Great danes and the flock

[cw]

i see that i am not the only one with a great dane, how do they do with your alls chickens? like mine ( i am now chicken less) or do they do pretty good? I had to introduce chickens to dog not vice versa, I believe i will have to do it again this spring any suggestions? dozer my dane ate 12 chickens in 2 hrs? as fast as he could catch them? he went 235 lbs at the vets office last visit?

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Danes and chickens.......... good luck. They are bad news.

 

[sandypaws]

always ask...WHAT was that breed of dog BRED to do???? great dane..
hhmmm.. my book says it was bred as a WAR dog.. and/or a large game HUNTING dog.... even tho today, we breed them for companions, they are STILL predators, and they were bred to help us kill things..
so with that said... NO danes and chickens dont work..

but they are dogs and they are SMART so with INTENSIVE training, it could work.. but most people dont/wont put the time into that kind of training.

 

[cw]

yea i didnt think he would work? after he got our rirs, a good friend has always wanted him probably let them have em

 

[Eastins Eggs]

If you want a big dog to guard chickens a Great Pyrenees is the best dog for the job. we have 4.

 

[krcote]

Just properly fence your birds and you won't have a bad dog any longer

 

[amazondoc]

I have dobermans and chickens. I also have secure pens.

 

[cw]

the great dane has very short hair and has to be kept inside when temps drop below 40.
as far a pen its hard to build one or buy a kennel he wont destroy

 

[sandypaws]

HOTWIRE is our friend (for a large dog, you need the hores/cow box, dont even bother with the dog box)... ZZAAPP.. arroooarrroooarrooo.. they usually test it twice, and then NEVER again...
yup.. good fence with 3 strands of hotwire... dogs wont get in and kill your girls...

just remember if you get a flock guarding dog, it is not your pet.. it has to be raised in the barn/coop, not your house..

 

[donnap1967]

I would never leave any dog alone with my chickens, Great Dane or other. With that said, I had a Great Dane and she was the best dog we've ever had and I've had lots of animals.

We got our Dane when my daughter was an infant. My husband brought her home as a surprise and I was so afraid of having one with my baby around I wanted him to return her. It was a Friday night and I made him promise to return her on Monday morning.

Through the weekend he convinced me to give her a chance and long story short, we ended up keeping her.

I was extremely careful with the kids around her at first but over time I grew to be comfortable with her. As the kids grew and learned to walk, they fell on her, grabbed her ears or tail as they toddled, sat on her (of course, I corrected the kids for that...didn't want to torture the dog) and hugged her and kissed her...she never blinked or flinched. That dog never growled in her life. The most lethal thing on her was that long whip of a tail lol.

We grew to love that dog as much as any human member of our family. RIP Missy. It's so sad they live such short lives.

Anyway, my point being...Great Danes can be great pets number one, and number two I would be careful with any dog around the chickens.