My brother and I are headed primarily to white birds for no other reason than cleaner looking carcasses on the capons (they sell a bunch of them). Jason has very large dangerous dogs to protect his place at night and to a couple medium sized ones that run around during the day. He tells me that if he's lost any chickens in the last 5 years, he is not aware of it.
We rely on large area, 5 foot tall chain link fencing strung with monofilament fishing line with an outer barrier of Premier electroneting to protect our birds and that works very well. Each of our systems works well enough for the particular need but I couldn't deal with so many dogs nor be able to deal with essentially the work involved with a large kennel. Taking care of the birds effectively is expensive and fulfilling enough without adding drudgery to it.
ETA: Part of Brother's success in protecting his flocks in WV is the penchant for almost everyone in that valley to 'dispose' of every bird of prey (barring Eagles) that is stupid enough to fly low enough or take a second to sit in the wrong tree for a minute. Whole different culture there. I'm not knocking them, I just won't take a chance of running afoul of the FEDs this close to a Federal prison and besides, I'm considering applying for a job at their medical center.
Sorry Brother...
