Are there any dog breeds that AREN'T going to want to kill chickens?

[Zahboo]

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Aw that's a cute picture, bull terrier?

 

[NurseDr]

We have an Australian Shepard, she is great with our other pets. Cuddled with the guinea pig, actively ignores the cockatiel. No interest in the 3 week old chicks in the brooder on the floor. But, I'm sure she will protect or collect them when asked. We got her as a pup from a ranch that raises rodeo stock. Although we live in a urban/suburban area. The first few years were trying. While I agree with training to a point, genetics is much stronger. Look at 2 week old chicks, and their behavior to understand the behavioral genetics. We had a chow, she did what she was bred to, be a guard dog, not hurt an animal but Humans in her domain watch out.

So, select a breed for what you want. Then love and train it.

 

[awalters0815]

1/2 aussie shepherd and 1/2 border collie. loves the girls, so far! He loves to put them to bed at nite.

 

[Cara]

Herein lies the problem. No two dogs of the same breed act completely alike. Anyone who has tried to replace a beloved pet will tell you that. Therefore telling somebody that X breed will be perfect and they will not have problems is misleading. A mix of X and X breeds is even less likely to share the same temperament as someone else's perfect dog, as there is no way of telling which characteristics they will inherit from which lines. If you want to be certain that no birds will be harmed, don't mix dogs and poultry, period. Providing a coop also offers more protection from predators. If you're willing to take a chance choose something that you can reasonably expect to be able to train, and accept a few losses as the price you might pay.

 

[nzpouter]

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Thanks, yep bull terrier and pitbull mixes.

 

[chickaddict]

I have a spaniel, she loves everything.
except chickens
Spaniels are supposed to be bird dogs, my spaniel is AFRAID of the chickens.

 

[quiltnchik]

I have a variety of dogs here and NONE of them bother my chickens. Believe it or not, the best one with them is my female Pit Bull (I let my 6-week-old chicks out in the yard to free-range for the first time last night and she stayed in the back yard to keep an eye on them)! I firmly believe it's all in how a dog is raised and trained.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I feel compelled to add my story...
I got two Standard Poodles this last year. I researched for six years before deciding on this breed. 1, they are smart as any dog can be; 2, they are supposed to get along well with other animals regardless of the fact that they are bred to be waterfowl hunters. Well, instinct is pretty strong cuz these two killed ALL of my original chickens. She attacked some juvies last fall and out of 15 I ended up with 2 left. I had 8 laying hens too. She sneak attacked on in the corn field while they were ranging last fall, I think 2 disappeared out of fear and were never found. So, I ended up with 7 over-winter. Now that HE is big and lumbering around, they suddenly decided that chicken might taste good. The odd thing is, after she got that hen last fall and we really got after her and were on top of her being anywhere near them, the puppies both started going out and just hangin' with the chickens and eating their feed. Did bother them all winter, would even go into the coop and kind of hang out. Then they started finding some birds that must have frozen this winter, and next thing we look out and all of the flock is dead or next to dead and the pups were ripping their feathers out.
They also have never hurt any of our rabbits that we breed and raise for showing, then one day they attacked the cages and killed 4 of them. Then just yesterday, she got another rabbit that we were rabbit sitting for my son's friend while they are in Mexico.
So, learn from my mistakes, fence them in or fence them out but fences are a good friend and make sure they can't get through them.
So much for a breed that is good around other animals. They are part of them family now, so I guess we are investing in lots of fencing this spring.

 

[Lucy4]

Thanks for everyone's input, and the great pics.

I think as several of you said, there's no one breed that can be trusted, and that a lot of it is training and individual personalities.

For right now, I'm not taking the risk. My son would be devastated if one of his hens was killed. Our coop/run is secure, but with little kids running in and out of there...

We'll wait a few years.

 

[math ace]

Alright - everybody seems to be giving serious answers to this question - - So, I will respond again after some serious reflection.

The dogs temperment has more to do with it than the breed. I had a wonderful 85 lb pit bull who loved to chase cats. NOT EAT OR KILL - just chase. FOR Years she would chase a cat and when it stopped running she would sit and bark at it - - It was her favorite game. NONE of my neighbors were concern, she was harmless and they knew it.

As far as birds go, She never messed with LIVE BIRDS. Somebody in the neighboorhood had the big YARD ORNAMENTS - A FAMILY of DUCKS. One by ONE she brought them home to me. We drove around the neighborhood many times trying to find the owners so that we could replace Yard Ducks for them, but we could only find PINK FLAMINGOS in peoples's yards. She never touched those - - - only the ducks.

NOW, I don't want you to think we were irresponsible dog owners who let our dog run wild. We did not. When she was younger, she was a fantastic escape artist. First, we hot wired the bottom of her fence. Then, we discovered she was climbing - YES CLIMBING - over the fence. So we hot wired the top of the fence. Then we discovered that she tested the hot wire everyday. If the grass was damp from dew and tall enough to touch the bottom hot wire then it would short circuit the hot wire on LUCKY ESCAPE DAYS.

Finally, we called the vet and asked "WHAT DO WE DO?" The vet said she was suffering from separation Anxiety and we needed to get her a BUDDY or just learn to live with it. BY THIS TIME, the crazy dog was BREAKING into our own house. We would come home and find her laying on our bed. She would find a window that hadn't been fully shut the night before and climbed her 85 lb butt through it. AFTER that she just became a FULL TIME HOUSE DOG.

NO MORE MAJOR PROBLEMS. Occasionally on the weekend she would disappear while by other half and I were coming in and out, in and out, doing work around the house. But we would holler and she would come running home ( just like a child) as soon as we discovered that neither one of us had the dog! ! WHAT A TRIP - SHE WAS.

MORAL of the Story - - - BIG BAD PIT - - Not a KILLER. She did have the urge to chase though.

BIG DOGS - - St. Bernard comes to mind. This type of dog was never bred for hunting or herding. In general a very laid back dog.
SMALL DOGS - - Maltese - BUT they have lots of hair / grooming needs

I don't think you will be able to find the dog you want by looking at breed alone.

You will have to find a dog whos temperment does not include the urge to hunt or PLAY or CHASE moving living things.
You will have to find a dog who can be trained ( it won't come naturally) to leave the other animals alone EVEN WHEN YOU ARE NOT AROUND.

Even HERDING DOGS do their jobs by nipping at the live stock.