Good small dogs for protecting flock

[Grateful Ed]

This is Montana, she is a mixed breed. Beagle and god only knows what else. She weighs about 40 pounds. She has taken on the job herself of protecting our birds. She is simply amazing, she alerts us if there are birds of prey around. She keeps the fox and racoons or any other four legged predator's at bay. We didn't teach her this, we just wanted her to not chase or eat the birds, the rest she decided on her own that it would be her job. We have to go out every evening to herd the ducks to their pen, Montana is even getting the hang of that and sometimes will actually head them off when one tries to make a break for it. I realize we are extremely fortunate with her, but for my money I've always liked the mutts. I think their intelligence is amazing. I'm also partial to females, I just think they have a better temperament. That's not to say I haven't met some extremely amazing males, I just prefer females. Shelters are a good place to start. I would stick with a puppy though because it easier to teach an animal good habits then try to break them of bad ones.

 

[50-45-1]

MUTTS! ....really?
The three guardian dogs i have now are mixed breeds.
I think any dog can be trained to not to kill chickens, and be protecive of your yard.
I started with an Austrailen Shepherd who just naturally guarded the property from anything he knew did not belong. Most dogs do this by instinct. Got him as a pup and he was repromanded at an early age to know chickens are part of the yard and not playthings. He (Momo) trained 2 of the dogs i have now to do the job. Its really quite simple.
1. Keep the farm clear of what does not belong.
2. Leave the chickens be, they are not playthings.
Current dogs i have now are,
Austrailen Cattle Dog/border Collie mix
Austrailen shepherd/Pit Bull mix
3rd dog is a German Shepherd/Lab mix adult rescue. She is learning from the other 2, but her favorite thing to do is chase butterflys and moths. Go figure...
Below is last summer, Momo at age 13 (since passed away) and June the butterfly chaser with some of our guineas.

 

[OsceolaMomma]

I have a cur dog he’s our “cow dog” but he’s a good watch dog over my chickens. He’s not a small breed, but he is not huge either he weights around 55-60lbs. He has caught coons, possiums, and chased coyotes out of our yard more times then I can count...oh and he’ll catch and kill a snake right now. He’s a great all around dog, my parents and myself have had this breed my whole life. This is my guy in the pics with some of my girls and as you can see he just flat out hates them. lol

 

[COLORADO HIPPIE]

Just wondering if there’s a smaller breed of dog that’s good for guarding chickens? I know corgis are good, but what else? I’m looking into buying a dog but also using it to guard the flock, especially since we want them to be free range in the day

 

[Aunt Angus]

My teeny mutt alerts us to everything. She isn't necessarily protective of the chickens, but she lets us know if there are stray cats, squirrels, large birds, small birds, lizards, airplanes, the mailman, the neighbors, bicycles, children, motorcycles....

Wait - I guess she's just noisy and high strung.

Not a great guard dog, but she killed an opossum a couple of years back (before we got chickens). She is GREAT with the chickens because she knows her place with them. But I do NOT trust her around chicks!

It all goes back to your needs. I live in a semi-rural area. There is no need for my dog to run off coyote or anything like that. Anything steps foot (or paw or talon) in our yard, little high-strung Hattie runs em off or lets us know.

Such a spaz.

 

[danceswithronin]

DON'T get an Australian Cattle Dog ~ unless it's not the Australian Cattle Dog we have here in Oz. They have been bred to nip @ the heels of cattle during round up & have a reputation for being biters. Not aggressive, just bitey. As a working dog they also need huge amounts of exercise. They can run forever. I wouldn't use any sort of bird dog either, so that's labs out.

I had a very old red Australian cattle dog that I adopted from a shelter (he passed away a few months after I adopted him unfortunately) but I've got to agree I think they are a bitey breed. They nip for attention, and it hurts. Any kind of nipping behavior would do significant damage to your chickens. I wouldn't keep a collie with chickens for the same reason. The three biggest breeds of chicken killers I've known growing up have been retrievers, huskies, and collies. That being said, these are also some of the most popular breeds of dogs that are often found free-ranging in rural communities too.

 

[jenifern]

My dog is mid sized, Australian Shepard. He has saved my flock many times, even jumping into the air to free a hen from the clutches of a hawk. He puts the ravens on the run all the time. He is outside 100% of the time and knows his job including keeping the girls out of my vegetable garden and helps with the cattle. Without him I would never free range my girls. IMO best dog ever.

 

[baby-blue]

We only have mutts here - three of them are excellent with the guineas. They’ll run at them upon occasion just to hear them all scream, but they’ve never gone at them to hurt them and they know better than to even consider it. Three of our other ones could NEVER be trusted with the birds. One is a chihuahua mix (of course) and the other two are 90% hound. The prey drive is way too high. They would kill any of the birds the second they got the chance to. I’ve been debating working on desensitizing some of our other dogs to the guineas and the chickens once they’re older, but they’re all iffy with ‘prey’ animals. It would have to start out with them being leashed, then muzzled, etc. before they learned that going after the birds = not okay.
All of the dogs guard the property and would go after any animal/person out of place. If it’s more than one dog going after said animal/person, I would pity the perpetrator’s outcome. Our dogs don’t mess around. Any rat, raccoon, cat, etc. has always regretted coming onto the property. If it isn’t one of the dogs, it’s our mule, Will (short for William Shakes-ear) that will keep the property in check. Nothing gets past him. The task is just to get him to not kill the chooks and guineas.

 

[CotswoldLegbar]

Hi - we specifically chose a Norwegian Buhund, as they are herding dogs, and not very large (I call them pocket huskies) - they are a spitz type, but only about knee high, and very smart. We exposed ours to our chickens the day we got him, and he helps us herd them across the garden when they escape. He has never tried to harm a chicken or cat or other small animal.

 

[LvG]

I had a very old red Australian cattle dog that I adopted from a shelter (he passed away a few months after I adopted him unfortunately) but I've got to agree I think they are a bitey breed. They nip for attention, and it hurts. Any kind of nipping behavior would do significant damage to your chickens. I wouldn't keep a collie with chickens for the same reason. The three biggest breeds of chicken killers I've known growing up have been retrievers, huskies, and collies. That being said, these are also some of the most popular breeds of dogs that are often found free-ranging in rural communities too.

Can you tell me if pointers or setters would be a safer breed to have?