Category: Livestock, Feed, & Fencing

Dear Editor, We are ranchers in northern Maine and have owned and bred livestock guardian dogs for many years. Our particular breed is the Russian Ovcharka, but we also have a Great Pyranees, along with a Border Collie, who is not a guardian dogs but is used to scout ahead on trails to flush dangerous animals and round up or move livestock. There are many things to consider when purchasing a livestock guardian dog: What is their mission. Our dogs have a dual purpose. First, it is to patrol the inner farm perimeter and keep out two- and four-legged predators, …

HJL, We’ve had Anatolian Shepherds for twelve years. They are very independent dogs and very protective of their charges. They must be acclimated early but will guard your herds and flocks thereafter. Ensure you have good fences to keep wandering animals away from your herd and flock, as the dogs will kill them. I’ve had to bury all manner of animals that have tried to eat my chickens. Get two dogs, so they have each other to burn off excess energy with each other rather than try to do so with the herd. I don’t allow visitors near my guardians, …

Hello Hugh or Jim, I am hoping to get feedback from your readers on Livestock Guardian Dogs. I am interested in the breeds called Turkish Boz Shepherds, Kangals, and Anatolian Shepherds. I don’t know anyone personally that has one and would like to hear opinions from someone besides the breeders. They are fairly uncommon in this country, and I don’t speak Turkish. Since SurvivalBlog readers are more likely to have livestock to protect, I thought someone might have some information to share with me. Thanks in advance for any help you can give. – A.S.

Hugh, I feel compelled to chime in on the Wintering Chickens letter. Light bulbs are prone to fire so I would recommend using a heating source that is not a fire risk. Small, oil-filled heaters seem to work well for us. Also, the deep litter method does help with warmth in the winter and reduces the need for supplemental heat. Cold hardy chickens are fine down into the single digits, provided there is ventilation in the coop. Excess moisture combined with severe cold will cause frostbite to the comb. Chickens require down time in the winter, so I do not …

Hugh, While mostly correct, the light provided to chickens and other egg-laying birds (ducks, geese) should be either full spectrum light for twelve hours per day or an incandescent bulb all the time. Should you place birds in 24 hours of full spectrum lighting, they will damage their reproductive system and stop laying after only a year or two at most. I’ve got one hen who has been laying an egg every other day for seven years now, even in the dead of winter. Also, during winter, change their feed from highly-processed laying feed (crumbles or pellets) to a natural …

Since my high school days, I have dedicated my spare time to breeding quality creatures– parakeets, gerbils, rabbits, cats, and canaries. As I see my country disintegrating, I am adding skills in heating with wood and growing fruits, vegetables, meat, and eggs. I currently enjoy breeding and showing canaries, and I think about how hard it will be to keep these beautiful but impractical creatures going when so much time and effort has to go into human survival issues. How few pairs can I retain to keep a strain or variety going without loss due to inbreeding? Actually, this question …