Great Pyr and Chickens?

[remuda1]

My Pyrs definitely sleep. Sometimes they snore pretty loud. This is during the day, at night they patrol and bark if they scent or sense a possible threat. My birds are safer just due to the fact that my dogs are here. They don't actively protect my chickens, they protect my sheep. But their presence here protects everything inadvertently.

My fencing is sufficient to contain my dogs. I don't want my neighbors dogs on my property and I am not going to take the chance and let my dogs run at large. I don't want them to cause any harm and I want no harm to come to them. That's just being a responsible owner and a considerate neighbor. My dogs sometimes get bored on the eight acres that they are confined to. They are still youngsters though and I think they'll chill a bit more as they mature.

 

[remuda1]

Double post

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: Mine sleep:

 

[Mountain Man Jim]

Seeing how most of my dogs are older rescues, I don't see a value in the Pyr adopting the chickens as their flock idea. What's important is for the dog to understand that the chickens are your flock and are off limits for chasing and eating. In a backyard/farm situation, the Pyr is going to guard the entire fenced in area from predators. So, the chickens will be safe as well as the children, the cat and the geraniums.

Jim

 

[DanielHoover]

Basset Hounds protect my chickens from fox hawks
rats skunks weasels.

 

[2hot2chicken]

I know that I got really lucky but I have a 12yr old border collie blue heeler mix that was never around chickens until about 2 yrs ago when I got my 1st one. I raised them from chicks in the house under her watchful eyes however and since then she has always been very protective of them. I know many people say to never 100% trust a dog with chickens but I do all the time. I also know this because 1 day I brought home a new hen (my 1st silkie last summer and without introducing her to the flock I let her go free range with the rest of my hens ( I knew the person I got her from and trusted not to QT her). When I let my dog out that was the only time I ever saw her chase a single chicken and I was afraid she would kill her. But the hen looked and smelled different and she was protecting her hens! Once I got her stopped I caught the hen and held her to let the dog sniff her and told my dog she was a baby (meaning a new family member) and within a week the hen was walking right up to the dog no longer scared and the dog was guarding her just as the rest.

You need to do it carefully but a dog with natural guarding and/or protective instincts can be taught to live with chickens peacefuly. Have patients, do the introductions slow and make sure that see the dog interact with them before making a comitment to the dog. If you accept/adopt an adult dog and it turns out to be agressive to chickens then you are sorta stuck with the responsibility of then finding it another home and will have to keep it in the mean time. Personally bringing up a puppy would bea easier and that is what I will be doing in a couple weeks to

 

[peteyfoozer]

There are several breeds of LGD that you can consider. We have Maremmas. The problem with pups is they aren't generally dependable until they grow up. Chickens are usually "squeaky toys" to play with. One of my pups killed several by pinning and plucking them...out of exuberance. He LOVES chickens. It took some work but now he is an amazing chicken guardian. He watches over them constantly keeping a no-fly zone over our place. He raised 25 meatie chickens by himself last summer out on the lawn without a coop.
If you can find an adult that has DONE guarding of chickens, there is little to do but introduce him to the flock. These are amazingly intelligent dogs with an extremely strong instinct for what to do. I do recommend secure fencing. Especially if you have traffic. It would be a shame to lose one of these dogs to a car. Mine are free to roam the ranch but we live one 250,000 acres without a road. The Maremmas have set their perimeter pretty small, and they watch over my sheep, goats, calves and chickens in multiple pastures, from cougars, bobcats, coyotes, raccoons, owls, hawks, and other predators.
I'd look for an LGD rescue that has poultry experience if I was you, as a starter dog. You wouldn't regret it.