Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Pasture chicken run and racoons

market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Market Farming

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Owsley lucy <boulderbelt AT embarqmail.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Pasture chicken run and racoons
  • Date: Tue, 9 Jun 2009 10:47:01 -0400

I have found all my guard dogs as strays. the first one took about 2 years to whip into shape and he became an incredible guard dog for the chickens, he has even run off hawks. He also used deposit a dead coon in the yard right next to the brooding tractor every spring about 2 days after the first peeps arrive.

Granted that dog did kill several chickens in the beginning (and did quit a bit of damage to the market garden including eating 25' of broccoli) the first year we had him but with patience we got it through his head that his job is to protect the chickens and not kill them and once he understood he took his job very seriously. he has trained two out of three other foundlings (the 3rd dog was old when he came here, hates the original dog and will not listen to much of anything he says. Fortunately he has no teeth and cannot get through a fence, so is not much of a threat to the birds).

The dogs also keep bunnies, voles and deer from decimating the market garden-we let them run free 24/7. We have trained all of them to stay out of the garden beds, for the most part. They do get in them but do far less damage than the deer and other critters.

We could not farm successfully without the dogs

How do you find a working dog and how to care for and handle it.   
Thanks, Tom -- Hillsborough, NC

On Jun 9, 2009, at 9:37 AM, DreamThymeFarm wrote:




Lucy Goodman
Boulder Belt Eco-Farm
Eaton, OH







Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page