California-Southern

[Sylvester017]

Yep your batting a thosand on that grouping..... LOL. Any kind of terrier or terrier bloodlines has a VERY strong prey drive. Thats why they were used for hunting rats and weasels.

Aussies are awesome dogs but they need clarification as to their job. Incredibly smart and people pleasers.. Poodles too. Poodles were bred as an all purpose dog originally... But you have to get a good blood line that hasnt had neurotic behavior bred in.... So sad when dog breeds get popular...

Livestock guardian dogs too have to pass muster before they are used in that capacity. Great Pyrenees are the most common in the US. But there are several others gaining popularity.... A livestock guardians sole job is to guard the flock no matter what it is... They are independant thinkers though so dont expect them to come every time you call..... But they will take on a bear or a mountain lion to protect their flock.

Me... Rottweilers are an awesome choioce.... they have that Quality of protecting their pack as well as being trainable and somewhat intimidating to the two footed varity of predator. IN my case this would be important. They too were bred originally to work livestock as well as pulling wagons....

So for all chicken owners new or old.... Know your dogs set them up for success. I would never leave a dog with the flock untended wihtout having a solid understanding that that dog knows his job is to leave them alone.

I have personal experience with dogs killing goats and chickens... Some cases it was neighbors dogs some cases it was my own. I dont blame the dog I blame my failure to protect my flock. and in the case the neighbors failure to keep her dogs in.

deb

Amen, deb! The large "guardian flock" breeds are the best flock dogs whether sheep, goats, chickens, cattle, llamas, etc but the individual still has to pass muster just like a seeing-eye service dog does. We loved all our trained Rotts but would only trust one out of the 3 we had to 99% obey commands explicitly but still would not trust this working breed alone around chickens. Our friends sadly lost 3 of their 5 chickens to a Jack Russell they rescued - they had to re-home it

. It only takes the slightest bit of online research to get a good idea of whether a dog breed might be good to have as a flock guard and then have it appropriately trained - still keeping in mind that the individual still has to pass muster. Love your inputs, deb!

 

[Amelia Egghart]

1) figure out property lines
2) build a fence
3) get a dog

Poor Nero is still traumatized. Turns out the coyote DID get him, but only ended up with a mouthful of tail feathers. Phew.

 

[hockeyfish]

Beautiful dogs you have there. My two dogs need to be separated from the chickens so we don't have any unexpected issues. If I'm around the dogs listen to command and I let them smell and interact with the chickens while I'm supervising. I have a welded wire dog kennel that I'm using as my perimeter fencing and it keeps the chickens in and the dogs out really well. When one of the chickens jumps from a perch and flys to the ground the dogs charge the run. It's like their inner hunting instinct comes out if the chickens ever flap their wings or make a quick movement like that

 

[chickencrazy21]

We thsnkfully redid the dog pen then went to redo the chicken pen when money ran out. The dog pen idk how long and wide it is but its good sized. It has a trnech dug under filled with cememnt. The poles are cemented in 2 feet deep. Fence is 6 feet tall not flimsy metal and at the bottom we we put wood to keep the gravel in the dog pen which we also ran out of money to get. Our dogs still stair down our chickens and charge them. But they run into the frnce and walk away.

 

[Sylvester017]

Beautiful dogs you have there. My two dogs need to be separated from the chickens so we don't have any unexpected issues. If I'm around the dogs listen to command and I let them smell and interact with the chickens while I'm supervising. I have a welded wire dog kennel that I'm using as my perimeter fencing and it keeps the chickens in and the dogs out really well. When one of the chickens jumps from a perch and flys to the ground the dogs charge the run. It's like their inner hunting instinct comes out if the chickens ever flap their wings or make a quick movement like that

Dogs play rough instinctively from the time they are pups, play chasing, play biting, and if the opponent reacts, the play gets more intense -- all to practice for when they are grown and need to fight for real. The only thing is that dogs don't understand chickens aren't dogs when they play rough with them. That's why I like the bigger slower guardian breed dogs around flocks and not the hyper-active working, herding, or hunting breeds. Your dogs are beautiful but looking at their breed type I can see why you need to separate them from your birds. They've got huge happy puppy smiles - you must give them a lot of love!

 

[hockeyfish]

Dogs play rough instinctively from the time they are pups, play chasing, play biting, and if the opponent reacts, the play gets more intense -- all to practice for when they are grown and need to fight for real.  The only thing is that dogs don't understand chickens aren't dogs when they play rough with them.  That's why I like the bigger slower guardian breed dogs around flocks and not the hyper-active working, herding, or hunting breeds.  Your dogs are beautiful but looking at their breed type I can see why you need to separate them from your birds.  They've got huge happy puppy smiles - you must give them a lot of love!

Very true! Yeah these guys get a ton of love. That was a picture when they were around 6 months old. They're about a month different in age. Now they're a year and a half old and full of energy. Rocky our Bull Mastiff is mixed with German Shepherd and Akita and would be the one to kill first but I don't trust either of them. Ruby our female is 120lbs now and could crush the chickens so easily. She loves to come up and smell the chickens when I open the coop. Funny thing is the chickens aren't scared of the dogs at all since we've never had one get injured or really feel threatened.

 

[Caligirl2]

Hi, just in case you're interested - I have a black cuckoo marans rooster, 5 months old, healthy and beautiful, free to a good home! Black and white striped. Raised on organic feed. I can get a pic tomorrow. I'm in Temecula. Let me know.

 

[Caligirl2]

I'm sorry you were sad! Actually I really need to rehome my roo also, and there aren't many chicken owners by me who are interested. Did you bring him somewhere that would be interested in another??

 

[Sylvester017]

Very true! Yeah these guys get a ton of love. That was a picture when they were around 6 months old. They're about a month different in age. Now they're a year and a half old and full of energy. Rocky our Bull Mastiff is mixed with German Shepherd and Akita and would be the one to kill first but I don't trust either of them. Ruby our female is 120lbs now and could crush the chickens so easily. She loves to come up and smell the chickens when I open the coop. Funny thing is the chickens aren't scared of the dogs at all since we've never had one get injured or really feel threatened.

Our chickens got used to the neighbor's Chow Chow and they'd sniff each other through the chainlink fence. Our Breda is especially outgoing and unafraid of things and went nose to beak with the dog whereas our Ameraucana would run off at the slightest imagined shadow! A running or spooked chicken really excites a dog.

 

[hockeyfish]

I'm so excited we got some new chicks today
White crested black, buff laced, and white polish. Afro chicks!