Gaurd Animals

[chickieeb]

There has been a fox trying to get after my chickena for a while now, and who knows what else has tries when im not watching. My two great danes are terrible gaurd sogs since they try to kill them also.. i heard about getting goats to protect the flock. Is that really true? If not, what other animal can i put in with them??

 

[DancingWthDucks]

I have friend who uses Alpacas to guard her flock of ducks and chickens, and has no predator problems..... She told me that the alpacas actually trampled and killed a fox!!

 

[centrarchid]

I would invest effort in getting the Great Danes to leave the chickens alone. At same time promote / enable the dogs' interest in interlopers. Dogs with past of killing chickens just means that is your starting point and can be overcome. Work dogs separately around chickens to avoid them egging each other on.

 

[Zoomie]

I raise goats. Have had goats most of my life. No, they will not guard your chickens, very sorry.

My goats completely ignore the chickens. Goats are a prey species; if there is a dog attack they will run for their lives, not stand and protect the chickens. They themselves are very vulnerable to attack by predators, although certainly not as vulnerable as chickens are.

I have had the best luck with a very secure coop and a covered run. An electric fence is also very effective. There are members here (such as @centrarchid who use dogs to guard their chickens. They can give tips on training the dog to do the job properly. I imagine it's like a person: not everyone is good at playing the piano, but with some training and practice, most people can learn to play at least a little. So perhaps with a lot of work and training your own dogs can learn to be more effective at protecting your flock.