Buckeye Enthusiast Keeps Heritage Hens
Safe
With Livestock Guardian Dogs
Brenda M. Negri with Barbara Judd
© Copyright 2015
Backyard Poultry Magazine
You can hear the dedication and sound reasoning in
Washington farmer and heritage Buckeye breeder Barbara Judd’s voice when she
says why she uses Livestock Guardian Dogs to keep her rare breed of poultry
safe from depredation:
“Buckeyes were once in the Critical Category established by
the Livestock Conservancy. Thanks to their Buckeye Recovery Project, the breed
moved from the Critical to Threatened category on the Conservation Priority
List. I am committed to always protecting all my charges, and the fact that
this chicken breed is still considered “threatened” gives the importance of
their protection even heavier weight. I
decided the best protection I could give them would be Livestock Guardian
Dogs.”
Using Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGDs) to keep sheep, cattle,
goats, alpacas, and other mammalians safe from harm is an age-old practice,
although relatively (approximately 30 years) new in North America. Some of the more common LGD breeds in use are
the ever popular Great Pyrenees, Akbash, Maremma, Kuvasz and Anatolian
Shepherd. Rarer breeds such as the
Spanish Mastiff, Pyrenean Mastiff and Karakachan are increasing in popularity and
use. Putting LGDs to work to guard
poultry, ducks, turkeys, geese and guinea fowl is more of a recent movement in
line with the increased number of hobby farms, small family ranches and
homesteaders. It’s a commitment of time,
patience, and more patience, but LGDs can be successfully trained to guard
poultry, and many have come to depend on their dogs to keep their flocks safe
from depredation.
Barbara Judd agreed to share her story as to how she came to
raising Buckeyes on her Washington farm, eventually choosing two sibling LGD
pups and two adult siblings from my ranch and kennel operation in Northern
Nevada.
“I had decided I wanted to breed Buckeyes. I had fallen in love with their personality,
and their story is intriguing as well,” says Judd. “Buckeyes are a notably personable breed,
very active and noted for being especially vigilant in the pursuit of mice. They also are very friendly with people and
lack the tendency to feather-pick ach other.
The males emit a full range of sounds beyond those typical of many other
chicken breeds, including a dinosaur-like roar!”
Judd subsequently got on a wait list for chicks from Laura
Haggarty and Pathfinders Farm in Kentucky, and received her hatchlings in
spring of 2014. Recently Judd moved to a
55 acre farm she calls Froghaven near Salkum, about an hour north of Portland. Here she plans to increase her Buckeye
flock. “My goal is to become the go-to
person for Buckeye chicks and pullets in Western Washington. I love this breed; they are a great
dual-purpose chicken for homesteads and fit in well with a back-to-the-farm
sentiment.” Barbara further adds, “The
cocks can grow to 8 or 9 pounds and are good meat birds. While as layers they are not quite as
productive as a White Leghorn, for example, I understand them to live and
produce for a longer period of time than the breeds that were developed for
their egg-laying ability alone.”
Barbara’s new farm has a host of predators and wildlife, as
did her previous one. She admits to
not having given much thought to predators at first, but one day commented to a
friend, “If I lose a bird to a predator, it will be that one”, pointing out one
of the gold sex-links she had. Less than
a week later, she discovered a pile of gold feathers, not 20 feet from her
house, in the afternoon. Her dire prediction
had come true. She immediately began
researching how to keep her chickens safe.
“My chickens were not raised to be coyote food,” she quips.
Judd read about Livestock Guardian Dogs, “But I was
extremely put off by the prevalent and popular descriptions of hands-off
training and minimal human interaction.
Any dog I own is a part of my family, and I felt the hands-off, do-not-touch
descriptions I read just didn’t make sense for us.”
Later that summer she lost another hen to a coyote. Now, she was determined, as well as furious,
and bound to find a solution. Judd spent
the evening researching LGDs on the Internet.
She continues: “This time, as I looked I discovered another
perspective to owning LGDs, living with them and training them, one I had not
run across before. I found Brenda
Negri’s website for her Cinco Deseos Ranch in Nevada where she’d been raising
LGDs since 2009. On her site were
several articles she’d authored wherein she expounded at great length about
socializing LGDs with people, about LGDs being part of the family, a component
of a team, not just a disposable tool or something to be kept at a distance. She reared litters in a huge pack of working
LGDs and spoke of how they were mentored and shepherded along by her older,
seasoned dogs, and spoke of the continuity and consistency this produced in
working pups. Her website was full of information on having LGDs as part of a
small farm, small acreage, as well as the rare Spanish breeds she specialized
in, being more suitable for this type of duty.”
As it happened, I had a litter of LGD pups on the ground at
the time, sired by my trusted old Great Pyrenees, Peso, and a rare Italian
import Pyrenean Mastiff female, Atena.
Barbara sent me a puppy application, “The stars aligned,” she chuckles,
and the Judds became proud new owners of Lucy and Patty, nick named “The Pockets”
as they were the two smallest pups in the huge (16 puppies) litter. As if predestined, they also hung out
together and were inseparable. Barbara
took the pair home at about ten weeks, and LGD Chicken Guarding 101 began!
Patty and Lucy’s litter had already been exposed to my own mixed
flock of 40 Cochin, Brahman and Polish layers, with daily visits into the coop
and chicken yard. Barbara wisely took my
advice, and bought two siblings who roughhoused with one another and wore each
other out playing instead of taking out their young energy on livestock and
fowl. The pups had also been exposed to
neighbor children, cattle and sheep and were showing great promise as
guardians.
“Which brings up another point,” Judd adds. “The importance of selecting a knowledgeable
and reputable LGD breeder. I had always
had rescues as pets….these dogs were to be working dogs, not pets. They were to be socialized and part of the
family but I needed them to be LGDs – guaranteed – not maybes. I needed to be certain, and not risk they’d
turn out to be chicken killers instead of protectors. So I bought LGDs from a reputable breeder,
who had both parents, who were working parents, descended from working
lines. And she had references, and many,
many clients who came back time and again to buy dogs only from her. That was how reliable and trustworthy her
dogs were. Actually, the price I paid
was not significantly more than which the rescue organizations ask, and in the
large scheme of things is an insignificant cost when you consider the lifetime
cost of caring for a pet – or as I’ve heard in poultry circles, ‘It costs the
same to feed a breeder’s chick as it does a feed store chick.’”
Once settled in at the new home, Patty and Lucy’s training
continued with older, calm hens who were less flighty and thus, less inclined
to tempt the pups into chasing. Judd
made the training time a “treat time” by positive reinforcement. Each pup received a treat before each short,
10-15 minute “class”. Soon, they were
reminding her it was time for “school”.
“I knew this process would take weeks, if not months,” Judd
adds. She kept the chickens and pups in
a small, very manageable area, and sat with them. No distractions were allowed: no pet dogs, no
children. “We spent time just hanging
out with the chickens, and always ended on a positive note before they got
tired.” As time progressed, “The
Pockets” became calm and confident around the fowl, remaining alert and
interested, but no inappropriate behavior.
Judd increased the time the pups were with the flock gradually.
“I came at training the pups in a slow and systematic,
careful manner. I learned from Brenda,
from previous dog trainers and read the books by noted dog behaviorist, Turid
Rugaas that Brenda insisted I read. The
pups became part of the daily chicken routine.
As puppies, they needed protection too as they were far too young to
fend for themselves, so they were never left alone overnight, for example.”
Judd was also learning about unique LGD behavior, which is
markedly different than non-LGD breeds.
“I can say they are nothing like other dogs I have had. They won’t fetch, they don’t play tug o’
war. They DO seem to notice every detail
around them.”
Judd’ observations are accurate. LGD breeds guard on ingrained instinct, not
so much training, although the owner will enable, foster and encourage that
guarding instinct with positive reinforcement and gentle reprimands when a pup
makes a mistake. Tying a dead chicken
around a pup’s neck is an oft-quoted “solution” for problems but only
encourages confusion and distrust in the pup and shouldn’t be done. There are no short cuts to doing “Chicken 101” with LGD pups, and the owner
has to commit to the time and patience it takes.
One night, Judd woke to one of the pups barking at a
bookcase. “I had moved a large photo
onto that bookcase, and Lucy noticed – something’s not where it belongs!”
A more telling incident happened a week or so after Barbara
brought The Pockets home:
“We’d spent a lot of time around the chickens, in their run
or out foraging. One early evening we
walked by the run and no chickens were in sight. Patty was immediately stressed! She sat down, whining at the run. The chickens had simply put themselves in the
coop for the night, so when the hens poked their heads back out to see what the
commotion was about, Patty relaxed and was immediately satisfied.” Judd continues, “You could see the wheels
turning in Patty’s head – ‘Oh that’s
where they are. OK, everything is fine
now!’ I was amazed and
impressed. These were certainly the right
dogs to protect my chickens.”
From the time I began raising and using LGDs, I have always
understood the importance of running these dogs in the right numbers – just as
they are in Spain and other countries where the pastoral life is still alive
and very much a fabric of their society.
I’ve continually lectured my clients about the advantages of running
enough LGDs to properly cover the acreage, terrain, predator load and stock
they have.
Dogs, like humans, must sleep and rest too, and one LGD
cannot last long if it is expected to carry the load of three or four
dogs. In addition, should one dog become
ill or injured, by removing him from duty, an operator’s flock or herd becomes
immediately more vulnerable to attack. Where predators can easily take down one
LGD, a pack of three or four dogs will present a much more serious deterrent to
threats. On my ranch, my several dogs work
in “shifts”, so there is always
coverage, 24/7. Some dogs may do a
“perimeter patrol” farther out at the edge of my 5 acres while the others stay
closer to the flock, barns, and my house.
Although my closest neighbors continually lose goats, sheep, horses,
calves, pet cats and chickens to packs of coyotes, feral dogs, mountain lions
and birds of prey, I have never suffered a single loss here.
Barbara Judd was a willing and capable pupil and took my
advice about “enough dogs” to heart. A
few short weeks after the move to the larger farm, Barbara brought in two young
adult Spanish Mastiffs I had bred who had to be rehomed due the owner’s
relocation. Agostin and Argenta were
from my first purebred Spanish Mastiff litter, who had been guarding horses and
chickens in Montana. When she got wind
of the pair being up for rehoming, and their proven experience as fowl
guardians, Judd seized the opportunity to add two “chicken broke”, mature
guardians, dubbed “The A Team”, to her larger acreage with its more serious
predator load.
“My plan is to eventually add a small herd of goats to
forage the brush and weeds, and perhaps a heritage breed of wool sheep,” Judd
says. “I knew with the larger farm acreage
and more livestock, that I needed more protection than just two dogs, and the sibling
pair Agostin and Argenta fit the bill to a “T”.”
As introductions currently progress at Froghaven Farm, “The A Team” is getting to know “The Pockets”
and all is going well. The Judds will
keep their heritage flock of Buckeyes safe and sound from depredation with four
very devoted Livestock Guardian Dogs.
“Since we brought Lucy and Patty we have never lost a single bird,” Judd
says, and with the addition of two more dogs, they won’t be losing anything in
the future, either.
//////
"Must Do's" and Tips
· ⤷Buy pups who are only purebred or crosses of
purebred, recognized LGD breeds. LGD
breeds crossed on non-LGD breeds are unpredictable and high risk.
· ⤷Buy from established breeders who will give
references, customer support and have a proven track record of producing good
guardian dogs.
· ⤷You get what you pay for. Quality LGD pups typically
start at $500 and go up from there.
Quality going adults can cost $1,000 on up.
· ⤷Never bring a pup home younger than 8 weeks of
age and make sure all puppy vaccinations are complete, as well as several
de-wormings.
· ⤷ If possible buy pups that have been started on
and exposed to poultry and fowl. Make
sure they have been regularly handled and socialized with people and are not
skittish or frightened when approached.
· ⤷Make sure your fencing is puppy escape-proof and
secure.
· ⤷ Remember that rearing LGDs to guard poultry is a
labor-intensive endeavor with no magical short cuts. Patience, time and persistence are key to
success.
· ⤷LGD pups take up to two years or more to fully
mature. Don’t expect adult work from an
immature dog.
Recommended reading
and related Internet links:
The Livestock Conservancy: http://livestockconservancy.org
Protect Your Poultry
With Livestock Guardian Dogs, by Brenda M. Negri, Nov/Dec 2015 issue of Countryside Magazine
Sibling Success! Advantages of Littermate Guardian Dogs,
by Brenda M. Negri, Sept/Oct 2015 issue of sheep!
Magazine
On Talking Terms with
Dogs: Calming Signals, by Turid Rugaas, Copyright 2006 by Dogwise
Publishing
