Collie dogs and chickens

[daffy428]

Does anyone out there have a regular collie( like Lassie) not a border collie that is good with their chickens? I know that dogs can be one of the chickens' worst predators, but I was wondering about training dogs to be protectors and friends of chickens, and specifically collies...

 

[crazyfeathers]

Sorry we have a lab/shepherd chicken protector, he is 7. Good luck on your search for collie owners.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Forgive me for pipping in as I have a Shetland Sheepdog rather than a true Collie (however he has quite a bit of Collie blood in him as the breeder was looking to refine her bloodlines features)....however, he is generally afraid of the chickens...seriously...he ran from them for the longest time as I had 2 rather bossy RIR's that hated him on sight.

However, with some work, he has warmed up and has, on occasion, begun to help me in herding....sometimes. I need to work with him more to help him understand his role.

All to say, it is more the handling than the breed. A well bred Collie should work fine as it is a herding dog. We had several Collies in our Guide Dog club and they were environmentally sensitive but not instinctively goofy predatory chasers. You'll need to handle it to acclimate it to the chickens and teach it that the chickens are to be cared for not played with.

My 2 cents.
Lady of McCamley

 

[aart]

Ditto...depends on the individual dog and, much more importantly, the human training that dog.

 

[4 the Birds]

Have to agree that it depends on the training and individual dog. We have a herding dog (cattle dog) and she nips and herds everything!

We keep our chickens and dogs isolated from each other but they live close together. Coyotes pretty much stay clear of our property since we have 7 dogs and will not risk a confrontation. Having a well behaved guard dog can be very nice for a fenced property.

 

[chfite]

I have an Australian Shepherd, a collie-type dog, that gets along fine with the chickens. I also have a chihuahua that would not be expected to do well around chickens. I figure that between our management and the example set by the Aussie, the chihuahua leaves the chickens alone. Of course, the chickens are much larger than the chihuahua. That may make some difference.

Chris

 

[BrinaChick]

Does anyone out there have a regular collie( like Lassie) not a border collie that is good with their chickens? I know that dogs can be one of the chickens' worst predators, but I was wondering about training dogs to be protectors and friends of chickens, and specifically collies...

Yes I DO breed Collies! The old fashioned type of working dog, They are classified as 'Scotch Collies' Please check out my website, I have 2 upcoming litters this 2017 May.
onegoodfarmdog.wordpress.com My dogs work with all of our livestock-chickens, ducks, cows, sheep, pigs, rabbits, and our cats!
These dogs aren't hyper, and they do NOT kill or harm our animals, however they DO kill all the vermin critters, like opossum, raccoon, rats, squirrels, fox, etc. and have chased off 3 black bears, a mountain lion and plenty of coyotes. I love the way my dogs, think, act, and work! You can read about my previous puppies and how they are growing up on their new homes.

Please contact me if you would like one of these Fantastic farm dogs!
Here are my breeding Collies-

 

[BrinaChick]

We are expecting 2 litters from these incredible farm collies in the first week of May 2017. Let me know if anyone is interested. The 2 sable dogs are my females, and the tricolor is my stud dog. They are great with all farm animal, super intelligent, and loyal to their master.