Catahoula Bulldogs as Poultry guardians

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Orchard Farm

Orchard Farm

In the Brooder
8 Years
Feb 11, 2011
23
3
22
We have been using Catahoula bulldogs as livestock guardians with great results. They have a very low prey drive (so they won't eat their chickens) but very high guardian instincts (no one messes with my flock and family!). they are naturally inclined to hang out with livestock and are very nurturing to their charges. Female catahoula bulldogs will sometimes even adopt young animals and birds they find and start producing milk to feed them:)
www.orchardfarmducks.com has more information.

















 
I looked into using Catahoula's but wound up using German Pointers owing to availability. A neighbor used a Catahoula in conjunction with a Great Pyrenees resulting in a good pairing where the smaller Catahoula could go more readily between pens making so critters like Mr. Fox could not count on counter attack coming only from one direction. Catahoula used by neighbor looked much less bulldog like than yours. Best advantages I saw were heat tolerance and smarts, those dogs are truely smart. My dogs also successfully wage war against Mr. Fox and they get him once in a while.

I followed your link and noticed you use German-shorthaired Pointers in much the same capacity I do. I have one short-haired male and one long-haired / wire-haired female charged with protecting free-ranging juvenile chickens. Singly their aggression towards other dogs is so-so but when more than one I have no complaints and they are fast enough to give fox very serious threat. Even great-horned owls are stymied by these dogs and male by himself can kill an adult coon although he had to kill a couple before getting technique down so he did not get dinged up himself. He had to learn that simply biting coon in the butt and shaking is not good strategy, you gotta go for neck and head..
 
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OMGosh! I LOVE them! I didn't even know Catahoula Bulldogs existed- my fav color on my fav breed of dog! I used to work at Petsmart, and on an adoption day one of the shelters brought in Catahoula/Pit Bull mixes and they looked just like the pictures you posted. Anyway, I also didn't know people used Bulldogs as livestock guardians, I learn something new everyday on this forum! I have a 5 month Olde English Bulldogge (Dudley), he's probably the laziest dog I've ever had! He loves the chickens, cats and every other critter he's ever met. Now I have a new obsession! Catahoula Bulldogs! Here's my sweet Dudley, doing what he does best- making sure the couch doesn't float away :gig
400
 
I am hoping to do this with a puppy coming soon! But an Alapaha instead. Despite prey drive, we've had great luck with our American Pit Bull Terrier. This particular one is from what I call, 'Bully' lines. She looks and act much more bulldog like than terrier. She'll hand with them. We had some broodies last year, and she was slightly afraid of them! Our boxer has taken a liking to protecting them as well. But they don't literally guard, theyre in the home with us at night (which seems to be when we lose birds.)
 

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