what bird/animal would protect the chickens at night?

[CluckNChik1357]

~MegChristine :

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/100811_megs_pics_458.jpg
If the picture will open.. this is what she does all day.. i dont think she would be very good at hunting mink! Hopefully we can get a new puppy to train.. what is a good dog to protect the chickens?

I'd say a collie? they are farm dogs and are good for herding and protecting

 

[Pops2]

cur dogs are better than collies, herding drive isn't over the top, can be trained to hunt ANYTHING & most well bred curs are leery of strangers so hard to steal. you will have to teach them not the screw w/ the birds but after that they are good to go. they very much want to please you and are very smart.

 

[casuarius]

Pembroke Welsh Corgi's are very good live stock guardians to chase off smaller predators such as foxes and below. They are also small, adorable, and low maintenance. I've kept them for yrs. Basset Hounds are no good haha. But honestly, no dog is going to work for a Mink. The best thing you can do is set traps and kill them. Or you will just have to put small enough wire around your pens that they cannot squeeze in. They can also climb very easily, so putting it just around the bottom won't work. Electric fence will work, I have pulled at least 2 minks off of my wire that was fried to it. I have a old weed cutter model that has a constant current...not pulse. I have wire ran around the bottom of my pens just 2 or 3 inches above the ground to keep from digging under, and I have another strand ran around the top perimeter to keep from climbing over and chewing through the netting. Minks are a terrible predator to deal with, they are too sneaky and quiet for dogs to hear until they are in the pen, then the dog cant do anything unless u keep it in the pen with the birds. You can get a small cage trap from tractor supply, and put some tuna fish or sardines in it, and I gaurantee you will catch it.

 

[~MegChristine(:]

Quote:
Thanks so much! We just had a puppy show up that had been dumped.. its a mix of an australian shepherd and something else. It already tried to kill the Guinea and its like a couple weeks to a month old, so im thinking hes not going to be a good protecter, plus i have no idea how to train it. I read that reply for my dad and we will try it. I hope it works.

 

[perchie.girl]

Can you cover your corn crib with hardware cloth? 1/2 inch mesh would work. The best defense is a physical barrier like hardware cloth.... then backed up by a dog or hot wire. I lost thirty six very young guineas to something..... still haven't figured out what.... and it was because they found a spot in the wire that wasn't fastened. They would squeeze through kill a bunch drag a bunch off while squeezing out..... the wire just closed back down and there was no evidence..... I think my predator was a raccoon.

 

[Artemis farms]

I would like to get an ostrich,will it be OK with my chickens ducks and geese??