I ’m not sure why this is so , but of late several sheep producer in my online radical have inquire about benefits and disadvantages of using farm animal guardian dogs ( LGD ) for their sheep . One potential reason ? The reintroduction into the wild of predators that were very low in phone number and believably peril .
We choose ahead of time on not to apply an LGD for our sheep . We be in a fairly populated field , and LGDs usually do a set of their patrolling ( and barking ) at night … as they should ! Given my druthers , though , I ’d rather have one and may yet someday if we move to a property farther away from houses and mass .
Non-Lethal Predator Control
I speak to Denice Rackley , proprietor ofClearfield Stockdogsand a sheep producer for 20 years . She has a large farm in southern Indiana and uses several livestock guardian dogs ( LGD ) to keep her sheep safe .
For her , the LGDs are the ripe and most workable option . She say they live out with the sheep 24/7 and are soft with the sheep ( or should be if you are going to apply them ) and ferocious with any trespasser that come in or near the field . Like her margin collies are her better half when moving the sheep , the LGDs are her partners in protect them .
One interesting thing I had not thought about before : keep an LGD means you do n’t have to drink down or trap predators . An article in anOregon farming newspapernoted that many livestock keeper do n’t want to vote out predators , prefer a “ be and permit live ” post . Consider , too , that populations of many predator have stabilise over the years — both well and high-risk news for sheep farmers .
With a near LGD , though , you wo n’t have to deal with predators . The worst that normally happens is the pawl will give chase away any prairie wolf , cougars , bear or neighbourhood dogs . Many have found that bringing in one or two LGDs to a farm animal operation can be just as effective as trapping or shoot these unwished-for visitors .
When farmers partner with these dogs , they establish a fat relationship that makes everyone happy .
Read more : Donkeys make slap-up diminished - farm livestock guardians !
Getting It Right
Over the past years , many diminished farm have popped up , although the use of LGDs does n’t seem to have rocket . One reason for this ? If you want an effective LGD , you ’ll have to buy a serious one from proved parent .
While you wo n’t take to train these aim animals to ward , you will have to do some training them to work with you as a partner on your farm . But most hoi polloi who have taken the clip to do this right agree that the LGDs are worth their free weight in gold .
One Oregon farmer , Cindy Benson , and her husband purchase a 640 - acre farm near the border of California and Oregon . For many years they raised mini - donkeys with no bother … until there was . Animals began to disappear on a even fundament until they found tracks they determined were cougars .
At that breaker point , they decided to get an LGD . They never appear back
“ I do n’t believe that predators should buy the farm , ” enounce Benson . “ They are part of the ecosystem . One of us is not more significant than the other . But , at the last of the twenty-four hour period , I travel into their backyard . ”
