PHOTO: MARK PASVEER


No chance for predators


It is not unusual that up to ten percent of free ranging birds are lost to predators, even if poultry farmers in- stall some sort of preventative measures. Foxes and badgers will often circumvent fences and are even known to enter the poultry house through pop holes. On top of which birds of prey are a constant threat to ranging layers. Not so on the small-scale biodynamic farm of the Deinum family in the Netherlands. They found that their Pyrenean mountain dogs provide an excellent deterrent to all predators in and around the birds’ range. Since the dogs were tasked with guarding the flock of 150 birds six years ago the family haven’t lost a single bird to predation. “The dogs take their job very seriously and stay with the birds day and night. Actually, they are very close to them, it’s like they are guarding their own offspring,” says farmer Deinum.


▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 1, 2020 19


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