i think i need a dog--what breed is best?

[DTchickens]

may have been suggested... you may have decided but i just felt like saying,-Great pyrenees. in my experience with one. for 9 years... raising her from a pup, she has protected my chickens from Possums. (squished her first one. went out there and she came pouncing behind my dad, jumped on it bit and you heard bones popping), Coyotes. stray dogs. etc. NONE of them come anywhere near my property nor chickens. hawks? no. whenever she sees a bird flying she barks at it until he flys away. strangers? never bit anyone. but she will bark and keep them pinned in their truck until we come outside. then shes fine unless they try to grab the chickens and they start acting up. then she will bark some and you have to watch her.. we had some problems with my aunts pitbulls and american bulldogs (were 5.). they would come over and kill our chickens. When my great pyrenees turned a year old. took them all on.... 4 ran. she almost killed one but we stopped her... never had a problem out of them again only thing i have problems with now are Snakes... and i dont have many of them around just one chicken snake last year which was the first i had seen in years (i didn't even notice it. and it was maybe 4 feet from me running up the chicken coops wall) i told my dad "Something got in the brooder and ate most of the biddies" dad went out there looked in the corner and saw him sneaking up the wall. i had walked all around in there.. shows how obersvant i am. great danes are also great chicken dogs. which is why im replacing my great pyrenees when she kicks the bucket (very soon)

-Daniel

 

[playchickenman]

Yea Yea Yea......look any dog is great. I have two and neither cares anything about the yard livestock.....at all. Well thats not true they like to roll in their droppings...but at least do not approach the actual animal. You should get one that your family likes and fits in with your personallities. And then slowly introduce it to the chickens. I did mine by holding the bird and then letting the dog smell it....the dog snizzed and walked away.

 

[mgibbzzz]

Man, guess I have been lucky. We have several hunting dogs, which we breed and train... beagles, bassetts, and redbones. NONE of them even mess with with our chickens. Our ameracan lays her eggs in one of our beagle's dog box. He will bark and stand outside until someone removes the egg.

And a couple will help our ol redbone male eat his food. I have learned from breeding that just because a dog was bred to do a job, doesn't mean that is what it will do. We train some of our pups to hunt and some just don't want to track and hunt. Iwould suggest getting a pup and training it yourself. It is best to do it yourself so that you know it is done right.


DMK Ranch

 

[chickypoo]

We have a Brittany. She is very smart and was easy to train but I don't think I would recommend the breed since they are a bird dog, she is just smart and listens to us, and it helps that she is a little afraid of them.

 

[simba49450]

hi there

the best kind would be a standard collie, protective of the family, excellent hearding dogs and they have been used for livestock for a lot of years. great family dog with a great disposition. when trained they will protect anything you want, even kids.my grandparents had a collie for the livestock and would round up horses, cattle, chickens and whatever else they had at the time.

 

[bwebb7]

I see you thought of great pyranese-nice
I do think with some of the suggestions-gp,st bern
is a good thing the Giant breeds are less active (most of the time)
I have a mastiff -he is their protector- I have NO problem leaving him for a couple of days with my chix-he will rag on a roo once in a while but the roo's poke at him once in a while first!
They are funny to watch and after losing all my birds two years in a row, I will always have a big (mostly) lazy Mastiff in the yard to watch my birds

 

[Scale Master]

We have a chocolate lab, I don't know if she would keep predetors away, but she would probably lay on and hatch the eggs for the hens.Hershey is the kind that would mother a baby squirrel, or any other critter for that matter.

 

[Brick243]

I have a black Mountain Cur dog. I've had him since he was a pup. He has been around livestock and poultry all of his life. He has the run of the place, most of the time, and I absolutely trust him to protect the chickens. He is very good with the grandkids. He is the most intelligent and obedient dog I have ever owned.

I also have a Great Pyrenees that I got when she was two years old. She is also very good with the chickens and the kids.

I can, and do, leave both of these dogs with access to the chickens without any doubt they will do their job.

 

[kyle7630]

Quote:
I have heard of these dogs in action. The guy I got my guineas and chickens from has one that he says does great. Another guy I met who's grandfather had game fowl, trained one of these dogs to eat the unwanted eggs right from under the hens. He would just nudge his nose right up under there and get those eggs that were left over after collection. Dog supposedly never harmed one bird. I saw a special on tv about this breed and the trick seemed to be letting them spend as much time as possible, as early as possible with the flock. It kinda tricks them into thinking they are a chicken but their size and protective instinct deters predators.

 

[shmooborp]

i have always had a lab growing up and i dont think i ever wont for the rest of my life. they are like best friends

and cute and soft and etc.. the list goes on