best livestock guard dogs for small scale farms

[Mo_fawaazzz]

how about maremma sheepdogs?

 

[SandyRiverChick]

how about maremma sheepdogs?

Oh they're great. Not quite as easy to train as Border Collies but for sure great flock protection. They're more "serious," and a bit bigger than a Border. I met a guy who breeds them and when I said that I thought they were very much like Pyrenees, he did not agree... He said a Pyrenees will have a tendency to obsess with flock protection and forget about humans but Maremma is loyal to human and very protective.

 

[killmak]

We have 3 Great Pyrenees. We only have an acre and live on a busy road so we have them fenced in our backyard where they can see all around the house. They know the chickens are family but will chase them if they jump the fence into their area. If they corner them they just give them a sniff then let them be. We haven't trained them to guard the chickens but they are very protective of the property. If anything from a squirrel to a bear come anywhere that they can see they go crazy. One winter we had a fox come to the edge of our property and they all jumped the fence and chased the fox into the woods (I now snow blow the fence line so they can't do that again). We have not had a single lost chicken in 3 years and we let them free range during the day. We live surrounded by woods in the Appalachian mountains with thousands of acres of woodland behind our house.

I think the loud barking, the scent keep most predators away and those that do get close are scarred of the loud big dogs. They are great pets too.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Just throwing my fox experience out there.

When I lived in the country I kept 2 dogs....still had foxes.

Here in town...yes in the middle of a large town I still have fox issues even though my neighborhood is loaded with large dogs. I have 4 myself and my son has 2 so 6 dogs here all but 1 are 100#'s.

Having the scent of dogs does not stop them.

 

[Mo_fawaazzz]

Just throwing my fox experience out there.

When I lived in the country I kept 2 dogs....still had foxes.

Here in town...yes in the middle of a large town I still have fox issues even though my neighborhood is loaded with large dogs. I have 4 myself and my son has 2 so 6 dogs here all but 1 are 100#'s.

Having the scent of dogs does not stop them.

I have only about an acre of space that is fenced up. Im sure a dog can keep em away