German Shepherds and chickens - good combo?

[CorralitosSunflower]

My family raised a GS (love of my lifetime) when I was a young child and we had chickens that free ranged everyday with no problem whatsoever. GS are one of the smartest breeds and can be trained to do just about anything. I have read that because of this they can make one of the best family pets. They have a herding instinct and I remember being herded myself (pretty funny) and watching my chickens be herded by her, never made any attempt to harm. Their intelligence can work against you though if you do not provide correct and/or enough training, stimulation and excersize for them which make them pent-up, unhappy and more likely to get into trouble. I say you should go for it! Get a puppy, do some training classes with them (also include your children in the training process) and give them plenty of exposure to all different types of animals if possible. We had Rats, bunnies, chickens, cats, parakeets around. Nothing surprised her and she only chased balls and rocks

 

[happytxchick]

Quote:
Thanks...great post...appreciate your input.

 

[Blue Skys]

My German Shepherd had killed chickens before, when she was a puppy. The chickens I have now are safe with her as far as I'm concerned. We did not have to do much "training" (just routine obedience), we exposed her to them, corrected her whenever she showed interest... she is just smart enough to realize that they are my chickens, she is not to harm them.

I feel our German Shepherd is a good livestock gaurdian though it is not her full time job. She will herd them from time to time, it's great when I'm trying to catch one or put them up before bed time.

 

[CorralitosSunflower]

Quote:
Yes definately, you have to be careful when they are puppies, as anyone with puppies know they love to wrestle, bite and play with anything that moves which for a pullet could be bad news. Even if they mean no harm....

 

[ruth]

You might never get GSDs as great as my two but I'd recommend them 100%:

Here's Scarlett, just made one year, working the coop. She breaks up roo fights and gang rapes, herds the babies in at night and just loves to stay in the hen house and keep the peace. If she hears a hen yell, she comes running.

And then there's Rex, our 6 year old GSD. Always watching for hawks.

All of our 200+ chickens, ducks, and peacocks have total free range of our farm. Some even sleep in the carport with the dogs who are loose at all times. We are surrounded by thousands of acres of woods and these dogs really work to keep predators away.

For those who say they (dogs or GSDs) can't be trusted alone with them - well a picture is worth a thousand words. Here's Rex guarding his first little flock:

Followed them everywhere. Even dug a hole under a bush so they could stay cool.

You know which of our 6 dogs are catching, mauling and/or killing and eating every chick, chicken, duckling or duck they get their mouth on - our GPs. I had read so much about the breed and am holding out hope that they can be worked with since they are still just "puppies" but they certainly don't seem to have the instinct and intelligence my GSDs have. They are the only dogs that have to live in the fenced back yard and they still manage to get any birds that fly over the fence or get in there. They know better and are very sneaky about it. If I could have a "do over" I would get more GSDs instead of GPs.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I have a GSD. She is German working lines. She was 1 1/2 years old when we got our chicks. I took her in with me when I would go to the garage every day to hold the chicks. Honestly, her first thought of them resembled......"Oooooh, squeaky toy!!!!" But I told her no, and she learned that the chickens are mine. I do not trust her completely (will not leave her alone with them) as she does have a VERY strong prey drive. (especially when they run with flapping their wings) Our chickens roam our fenced orchard and when I'm in there with the chickens, she will herd them. When I'm not in there, she leaves them alone. She's even stuck her nose through the fence, and promptly got it pecked from my RIR.

And she too LOVES poo candy. (Which is why she doesn't go in with me.

)

 

[wombat]

If your dogs are eating "poo candy", it might just be a habit, but it could be that they are missing something from their diet. Try using Missing Link on your dog's food ... a bag of it is rather expensive, but you only use a spoonful at a time, so a bag lasts for months and months.

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
Great post, beautiful dogs. Did the Shepherds require a lot of training to do what they are doing? Were they raised around birds as pups, or did you just raise the chicks in their presence?

Training advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[valreegrl]

Great input from everyone!

We are also thinking about adding a GSD to our family.
However, I too, was worried about it's reaction to the chickens.

We currently have a Chihuahua. Obviously the chickens are much larger than he is, but still.....he has bedded down with them in the yard and has even moved away from a piece of food so the chickens could have it.

 

[Le Canard de Barbarie]

I was curious as to why the German Shepherd is not considered a Livestock Guardian Dog and found this:

From http://www.canids.org/occasionalpapers/livestockguardingdog.pdf


... crossbreeding “shepherd’s dogs” (LGDs) with German, Dutch and Belgian Shepherds has resulted in dogs which chase rather than guard livestock (Taylor 1998a,b, 2000; Nelson 1996 reviewed in Taylor 1998b).