German Shepherd Dogs & Chickens - are they compatible?

[Imachicklvr2]

I had GSDs for years and honestly it is going to come down to the individual dog and the amount of prey drive your dog has plus how much work you want to put into it. I have had German Shepherds at both ends of the spectrum and would never, ever trust some of them unsupervised despite the amount of training put into them(I did obedience and conformation). I had two that I could have left unsupervised in a coop and they wouldn't have done anything more than let the hens walk all over them. They are amazing dogs

Keep up the good work with yours, I hope the training sticks.

 

[sbhkma]

I have 2 very large GSDs-5 and 8 yrs old and a 26 lb rat terrier-2 yrs old. None of these dogs had ever seen a chicken before I got mine 5 months ago. My oldest GSD has HUGE prey drive and was my biggest concern, but I also have spent a lot of time training my dogs. It took consistent supervised exposure, but often now when I go out to feed my horses, the dogs AND the chickens all come supervise ME! There are times when I take the dogs for a walk and I have 3 dogs, 3 horses and 5 chickens all following me. It's quite the parade! My 5 yr old GSD LOVES the chickens and the horses. His father was a "chicken herder"

and this dog is completely safe around them.

My birds free range during the day and I have a 1/3 acre dog fence in my front yard, which is 1/4 mile off the road. Most late afternoons the birds hop the 4ft fence and hang out in the front yard eating bugs. Sometimes my dogs are out in the front yard at this time and they don't mess with the chickens. However, if I see the birds hanging out in the dog fence and the dogs happen to be out, I bring the dogs inside so as not to tempt fate.

You will need patience and discipline. If your dogs respect YOU, they will respect what is yours, so claim the chickens as yours. For the first month I wouldn't even allow my dogs to LOOK at the chickens without getting fussed at. My rat terrier still won't look at them, which is fine with me. I don't try to make them friends. I just want the dogs to realize they are completely off limits, just like my food. The 5 yr old likes to try to lick their heads though. He's completely fascinated with those birds and wags his tail happily when they waddle by. (he's the sable GSD in my profile pic)

A lot of GSDs are wonderful with all sorts of animals - I had one that wouldn't even eat a mouse in the house, but find them out in the field and he gobbled them like candy - and some are just never going to safe running loose around chickens. Even one that will be great with chickens will still need training to understand they're not to be herded, played with or chased. Good luck!

 

[Haloclimb]

Like everyone else here has said, it depends less on the breed and more on the dog itself! Our sheperd doesn't even look at the chickens- they just don't interest her. On the other hand, she obsess over our pigs and will spend all day sitting by their paddock and trying to lick them through the wire. She's always been a very placid dog though, so that helps!
Our kelpie, on the other hand, was awful with the chickens and could not be trusted with them until she was nearly a year old- and even then, that was only because we had a fox attack and she learned that foxes WERE an acceptable thing to chase But even now we still have to check up on her outside just to make sure she's behaving well, or she'll start to herd them....which will lead to stalking...which would probably lead to attacking if we left her out with them!

 

[themenagerie]

I have an 8 year old German Shepherd and he can be trusted completely with the chickens. When I first got them 3 years ago, he wanted to chase them, very much actually. . I made it very clear to him that they were MINE and he was not to harm them. Now he doesn't give them a second glance. A huge plus on your side is that German Shepherds are highly trainable. You just have to put in the time.

 

[D Kluck]

our dogs protect our chickens....but our dogs have been around chickens since pups... nearly all dogs that have not grown up around chickens could be dangerous to them...

 

[Chirpy]

Having had GSD's around chickens for nearly 7 years I totally agree that it depends on the dog... not the breed. My first GSD was a city boy until he was 8 and we moved to the country... we got chicks and he got a hold of one through the wire fencing and killed it! I verbally reprimanded him (with a lot of emotion) and he never touched another chicken in his life. He died at 14 years old; last year. He was 100% safe around my chickens after that incident.

My 2nd GSD was a rescue puppy and never touched the chickens. She was completely safe around them from day one but she was never allowed near them without a person there to teach her.

My 3rd GSD killed or attacked everything she could get her mouth on; chickens, goats, other dogs. She had the highest prey drive and aggression of any GSD I've ever had. (Side note... friends of ours have her sister from the same litter and have had lots of problems with her but not to the extreme extent we had, although they didn't have animals for her to get, -- I believe it was the genetics of the breeding) I gave her to a trainer, breeder of GSDs who had over 30 years experience and trained dogs world-wide for police, Schutzhund, etc. She agreed there was a 'loose' wire in that girls brain and she would never be safe around animals and was showing signs of not being safe around people.

My 4th GSD is now 2 1/2 years old and had great interest in the chickens as a puppy but has never killed one (she tried a couple of times but we were always there to reprimand her). She hasn't touched or shown interest in the chickens since she was 8 months old. I completely trust her... she runs outside guarding our livestock and us all the time. I could not be happier with this girl... she's my bestie! (She's got her head in my lap right now.)

I have a 4 month old GSD puppy and she has great interest in the chickens but is responding wonderfully to training. I won't trust her for a year or so by herself with them but I have no doubt that she will be as wonderful as my other girl because of her temperament. I did a lot of research on the breeding of her parents to get as much chance as possible for a more laid back puppy. (She's laying at my feet right now.)

Training... consistent training is absolutely necessary to teach any dog what they can and cannot do. If the dog is accidentally allowed one time to get a hold of a chicken... you have lost many steps in your training process and probably have to start over (depending on the dog). You need to make sure the dog never gets the opportunity to attack a chicken... someone should always be there to teach the dog what is acceptable and what isn't. It takes lots of time and patience but is to worth it when you have an adult dog that is trustworthy.

I encourage people who are going to buy a purebred dog to take lots of time to find the right breeder. That breeder will be taking time to find the right male and female for the best genetic match - to get the best conformation and temperament for that breed's purpose. Find the breeder who is breeding for the purpose you need a dog for. When I was looking for my 4th girl... I specifically looked for a breeder who was breeding for less prey drive in her GSDs, with a more laid back personality. I chose the puppy in the litter with the quietest temperament but not shy at all because that's what I needed in a dog. I live on a farm with lots of animals and cannot have a dog chasing and harassing them - I need a dog to protect them. I'm not doing Schutzhund trials so I didn't want that extreme prey drive.

But you have to remember that GSDs are bred for working, herding and protection and are very smart. They get bored if not given a job and trained to do that job right.

Good luck and have fun with your GSD -- they are great dogs!

 

[Nulla1418]

I've been poking around this forum and I am surprised, or well maybe not surprised, to see that no one has mentioned German Shepherds in relationship to keeping chickens. Let me tell you about my story...

I just got two chickens - as a first time chicken keeper - over the past weekend. My dog is a German Shepherd mix (nearly entirely german shepherd) who is about 6 years old. She's always been a city dog and has never had any kind of contact with livestock, especially birds like this. She's so socialized with people that I really didn't think she would have much of a prey drive. Well needless to say she was left out in our yard for 20 minutes to potty in the yard. My coop is pretty secure with good fencing around the run and a covered top. My dog had started trying to chew through the wooden frame of the chicken coop to get to the chickens. I'm terrified she's going to hurt them or get in sometime.

Can German Shepherds be okay around chickens? They don't free range in the yard - they have a run that they can range in. Is she too old to train? Any training suggestions?

It’s all in how you train your dog. I have a working line German Shepard with extreme prey drive. He’s fine with chickens. Because he doesn’t have a choice. He even herds them back into their cope when it’s almost dark. Dogs are like kids. It’s all in how you raise them.

 

[BDutch]

It’s all in how you train your dog. I have a working line German Shepard with extreme prey drive. He’s fine with chickens. Because he doesn’t have a choice. He even herds them back into their cope when it’s almost dark. Dogs are like kids. It’s all in how you raise them.

Hi Nulla, welcome to BYC.

Great to give a reply but did you notice the thread is about 20 years old?
Do please introduce yourself in the appropriate forum for new members for a warm welcome from the welcoming team .

 

[ShrekDawg]

Hi Nulla, welcome to BYC.

Great to give a reply but did you notice the thread is about 20 years old?
Do please introduce yourself in the appropriate forum for new members for a warm welcome from the welcoming team .

10 but agreed otherwise

 

[ShrekDawg]

It’s all in how you train your dog. I have a working line German Shepard with extreme prey drive. He’s fine with chickens. Because he doesn’t have a choice. He even herds them back into their cope when it’s almost dark. Dogs are like kids. It’s all in how you raise them.

Welcome to BYC! That said though, this thread is 10 years old and OP hasn’t been on in 9. Also I am sure the dog is long dead now.