best dog breed around chickens?

[Wooden_Pony]

I have a small dog and a medium dog.

Our tiny dog LOVES the chickens when they are babies. She is not to fond of them once they get older. She does not nip or chase them and when we brought home our chicks she was over a year old. I would not suggest her as a "Gaurd Dog" even the foster kittens beat her up!

Also more then once we have had to rescue her from ferral cats stalking her!!



My other dog is a Border Collie/ Aussie. She is WONDERFUL with the chickens. She lays out in the yard with them and has never tried to herd them or nips at them. She even lets our RIR's sit on her back!!

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

We have three a collie,golden retriver and a mutt they really dont take much notice of the chickens. lately we have our old roo and his girl free ranging (the young roo nearly killed him in a fight so we took him out of the coop). I watched as they struted around the yard and my collie was out side the fence he could have cared less. But the best dog around the chickens here is my daughters little pitbull. I know sounds wrong but she is the sweetest ,loveable dog and is just fine around the chickens.goats and geese. I think if a dog is raised around chickens and other farm animals they will be fine.

 

[earthnut]

Thanks for the suggestion of the toy, myth!

I don't need a guard dog, I just don't want dead chickens.

 

[Leslie In North Pole]

I have a BC/Aussie mix and she is fantastic with all of my poultry. They don't appreciate her so much... As some have mentioned, herding dogs love to herd and she feels it is her duty to enforce boundaries on our birds and to chase other dogs away from her birds. One of her jobs is to put the birds away at night when they have been free ranging and she is very dedicated to it. She feels it is her duty to keep them in the yard and out of the garden and if she thinks a fight is out of hand, she will break it up.

Research breeds and find a breed that you are comfortable with. Border collies, australian shepards, and shelties are great dogs to me but I also recognize that they can be difficult dogs to have if you aren't familiar with how smart, active, and focused they can be. Working dogs need to work or they can develop bad habits that often result in them being given up for adoption. I am trying to avoid any kind of mixes that are bred to hunt, chase, burrow, retrieve as it is their nature to pursue smaller targets. I also have to take into account that even with strong training, not every member of my household can exhibit the same controls with a dog, so I desire a dog that doesn't have to fight their instincts.

 

[Carole AM]

We have a Collie- Belgian Tervuren mix and she is great with all our animals! We started her as a puppy though, and she's very gentle.

We also foster dogs, and I expose them to the chickens. The terriers want to go after them, so I wouldn't trust one ALONE. Most of the fosters are just curious-wondering what those "things" are!

 

[CUDA]

There is a big difference between a dog that won't eat your chickens, and a dog that will protect them. That is what breeds like the GP's are bred for. I just got one that was born on a yard, and he is just great with the birds. Look at this pic from the person I bought him from!

This is how a good chicken dog is raised!

 

[fowlfriends]

earthnutI know about rescues. My parents' lab is from rescue. They're great. I'll look into both rescue and shelter. [url :

http://www.boaddiction.com/images/smilies/Smiley I/Happy/yes2.gif[/URL] The dog won't only be outside, there's not enough room for that; I don't want an only inside dog.

Oblio: the bottom egg is from a dark chocolate/blue egger cross (ie Marans/Ameraucana cross)

I'll put the word out amongst my rescue friends, and see if anyone has a good dog for you. Any breeds you absolutely would not want? (you can PM me that info if you like). I personally deal predominantly with APBT's, but have friends who deal with many others. There is a group somewhere in your area who specifically deals with the large livestock dogs (GP and others).​

 

[Rosalind]

Word of warning about Pyrs:

-You still have to train them. Raising them close to chickens every single day is not enough. And even so, as teenagers they WILL regress in their training like any other dog. I lost two roosters to my Pyr. He was really, really sorry and tries hard to do better, but still. He knew what the pecking order was, he knew that these were the low roos on the totem pole, and therefore he regarded them as fair game.

-Pyrs take a long time to become adults. We're talking, two years. They will engage in puppy behavior (hyperactive after hours of play and work, playing with other species, etc.) long past the time when other dogs would have grown out of it. You need about two years of patience. And, they will be physically able to wreck you long before they have outgrown their puppyhood. If you aren't ready to deal with a 120 lb. puppy play-challenging you, then I wouldn't recommend a Pyr.

-Pyrs are stubborn. The most infuriating thing is that you KNOW they know how to do the trick you are asking of them. They did it five minutes ago, perfectly, several times in a row. So now they feel they no longer need to do it again. No amount of asserting your dominance will change that. They are similar to cats in their thinking, they have their own ideas about things, which might occasionally be similar to yours, and that's about what you can expect.

-It's true they eat a lot less than other giant breed dogs. Mine eats about 1/2 of what a large golden retriever would eat, even when he's working every day. He goes through about twice as many toys, though, so it kind of evens out money-wise.

 

[CUDA]

I agree with some of that Rosalind, but there is also the "what they are bred for factor". If you got a dog from a breeder that doesn't use the dogs for their intended purpose, you will have a lot of training to do. If you get a dog from a breeder that has dogs with a good history of actual use, you will have a much easier time with them. The pups that get trained by momma in the yard, are much easier to get trained, period. The other thing is that GP's are very sensitive to negative training methods, and have a long memory. They respond much better to positive reinforcement. They are very smart dogs, and if you spend the time with them, and raise them with your livestock, they will be invaluable to you when they mature in my opinion.

 

[Cara]

Quote:
Play drive and prey drive are two different things. I train SAR dogs and we actively seek those with a strong play drive as they are easier to motivate and train. A high prey drive on the other hand is highly undesirable. You don't want a dog that's going to run off after rabbits, joggers, cyclists, children etc when you are trying to search. If you want a dog to protect your birds, you will want one with a good prey drive but there is the difficulty of training the dog to distinguish between predators and pets.

Bear in mind that dogs do not act the same in shelters as they do in a home. Many appear over-exuberant because they have been cooped up with little chance to exercise. Once they get settled in and have space to run, they may sleep all day. Some will be too nervous of the kennel setting to pay you any attention. I had a roommate that picked the 'calm' dog from a shelter. She was in a run with several others who were running around and jumping up at the side to greet us, but she was just laying down. It turned out she was far from calm, she was so overwhelmed that she felt safest just staying in one spot. Once he got her home she was a real piece of work. She had been kept chained for two years, and would circle whenever she felt nervous, which was most of the time.

No dog is perfect wherever you get it from, and they will all need work and training. I don't think that there is such a thing as a good breed around chickens. Great Pyrenees will kill a chicken just as quickly as any other breed. Dogs are dogs, and some may be less aggressive than others, but there is no clear cut right choice. You wouldn't expect to trust a cat with pet mice while you were out. I don't let any of my dogs around my birds because it's just not fair on either the dogs or the chickens, particularly when there is the chance of a predator/neighbor's dog killing a bird and the dogs getting the blame.