Great pyrenees guard dog eating eggs
ledbetter acres
dog inside the poultry netting with the laying hens. I have 4
nettings ajoined to allow the hens and the guardian dog plenty of room
to roam. However, I have noticed my egg production dropping
significantly when I placed him inside the field with the hens. I saw
for the first time this morning exactly what he is doing to get the
eggs. He is able to stand upright and place his front feet on the
perch poles of the nest box and reach into the bottom nest to grab an
egg out for his own personal treat. I raised him from a puppy with
the hens and he is now approaching 1 year old and I am amazed, yet
troubled, by his recent adaptation for an easy meal. I know I can
secure the mobile structure to the point that he can no longer enter
it, but I first wanted to receive feedback on the issue. Anyone have
any suggestions on this matter?
Chris Squires
up really well inside their shells. Pierce both ends -- make a little
hole with a dremel drill or however you can, and blow the contents out
of the egg into a bowl (you can use the blown-out contents for cooking
if you wish). Put some tape over one hole, or glue some paper or
plastic or something on one end and fill the egg with mustard powder or
HOT chili or cayenne pepper powder, or tabasco sauce or some spritzes of
bitter apple stuff that they use to stop animals from chewing. Seal
the other end. These "surprise" filled blown eggs are also useful for
convincing hens not to eat eggs.
I'd say use these as "bait" eggs -- one in each nest. Just make sure
you mark them so you don't accidentally give one to a customer or
mistake it for the real thing when you are groggy one morning.
After eating a mouth-full of cayenne pepper or mustard powder (the hot
kind) or whatever, your dog will probably never want to eat another egg
again. Keeping a bait egg in each nest he is capable of reaching will
keep that scent around, too, so that he will be reluctant to try it again.
Of course, it depends on what you normally feed your dog. My aunt used
to eat a lot of hot-sauce on food, and shared everything with the dog.
The dog was her best-buddy and would eat anything she ate. When he
started eating the garbage in the kitchen, someone recommended tabasco
sauce in the garbage pail -- he loved it! :)
Today, if I had to think of something to ward off a bad dog who liked
hot sauce, I would say try the "natural" cleaning supplies made with
citrus peel -- like grapefruit detergent or something. The heavy duty
scrubbing stuff that smells a bit like turpentine? Nasty stuff to find
in an egg! But for most dogs and hens, an egg full of hot cayenne
pepper will do the trick, I believe. You can buy it in bulk over the
internet -- try something like "bulkfoods.com" or do a google and see
what you get.
Chris
Little Biddy Farm
--
"Humankind cannot take too much reality."
T.S. Eliot
Gail Johnson
is a few months old and has been around our chickens since we brought him
home. He is very playful and thought the chickens were to play with, even
though we constantly admonished him to leave them alone. He finally drew
blood and started killing my money making laying hens. He is now locked in
the barn unless he is put in the front yard with our chocolate labs (also
known chicken slayers). I am sad because we got him to address the preditor
problem and ended up with a preditor.
Gail
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gave me some quail once, and my Schnauzer who loved to play chase with
my huge Jersey Giant rooster would try to play with the quail the same
way. He killed every one, while thinking he was being a good dog for
bringing them back.
A Great Pyrenees is much bigger and stronger than a Schnauzer. It may
require some intense training to get the dog to be gentile. If that
doesn't work, sell it to somebody who need protection for larger
animals, and try your luck again.
Marlene Johnson
Gail,
>We have a great pyrenees puppy that
> is a few months old and has been around our chickens since we brought him
> home. He is very playful and thought the chickens were to play with, even
> though we constantly admonished him to leave them alone.
he really needs a bit more guidance and less opportunity to practice
inappropriate behavior. "A few months old" is the equivalent of a small
child, you wouldn't leave a small child alone in your kitchen and expect
the child to behave appropriately.
>He finally drew
> blood and started killing my money making laying hens. He is now locked
in
> the barn unless he is put in the front yard with our chocolate labs (also
> known chicken slayers). I am sad because we got him to address the
preditor
> problem and ended up with a preditor.
back to the example with the small child in the kitchen. Would you assume a
child that was left alone in your kitchen and who has created a mess is a
no-good criminal or would you assume that it was your fault for not
supervising the child. Same thing. Your pup isn't a killer dog nor is he a
predator, he is a pup that doesn't know what he is doing and he doesn't
know what he is supposed to be doing. He probably just plays the hens to
death for lack of knowing better. A small animal like a chicken cannot
correct the pup or teach it appropriate behavior. Your puppy needs to have
exposure to the chickens without having an opportunity to harm them. So
don't be sad and don't think you won't have a wonderful guardian when he
grows up. It takes more than a year for most livestock guardian dogs to
become trusted guardians, especially of young and vulnerable animals. they
need guidance on how to do it right. Before that age you also can't expect
them to deal with a larger predator, they really need to be a bit older
than that.
there are good training articles in the lgd library at www.lgd.org . Any
questions on this type of dog, please join us on the LGD list, the link is
on that site.
don't give up on that puppy,
Marlene
www.Anatolians-of-Zaltana.com
Blog: http://zaltanaanatolians.blogspot.com/ and
http://zaltanachickens.blogspot.com/
Nevada, USA
Jane Rutzler
| Gail, I agree with Marlene...Pyrenees are guard dogs....but they DO need training....they are large dogs and need a handler that is the "top dog". A puppy is a baby..especially at a few months old...I would never leave a puppy unattended for any reason..they need training to be what they can be. Since you mention that your Labs also kill chickens I suspect you dogs need some professional training. Labs are hunting dogs..they have soft mouths so as not to damage the game....get some training....for you and your dogs...(want to get rid of one or 2 of those labs?) Jane (LI NY) --- On Fri, 1/1/10, Marlene Johnson <slate...@earthlink.net> wrote: |
|
|
Chris Squires
the flocks of sheep (which these dogs normally guard) are out west.
The pups ARE left alone with the flock -- usually penned with a bunch of
older ewes that will not take any nonsense. They must bond with the
flock or herd, not with other dogs, and not with people. The sheep or
poultry become the pup's family, pack and responsibility. In a serious
operation, you would have older dogs that are already trained, which
will bring the pup up right and teach it right from wrong.
But back to poultry: While the pup is small, some people take it around
and introduce it to the cranky old roosters -- so it learns that some
chickens OBJECT to being messed with. Scold it heartily if it tries to
play or chase or look askance at anything you raise! Keep it on leash,
and under control. Also, you can keep the chickens in cages near the
dog's pen or the dog penned near the chicken coop so that it sees them
constantly and begins to bond with them. You DO want them to bond with
the chickens, and not with the family in the house. And NOT with the
other non-LGD dogs on the farm.
You want to work with them daily -- take them on a leash with you as you
do chores (some people tie the dogs to their waists -- I do not know how
they do this -- not just because I have a large waist, but also because
you can trip on each other! But maybe that is what the dog needs to
learn -- not to trip over you, or trip you). You do NOT want
unsupervised contact for a pup or young dog -- because that's when play
turns into rough-housing and delicate things like chickens get hurt.
The pup should NEVER think the chickens are play-toys.
I was told to pick up a pup that so much as looked at a bird or lamb in
a funny way and scold it good -- and if it injured said bird, give it a
FIVE MINUTE YELL! I know there are people who want to anthropomorphize
and say this sounds mean, but you should see what a mother or a senior
LGD will do to a pup who misbehaves! The pup has to learn that some
things are just plain BAD to do!
Also, take the LGD pup away from the hunting dogs (lab) and herding dogs
(which also have prey drive) and keep it separate at all times.
IMMEDIATELY. It will learn prey-drive from them - -just from the way
they look at things. It needs to be so lonely that it will bond with
the birds and think of them as its only family, except for that boss who
comes by with food and a walk on a leash and time to visit the rest of
the farm -- maybe walk the boundary fence before going back to the
poultry "family." Just set up a pen or run next to the poultry, and
supervise any close contact for the next two years.
I'm serious about the two years. LGD pups go through crazy times at
about 8 months, one year, 18 months -- natural stages of development.
An impossible pup may still make a good guardian if you can stick with
it. Supervise it and teach it right from wrong for two years, and in
another six years it will be a dog you can trust to train your next pup
for you. Seriously.
Just a few tips that should work, in my humble opinion.
Chris
Little Biddy Farm
Jane Rutzler wrote:
> Gail,
> I agree with Marlene...Pyrenees are guard dogs....but they DO need
> training....they are large dogs and need a handler that is the "top
> dog". A puppy is a baby..especially at a few months old...I would
> never leave a puppy unattended for any reason..they need training to
> be what they can be.
> Since you mention that your Labs also kill chickens I suspect you dogs
> need some professional training. Labs are hunting dogs..they have soft
> mouths so as not to damage the game....get some training....for you
> and your dogs...(want to get rid of one or 2 of those labs?)
>
> Jane (LI NY)
>
> --- On *Fri, 1/1/10, Marlene Johnson /<slate...@earthlink.net>/* wrote:
>
>
> From: Marlene Johnson <slate...@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: [Grass-Fed-Eggs] Great pyrenees guard dog eating eggs
> To: grass-f...@googlegroups.com
> Date: Friday, January 1, 2010, 1:51 AM
>
> Gail,
>
> >We have a great pyrenees puppy that
> > is a few months old and has been around our chickens since we
> brought him
> > home. He is very playful and thought the chickens were to play
> with, even
> > though we constantly admonished him to leave them alone.
>
> don't give up on that puppy,
>
>
> Marlene
> www.Anatolians-of-Zaltana.com
> Blog: http://zaltanaanatolians.blogspot.com/ and
> http://zaltanachickens.blogspot.com/
> Nevada, USA
>
>
>
>
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> Change your subscription options at
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--