In your experince, do dogs help keep away predators???

[Beth 67]

Some dog can be good with chicken and others are not. We had two dog one was a border collie/ blue healer cross and we couldn't trust around the chicken at all. She killed at least one before we decide to find a better home for her.Know she lives with baby calf and is doing well. Are other dog is a terrier mix and he is great. He doesn't bother them unless the rooster are fighting then he try to break them up. He also doesn't allow any strange animal on the property unless we introduce him then their of Ok. A couple of month ago we had a skunk try and make his home on are property the terrier bug him so much he finally left on his own.

 

[Donnette502]

I wouldn't trust a dog with my chickens either. We had 100 chickens when we livedin Oklahoma, and all of them were killed by our dog. Once a dog gets the taste of chicken, they become a chicken killer. My husband at the time was so upset that he killed our dog and her pups. It was not a pretty situation. I think a rooster is the best protection for your chickens. I have heard stories that the rooster is the "guard dog" of the flock - someone correct me if I'm wrong. We have RIR hens and we keep a close eye on them. We have traps that we have set out after we treed a raccoon that was wandering around the yard and we also caught 2 opossum in the traps. We took the opossums and released them, but the raccoon hasn't returned. Perhaps he realizes that we know he is there and went to another yard - hopefully.

 

[TriciaHowe]

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Your husband killed your dog and her puppies?? That is just sick.....

 

[Moonkit]

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My border collie, Diamond, does the same thing.. except she CAN catch them if they fly low enough. Since we got her, we haven't seen any other animals of any sort in the yard (rabbits/squirrels/possums/etc). She is an indoor dog, but insists on being let out when we're home to 'patrol'. She did act aggressive towards my chicks when they were little handfuls of feathers, but I nipped that in the bud and now she doesn't touch them except for a nip in their direction when they try to eat the corn she stole from them.

The funniest part is that the one that chases her the most isn't even put off by the nips.. she just wipes her beak on Diamond's front elbow and our arucana nipped her tail.

 

[Zonoma]

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Yes! My two schnauzers are good with the chickens and even herd them back to the run when I need to lock them up before bed. They also alert to ANYTHING in the yard and most predators are wary of the alert even when they could make a meal out of my two yippy dogs. I don't know how I got so lucky- terriers are NOT known for being good with smaller animals (and mine will kill snakes and mice) - but I'm not complaining. Here's a picture of my oldest, Elsie:

 

[TheSitcomGirls]

For sure... the right dog. My two female goldens, especially the older one, goes crazy at the smell or sight of a coyote. Since having her the coyotes don't come close to the house anymore. She also chased a hawk off that landed in our horse pasture.

 

[joskt0204]

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I'm so sorry for your loss

, we cry and bury ours too. Summer's passing was particularly hard for my daughter. Do you know what got your girl so you can prevent more losses in the future?

I really think it was a feral cat, as we have several nearby, and on that I have seen in the woods watching the chickens. I guess it followed her into the coop when she went in to lay. I don't know how to stop that from happening, but I did put dog and cat hair (from my pets) all around the coop, and I've been leaving the dogs out there "on guard" more.

 

[dixiebeast]

I have only had chickens a few months...my dog for 13 years...he will kill my chickens if he can but he is also the ONLY reason we have lost none to predators! He did injure my Roo but the roo lived and I learned not to let my guard down.I hope to get a pup to raise with my chickens soon to replace him and be safe with them but if not we will just have to do what we do now. When the girls are out he is up and we watch the girls(usually late afternoon a couple hours)

 

[nzpouter]

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not true... our dogs are fed raw... including whole chickens.... yet if I need to I can let them sleep in the coop with the chickens.

 

[jfaith51]

We have a Mastiff/ Golden Retriever neutered Katrina hurricane rescued dog. He was around 2 when we got him. Before getting a dog we had the yearly pilgrimage of a skunk under our house. That was soooo nasty! We had a raccoon kill quite a few pigeons. A bobcat slowly decimated my Golden Comet flock. Since getting Skeeter in 2005 we have had no predator problems except for hawks. They mainly go after the pigeons. Now if I could somehow teach that dog to fly I'm sure he could keep them away also.