If you have ever wanted chickens and a large property one of the first things you have probably been advised on is a dog to chase off predators and protect your birds, but then the day rolls around and suddenly you come home to find or witness your beloved hand picked "livestock guardian" killing or having killed multiple birds and proceed to only kill more... But I purposely got a LGD?! How did this happen? Welp, instinct, mismanagement and likely lack of discipline.
Having had a small poultry business, and a pack of 7 dogs, over 13 dogs total in the last few Decades, we have had exactly 1 incident with a dog attacking a chicken, it was a mean rooster getting nasty white our Yorkie mix, who bravely defended her puppies and left the rooster to mourn his lost tail. Our dogs have fought chased and defended against anything from rats, bobcats, loose dogs, bobcats, coywolves, and Coons, and have never killed a chicken.
This is our experience with dogs and poultry, livestock guardians, what dogs best suit a flock, and how to help you find your dog and raise your dog to become the best flock defender they can be, no matter what the breed.
Dog Breed doesn't matter, but your skills and experience DO!
Many think of Livestock Guardians like Great Pyrenees or Anatolian, or maybe a German shepherd when they think of a flock guardian.
The fact is a dog is simply much more capable than a person at sniffing out trouble and experience and training will either trump or benefit instinct with time.
A dog developed for a task is a dog with a certain amount of drive, and the first thing to consider is can you handle that drive? Do you have breed experience and the best training methods and how to precisely develop your dogs abilities? And more so, do you even need that much drive?
If you have less than five acres and aren't keeping over 80 birds, and an experienced farmer or dog trainer, the answer is likely no.
If you have ever owned a dog you should know even the smallest ones can cover alot of ground FAST. As far as your backyard husky or lab is concerned, crossing a 5 acre property is like a walk in the park, much less a Dutch shepherd or Dogo Argentino. Just because you don't take your dog on a 5 miles walk daily doesn't mean they're incapable, they just aren't given the opportunity. If you can get what you want out of a eager to learn 80lb lab or Poodle, who is just as happy to go out to dinner with you at the end of the day, why put your self through the ringer of working out kinks and making mistakes with a much more stubborn and high maintenance breed who may not fit in the end anyways? Take on what you like and can handle, not what "sounds good or effective", it's easier to build a dogs drive than redirect a drive as the case may be, and let's be honest, your 25 lb beagle is already a more effective predator deterent than you anyway. Build the dog you want from the base up, don't box yourself in with predetermined factors that may be more a hindrance than a benefit.
What is the dog defending against?
If you're going to have predators, you'll want a dog who can successfully divert, go ahead to head and tackle said predators, if you're birds don't really free-range far but you have rats, weasels and squirrels killing birds, pullets and chicks, then you likely aren't going to have much luck with a large clunky pyranees, and that doberman isn't going to be able to shimmy down the weasel hole, Dauchsunds, bassets, Yorkies, jack Russell's etc are all going to be far more efficient in moving fast and effective in chasing catching and killing those low to the ground small predators fast, on the move, both in tight spaces or open. If you have cougars or bears, obviously a Jack Russell is not the way to go, but with a sly pack of coyotes or a fox you may find a sleek medium sized breed is going to be much more effective in out manuvering, chasing down and turning on a dime in thickets or open land than a larger dog, they also are going to be harder to pinpoint out of sight on the predators end as you can't hear them galloping from 2 acres away. Whatever breed you go with, remember it's no good if you're dog doesn't know what it itself is supposed to be looking out for.
Some dogs hate certain predators and will back down from others, make sure you are both picking a dog for your needs and following through to develop that drive.
). Breed is less important than the actual dog in front of you. I like how this author takes into consideration the agility and differences in peoples situations. A good solid article.