I have this littel rat dog next door, it seems h has learned that when he chases the chickens, they fly about and make noise which he finds entertaining. Hopefully he doesn't end up hurting the chickens. He just surprised me runing around the corner chasing birds... as he rounded he jumped up towards a bird that was flying and nipped, the strange neighbor relatives were walking down the road and started hollerin at him to stop, which is good. I did not react to the dog in any way given that he is a new neighbor and these new developments left me unsure of the proper reaction at the time. So... I will have to mark my territory with him a little better and hopefully he gets the hint eventually. (all of these homes are on the same property so property lines, law etc are not aplicable) So to the point, can I get a rooster that is more prone to fighting off dogs than others, without trying to be dominant over my 4 year old? I imagine this is just kind of a luck of the draw thing. I had a group of male banties originally, they were aggressive toward children and me. Now I have a flock of EE's 3 roos, all great, not aggressive at all. I have Ameraucanas coming in April. I am planing on just trying to keep the most bad-*** roosters out of the lot, but I didn't know if maybe someone had more information from experience and what not. Is there a super protective breed that is still not overly aggressive maybe?!? *******************************************************************************************************************************************
That will come sometime, but my current pooch is like 15 years old and on the way down, she wouldn't appreciate more attention being taken from her, she's spoiled. I was thinking those little australian cattle dogs, or australian shepherds would be good, with lots of training and proper temperment. Maybe then I wouldn't have to get fighting cocks off the black... j/k I read a post on her one time about someone's rooster fighting off dogs... that would be awesome.
I too have a little whipper snapper (10 lb. cockapoo) that is easily entertained by charging outside barking straight into the middle of the flock just to watch them all scatter and then she's done! I did have a little rascally white banty frizzle boy that put her in her place everytime she did it and would chase and peck her all the way back into the house BUT...he got too big for his britches and started going after me, my Hubby, and the kids and even a few good stiff kicks would not deter him from attacking us:cd Sooo...he's isolated now living out the rest of his spoiled rotten life as a bachelor during the day but gets girls for company at night. Good thing he wasn't hatched into a family of "real farmers" or his would be long gone by now! But...he's just too darn pretty for soup and I need him and his Big Ego for making me frizzle babies. So now I have a GIGANTRUOUS BEASTLY Giant Black Cochin Boy who is my new roo in charge of the free range flock he's a sweet as pie which is GREAT for the family and visitors but our pesky little cockapoo is back to her old tricks again and this poor boy is just too darn sweet to do a DAG on thing about it! Not sure if one exists that is smart enough to know how to fend off dogs and not fend off humans? Good Luck. Blessings, Keri
I wish you luck finding a rooster. I have never seen or heard of a rooster that will fend off dogs like that... but I don't know why it would not be possible. Maybe. I have a neighbor who has a cute little Yorkshire Terrier... nice dog, but once he ran into my pole barn and chased all my chickens... they scattered all over, including in the trees behind our barn... always a concern because of predators... They have always since kept him contained. They felt really bad about the incident. Neighbors also like to come over and bring their young children to see the "petting zoo" and they also will chase the birds all over. Over the years the chickens have always come back... But it is a concern. I just ask that people who are visiting keep their dogs on a leash (if they are prone to chasing the birds) and that kids respect the needs of the birds... a calm environment... And what I do to encourage this is by showing them how to hold a chicken properly, and I offer tidbits of information so the whole experience becomes a learning experience for the children, and hopefully they learn to regard their feathered friends with respect. It turns out to be a win/win situation for me... But dogs are most certainly a concern... and their leash laws... So, hopefully, this helps...
I was just thinking back to an experience I had here with a neighbors dogs and the sherriff, I think they referenced a leash law that had something to do with a 12 guage something ir other. Anyway it seemed like a kind of serious offense because I ended up burying one of the dogs on my property the night the sherriffs visited.
Breeds wise, games will sometimes attack dogs, hawks, cats etc. But i would use rhode island reds as your best bet for that.. I did want to say, it would be easier to get the neighbors to keep the dog on a leash, train him to not bother birds or allow you to. If you did find a rooster that was dog-aggressive you would have to wonder if it would matter when the dog bites him- will he run, or will he continue trying to defend his flock? Not to mention roosters can and will kill dogs and other animals if they have spurs, and with a large rooster vs a small dog it does not take long for him to get a lucky spot and i doubt your neighbors would be very happy about that.
I have a golden laced wyndotte, moe, and whenever he was a cockerel my small dogs chased him and tourted him unlit one day he figured out he could peck their noses. well needless to say the small dogs now give him a wide berth of room. in fact they wont even go outside while he is roaming the front yard! Also he eats my lab's food right along with him. And here is the chicken that even sleeps in the dogs house sometimes:
