaves, grass, etc.)