LIVESTOCK GUARDIAN DOGS
Meet some of our Livestock Guardian dogs - we couldn’t do it without them!
In order for us to be able to raise our pasture raised chickens for both meat and eggs outside, on pasture, we rely on our incredible team of Livestock guardian dogs, including Maremmas and most recently, an Anatolian Shepherd too!
The dogs live outside, in the paddocks, alongside our chickens and keep them safe from predators - especially from foxes an aerial predation! Whilst this may seem strange, these dogs are bred to live outside with whatever animals they are protecting and they love their job! We often find them snoozing under the chicken caravans, surrounded by their chickens (even with the occasional one lying on their back)!
We thought we’d introduce you to some of the team below!
Maisie was our first ever Maremma, and the beginning of our journey with livestock guardian dogs. We have had her since she was a puppy, although she is now also a Mama and is the Mum of both Theo and Bear, who are part of our current team of livestock guardians!
Maisie is a brilliant versatile dog and we can use her either as a patrol dog, patrolling the boundary of the farm, or she also happily lives with whatever group of chickens we put her with - (although she is also one dog who will happily sneak back to the house for cuddles and snoozes on the verandah).
Meet Maisie
Enzo is one of the cuddliest and most loveable dogs on the farm! If we ever go into the paddock where he is and don’t specifically go and say hello to him, he barks very loudly at us until we give him attention! He generally lives with the older laying hens and takes his job very seriously. He is a big bundle of fluff and Zoe is particularly fond of him - just don’t tell the others..!
Meet Enzo
Meet Bear & Theo
Bear (left) and Theo (right) are brothers from Maisie’s last litter of pups. Originally the plan wasn’t to keep both of them, but they were such a lovely bonded pair of dogs and as our chicken enterprise continues to grow, we decided it only made sense to keep them both! The kids were very happy about this decision (as I’m sure you can imagine) and they already look very different to the photos - but are both a valuable part of our livestock guardian team.
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Yes - the dogs live outside, 24-7, 365 with the chickens. Out livestock guardian dogs are dogs which were bred for the purpose of guarding livestock; it’s in their blood! They love their jobs, and most of them choose to sleep outside in all weather (despite the shelter they all have), taking care of their flocks.
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We are quite lucky in Australia that we don’t have crazy predators here like wolves or coyotes, but we do have on-going pressure from foxes, and some aerial predation (from eagles, to crows…). It is crucial for us, with how we raise our chickens, to have the dogs as protectors. We literally couldn’t do it without them!
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Yes! Our dogs are generally friendly (and they are certainly not dangerous towards people). However, they are working dogs, they have a job and if they feel threatened or unsure, they may behave in a way which some people may not understand. They are not pets at the end of the day, but we know and love them all.
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Whilst to the untrained eye, all of our maremmas may look the same, they all have different features and characteristics which make them individual! Certainly when we have new workers, they do sometimes take a while to get to know the different dogs! But generally we can tell them all apart and they each have different personalities and traits.
Bella is the odd one out, being our only Anatolian Shepherd. There are several breeds of Livestock Guardian dogs and whilst we began with Maremmas, we had the opportunity to take one of these dogs and it turned out to be one of the best decisions!
As a breed, they are very different to Maremmas and we have loved getting to know Bella. She has been so much more relaxed and laid back than our experience with Maremmas and her instinctual nature to want to be with the chickens and do her job was clear from very early on. S
She loves being with her group of chickens - although she also loves a cuddle and often comes and lies on our verandah during the day!