pest control from dogs

[Firefighter Chick]

I have two dogs. One is one year old a yellow lab mix. She's about 35 pounds, all lover, will follow you around anywhere. My 7 year old black lab/border collie/mutt is a protector and alarm system. He watches the cows in the pasture near us and guards the house and shed. He has even gone after someone running towards our house. So far this year they have killed numerus small coons, one adult coon, skunk, possums, even wild birds. I have yet to have anything break into my coop. Now if the chickens got out of their run i dont know how they would fare with the pets. Who all has dogs that keep your yards predator free?

 

[mikensara]

our lab husky mix does but sigh unfortunately she cannot be trusted with the chickens she has not killed any yet but she has chased once when i let them out to free range. She will not tolerate any stray animal on the property and has killed cats as well. She killed the one cat that she didnt get along with and still goes after my calico who now wont dare go out of the house and rarely comes out of hiding in the house when the dog is in.

 

[HenCrazyMom]

Have a Great Pyrenees, Yellow/chocolate Lab, and Golden Retriever. dogs and chickens share a fence between their run. Dogs, especially the lab and pyrenees keep everything out of the yard. They keep squirrels out of the bird feeders, coyotes have been chased off, rabbits, procupines, birds, dogs, cats, everything gets a thorough investigation. Today, The Pyrenees had the FedEx guy stuck in his truck. Normally, when I am expecting something to come, I kennel the dogs but I forgot my DH ordered something. OOPS. I would not trust any of the three dogs in with the chickens. However, the Pyrenees seems to be most protective of them trying to keep the other two dogs away from the chicken run.

 

[dretd]

I have a 5 year old Border Collie. I leave her out with the free-range chickens and don't give it a second thought. She will bark and chase any flying bird (sparrow, hawk, goose-doesn't matter), rabbits and is fixated on the faux-sheep aka horse. At night she will alert me if there is something outside (she is in most of the day and all night) and will barrel out barking with her hackles up. We used to have coyotes that would come in the yard when we were between dogs and she has been really good at keeping them away.

She was a young adult when we got the chicks and trained her that they were a part of the family--showed her the chicks, let her sniff them and said 'leave it- a command she already knew. I let her be supervised outside once they were at POL and after she demonstrated she was a good dog around them we gradually have left her unsupervised. I think you have to look at each dog and situation (what type of predators you are aiming to keep away) to know if the dog will be a good deterrent and safe around the chickens.

 

[pjknust]

I have a 10 yr old Rottie X was rescued/fostered at about 6 mo, and a 5 yr old Basenji/sharpi/?? mix rescue/dump-out at 6 mo also. I kept my chickens away from the dogs until they were about 4 mo old. When I first let the dogs out with the chickens, the dogs were afraid of the chickens. I totally trust the hens with my dogs. The 5 yr old is about 30 lb, he will get in an 'argument' with a hen if she is trying to take his food, of if she has something he wants, so I have to be careful of putting out scraps too close to time for the dogs to go out to potty. I have had my hens for 3 yrs, so both dogs were adults when they were introduced to the hens.

pam in TX

 

[nzpouter]

all our dogs run with all our other animals.... the way it should be and always have been, their job is to guard the property and everything in it.

 

[Mattemma]

Pest free maybe.My little *rat dog*(a mini pin) loves to catch small stuff.I bet they would chase the larger things,but might get hurt in the process. I love letting the dogs loose and seeing them dig.Amazing how they can smell those animals they are after,but boy can they make a mess digging for them!

 

[zazouse]

With 100's of free ranged birds i use theses guns and live traps to keep preditors away and they do their job very well.

 

[DAFox]

I have 4 dogs. The chickens free range. The 2 year old German Shepherd wants to chase. He's chained up during the day. My 6 year old Lab/GSD is fine when I'm on the property. She's chained when I can't be vigilant. The Great Pyrenees is fine all the time and will go after any animal that does not belong. The Chow/herding dog mix wants to herd the chickens -- some of the time. He's old, so he is more of a support barker rather than a threat to predators.

At night, I have no worries. Generally, all 4 of them are loose. I don't close up my coop unless the weather is too cold. The run door is closed though. The dogs don't try to get in at all, but on the other hand I haven't had a predator get close enough to try.
Dale-Ann

 

[Newbie in Screamer Al]

....... Too cute. You gotta be proud of em all..........
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