How long will a hawk stick around??

[Folly's place]

Trained guard dogs can work very well, BUT it takes a couple of years for each dog to be safe/ reliable, they need to be fenced, and are by far the most expensive chicken guardians! @centrarchid has them, and along with some others here, can talk about it.
Mary

 

[elisabeth_]

Trained guard dogs can work very well, BUT it takes a couple of years for each dog to be safe/ reliable, they need to be fenced, and are by far the most expensive chicken guardians! @centrarchid has them, and along with some others here, can talk about it.
Mary

Yeah, I figured I might have to wait till the dog and the chickens can be raised around each other... might not be a good idea right now with my grown chickens that have never been around dogs before lol

 

[Folly's place]

It's not the chickens, it's the dogs, who would naturally love to play with or kill the chickens, and take time and training to convince otherwise.
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

And, who need to sleep sometime, and may or may not worry about flying predators at all.
Mary

 

[elisabeth_]

It's not the chickens, it's the dogs, who would naturally love to play with or kill the chickens, and take time and training to convince otherwise.
Mary

Are there any breeds you think would be easier to train to be good to the chickens? I guess it’s probably difficult to get one to be gentle with chickens and rough with predators, but I’d be willing to try sometime in the future

 

[Folly's place]

I don't have typical LGD breeds, and am not set up to manage them here. It's about having enough fenced space, and willingness to manage 100+ pound furry guard dogs! Those breeds were developed to live with and guard sheep, mostly, not poultry, and are expensive to buy and maintain.
When we had dogs who were fine with the chickens, they were Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, a German Shorthaired Pointer, and one Dalmation, raised here from puppyhood, and taught early that the chickens were OFF LIMITS! They were all happy to guard, not so much the birds specifically, but their territory, from any threat, animal or human. They also all respected out Invisible Fencing, wonderful.
Then we got into shelter rescue types, the first was a mixed labx, who needed a Ft. Knox fence to stop killing the chickens. Then, some young adult terriers from shelters, with bad back stories, who love chicken, and I've become too lazy to train them (if even possible!) to leave the birds alone.
Anyway, it's just not practical in a suburban or small acreage lot to have dedicated dog just for this. If you want the dog anyway, and have it fenced, and trained, sure.
Mary