Need a little help choosing a dog

[mebberry4]

I know that Great Pyrenees make great livestock guardians for a wide range of species. I had originally researched their ability to protect poultry when I first was looking into getting chickens (and maybe sheep in the future

). My impression is that, for the most part, if the dog is raised from a very young age to live with the livestock they grow up thinking they are one of the flock and will protect them.
There are some interesting stories about Great Pyrs guarding chickens on Mother Earth News http://www.motherearthnews.com/Happy-Homesteader/Livestock-Guardian-Dogs-Great-Pyrenees.aspx
I hope to have a set up like this in the near future. Keep us posted on what you decide to do. I am interested to hear how things go. Best of luck!

 

[Mzyla]

I love Great Pyrenees, but if I'm reading OP correctly - she just want her poultry to be protected.
And, poultry usually stays in rather small enclosed areas.
GP needs couple of acres to patrol, otherwise he will be escaping when confined in smallish area.
Please Note: I'm not aware of OP set up. This is only my guess. She might as well have several acres & free ranging chickens. In this situation, GP or any large LGD will do just fine.

My GP is guarding chickens and goats during a day, when they free foraging. He is staying within about an acre during this time. But, during night, when goats are lock up and chickens asleep, he is patroling much further into the woods.

 

[mebberry4]

I love Great Pyrenees, but if I'm reading OP correctly - she just want her poultry to be protected.
And, poultry usually stays in rather small enclosed areas.
GP needs couple of acres to patrol, otherwise he will be escaping when confined in smallish area.
Please Note: I'm not aware of OP set up. This is only my guess. She might as well have several acres & free ranging chickens. In this situation, GP or any large LGD will do just fine.

My GP is guarding chickens and goats during a day, when they free foraging. He is staying within about an acre during this time. But, during night, when goats are lock up and chickens asleep, he is patroling much further into the woods.

Wow, what a beautiful flock with their guardian standing by! It sounds like you have a pretty great (and enviable) situation with your livestock. I definitely envisioned a Great Pyrenees roaming with the flock by day and patrolling the grounds, including the perimeter of the coop by night. I would imagine they would be a great deterrent for any of the pesky predators that might try to sneak into the coop while everyone else is sleeping. Granted I have only ever seen the breed when they come to the veterinary hospital and have never seen one in action.
I'm not sure of the OPs acreage either, so that would definitely be a consideration. I don't think a LGD would be happy with my current fenced in yard, but I hope to have the space to have a GP and more some day. Thanks for sharing the picture!

 

[chkinut]

we have 2 dogs....a 7 yr old boxer who is really good with the chickens. and then....hubby wanted a hunting dog he's 10 months old. and would probably be a great dog if we had no small animals (7 chickens and 1 outside cat). of course he has high prey drive. so i am having a difficult time bonding with him. my girls are safe, but it's the principle of the matter. but our boxer is great.

 

[ChickenGirl165]

I think there wont be many dogs who wouldnt like to play (XD) with you chicks, you will just have to teach them overtime. There are so called' lazy dogs' though but because they are 'lazy' they wouldnt protect ur dear chicks. I have a pomeranian cross Fox Terrier and she chases they chickens yet doesnt bite them. She only like chasing and nothing else. When the chickens stop, she would stop and wait for them to move again. haha!

 

[Oregon Blues]

I suspect that any dog can be trained to be safe around poultry. I've own several breeds of serious hunters and they were all fine with my poultry BUT!!!!!! I took the time to train them to not touch the birds and they were never ever left unsupervised with any birds while the dogs were young and still in play mode.

It's easy to train them to leave birds alone. It can be very difficult to impossible to re-train them to leave birds alone after they have already learned to kill or maul birds. It only takes a few seconds of inattention for the dogs to learn the joys of poultry killing.