... and we don't want a barker, there is one a mile and a half over and that is annoying enough.
Do you think if a puppy is raised in the hen house it will be chicken friendly?
I hear you on the barking! No offense to those with LGD's but I really don't like the sound of dogs barking all night either and feel fortunate that none of our current neighbors have barkers.
I would NOT recommend raising a puppy in the hen house. My sister has a puppy who is now 8 months but they got him at 8 weeks and though he is a dog who will probably be great with chickens when he is older, as an exuberant puppy, he killed 4 of their flock, just "playing" with them. Even the breeds that are natural protectors can go through a stage of killing as puppies, before they mature into their role as guardian.
My recommendation if you are starting with a puppy is to expose the dog to the poultry from day one but never leave it unattended with them. And, while it is with you, if you see any behavior that is undesirable around them - intense interest, chasing, barking, being too boisterous - offer a firm "NO" so that it knows from the beginning that that behavior is not acceptable.
HEChicken is very fortunate that she got the dogs she did. If a dog is intelligent enough it can learn between right and wrong for sure, so in that case many breeds other than a terrior can learn to protect if trained properly.
AND I would NEVER put a dog in a hen house. Even the best guard dogs will end up playing with the chickens if they are penned with them. It's just not safe. You are better off to allow the dog and the birds to interact in the yard or a large area where they dog won't get bored and start to play with his little friends. When I raise my GPs I always put a board up to the entrance of the kennel the puppies can't climb over but the chickens can. That way they get exposure to the chickens from the first few days. The chickens will always find dog food and go in to eat.
It is so cold today. I really need to get out and feed and water but I'm certainly not looking forward to it.
HEChicken I have only had one dog water bowl fail. It was a small green one... I'm not sure what the brand was. The ones I like the best have a removable element in them that you can take out in summer. I've never had one fail. These are normally blue. Made by Allied. I also have some larger green ones that are permanently sealed that seem to work okay but not as good as the blue ones.
It is perhaps not so much fortunate as planned. We were fortunate with the two dogs we had before we got back into chickens, as they were both just naturally good around the birds. One of them got grouchy with them towards the end when he was in pain but all he would do is snap in their direction, never chase, and they didn't seem that intimidated by his snapping. After those two dogs passed, when we adopted the two new dogs, that was a pre-requisite - that they be good with the poultry. We adopted from rescues who allow a home trial, and the foster parents brought the dog over to do intros. The black dog was busily sniffing around when a chicken wandered around the corner and she froze and "pointed" towards it but a second later decided it wasn't near as interesting as what she had been smelling and that was the most interest she has ever shown in them. The other is not only uninterested but is actually respectful of them, walking carefully when close to them and avoiding eye contact with them at all costs. I had an interesting experience here a couple of months ago when the birds were out free-ranging and a rabbit hopped out to graze alongside them. The black dog went after that rabbit with extraordinary zeal and as it zigzagged through the flock, so did she, birds squawking and scattering in all directions the whole time. She kept her eyes on the rabbit and eventually it escaped under a fence. I figured then that if she was ever going to go after a bird, the middle of THAT commotion is when it would happen and since it didn't happen then, I would expect her to be good with them no matter what circumstances the future holds.
KKB, my dogs do kind of serve as LGD's but not in the official sense. The black one does like to chase coyotes and would if she got the chance, but does not actively seek them out. Actually, for both dogs, their focus is not to protect and not even to seek out intruders but they are effective merely by their presence. Their dog igloo is in the chicken yard and every night they are put in the chicken yard to spend the night, and let out again in the morning. Their presence there acts as a disincentive for anything to want to climb into the chicken yard both at night, but also during the day since their scent remains there and the predator probably doesn't know if they are still there or not. I lost a few birds to a fox this fall but NONE of them were taken from within the chicken yard. Instead they were taken while out in the pasture, or, in the case of the ducks, when they elected to spend the night at the pond instead of coming back to the coop for the night. So - as long as they are in the chicken yard, free-ranging the 3 acres surrounding the house, or in the coop at night, they are safe.
My dogs rarely bark so if they ever do start to bark, we know to go and check it out. Usually it is just the neighbors making noise, or someone coming down our driveway to see us, but occasionally their barking alerts us to a neighbor dog coming over to visit, and once, when our sheep were out, the barking alerted us to their finding their way home (long story).
If you are uncertain about wanting a dog at all and know you don't want one that barks, here's another thought: instead of a puppy, why not adopt an adult dog? Here's the thing. If I were getting LGD's, I would get two between the ages of 8-12 weeks. From what I understand of them, they will bond better to the livestock you want them to protect, if you start them out at that age. But, as I said earlier, you would only want them around the poultry while you are with them. However if you adopt an older dog, you won't have to deal with the puppy stage, and if you adopt from a rescue, you can trial them first to be sure they going to be good around the poultry. Then, although the dog(s) may not actively protect, by having them on your property, you may get the inadvertent guardianship, like mine provide.
Danz, I have 2 of the blue bowls and one of the green ones but all are the same size - they hold a gallon of water with a little room to spare. I'm really frustrated by them right now. The blue ones both quit working and the green one has worked for about a month. DH said he'll take it apart tonight and see if he can figure out why. All three have the heating element that pops out from underneath, so maybe when we pop it out, it will be immediately obvious what the problem is. I hope so….
Not really looking for a pet, more for a livestock protector, and we don't want a barker, there is one a mile and a half over and that is annoying enough.
