Dogs that kill weasels but not chickens?

[cgaylemedders]

Our Doxies kill possums, rabbits, etc, but watch over the flock and mother the chicks.

 

[bobbi-j]

oh I've definitely never found a dead chicken from those who roost in trees. (dead broody peahens, yes ), but I'm not willing to say there can't have been a situation where a loose chicken was killed and the whole body was dragged off because that's entirely possible.

I'm not saying it's fool proof by any means and I suggest against it if each of your birds has a name & is a pet, but i let my birds choose where they sleep, and i have a handful in trees and a handful in the coop where I close the door every night. And I keep an eye out when younger chickens start roosting loose, and if they're too low, I move them. There was an annoying couple weeks where 10+ birds decided that the fence right outside the coop was good roosting space and I had to move them all into the coop every night.

Let’s face it. If a person has chickens, they will eventually lose some to predators. If there is a weak spot in a fence or coop, they’ll happily point it out for us

 

[ackie]

Let’s face it. If a person has chickens, they will eventually lose some to predators. If there is a weak spot in a fence or coop, they’ll happily point it out for us

yep. & broodies are the most at risk. shame they hide their nests so sneakily from us that we can't always protect them. but I'll be figuring out some type of breeding pen for my peahens this year. no more losses!

 

[Mick43]

I have two dogs that I successfully trained to be safe around chickens and turkeys. One is a Great Pyranee who is good at night for he loves to go out on the night at any temperature. His thing is his deep bark, so he scares predators away. My smaller dog is a mur I got from the Amish, she is very bright and very athletic, she goes after rays and mice, and chases the neighbors cat if he comes near my barn where the turkeys stay. I lost one chicken in the fall, just as we were stacking wood, and both dogs were out. It ripped open her gut and left her. We don’t know what did it and how no it be saw it. I know weasels are very slick and could get onto my barn easily.

 

[Cami Su]

I'm going to throw my 2 cents' worth in about free ranging and weasels. I have never lost a chicken to a weasel while they were free ranging. The mink and weasel kills that I've experienced in my flock have always been when they've been penned. Not saying it would never happen, but I have personally not seen it.

Also had a bad problem with weasels 2 years ago. They killed over half of my pullets (42 of 80) One day I was in the pen and they were all fine, and 15 minutes later there were 3 of them dead. I stopped up every hole with 1/4" hardware cloth and stopped the problem. I do not know why they do not bother the big ones that are actually free ranging, but depriving the weasels of the ones they wanted seems to have done the trick. and as soon as they get out everything seems to be fine. I also think that they moved out after I blocked them out. They ARE horrible. If you live trap one it will die as their metabolism is so high that they will not survive a few hours on a cold day (or night) without food.

 

[Cami Su]

yep. & broodies are the most at risk. shame they hide their nests so sneakily from us that we can't always protect them. but I'll be figuring out some type of breeding pen for my peahens this year. no more losses!

YOu need to think like a chicken, and you will find that the same girls are always the ones to steal a nest. My last one who did, though, never learned how to successfully choose a spot where the eggs would stay warm, so she would lay on top of a sheet of plastic stretched over the lumber bay, and not in the hay, etc. The best one was the girl who showed up with 16 chicks, and 2 days later the state mowed the side of the road, and we suddenly knew where she had had her nest. The predators apparently also did not hunt 4 feet from the side of the highway. Don't know how she worked the timing out so well that they were safely out of hte way when the mower went by...

 

[ackie]

YOu need to think like a chicken, and you will find that the same girls are always the ones to steal a nest. My last one who did, though, never learned how to successfully choose a spot where the eggs would stay warm, so she would lay on top of a sheet of plastic stretched over the lumber bay, and not in the hay, etc. The best one was the girl who showed up with 16 chicks, and 2 days later the state mowed the side of the road, and we suddenly knew where she had had her nest. The predators apparently also did not hunt 4 feet from the side of the highway. Don't know how she worked the timing out so well that they were safely out of hte way when the mower went by...

my SO mowed over a peahen on a nest and she refused to move. obviously he didn't know she was there or he wouldn't have done it, but he was taking a first pass at overgrown grass with the blades set higher up I guess and saw her on the way back around. she was fine.

 

[Rosebud25]

I'm going to throw my 2 cents' worth in about free ranging and weasels. I have never lost a chicken to a weasel while they were free ranging. The mink and weasel kills that I've experienced in my flock have always been when they've been penned. Not saying it would never happen, but I have personally not seen it.

I agree, in my experience the weasels and mink attacked at night when my birds were locked up in their coup. I now have Great Pyrenees and Saint Pyrenees guarding my barn and property. The Great Pyrenees is awake and on guard all night and sleeps right near my animals all day. The Saint Pyrenees on the other hand is awake during the day and roams my property borders

 

[Theronzo]

Maybe there's no "best" breed for this, I don't know. I know that some people keep large guard dogs to protect themselves and their animals, and that they recommend specific breeds that are better than others.

For instance, so far I have never seen anyone recommend a Chihuahua.

I just figured people at backyard chickens.com would be most likely to have some experience with dogs that don't attack their chickens but do attack small predators like rats and weasels.

I wondered if anyone has had a rat terrier that didn't attack their birds?

I find that my two labs are very good rat catchers so I guess weasels too? Im from south africa so here we only have falcons, eagles and mongoose... the dogs dont necessarily catch them but they do bark like mad when they see a predator and they do scare it away

My dogs were about 2 when i got chickens and a nice slap after trying to eat one the very first time made them chicken friendly. One thing though is that my dogs cannot be trusted around chicks but i guess they could be taught to

 

[Taygal37]

You need a Great Pyranees or any livestock guardian breed. Mine patrols the perimeter of our yard and I’ve never lost a chicken (knock on wood). She loves all of our animals and people. She is very sweet but sounds intimidating enough to keep stuff out of the yard. I live in the country surrounded by fox, raccoon, coyotes, hawks etc.