Predator deterrent/dogs in general?

[Pele]

I applaud your decision to make the shelters your first choice. In general, I would advice that you look for breeds or mixes with herding and livestock instinct and avoid the hunting breeds, which have prey instinct. It's not a sure thing either way, but it increases the odds of you finding a dog that works for you. When the time comes for my family to get a dog, I'm going to do some research on Corgis to see if they'd make a good compact but protective breed.

Either way, you're better off getting a puppy and raising that puppy in contact with chickens. You'll still need to provide adequate training, and keep a close eye on them at first, but they're more likely to associate chickens as members of the family instead of squeaky toys that way. There's a really interesting thread here on the forums about a lady who raised a puppy with chicks, and how she did it, it may be super useful to you. I'll see if I can dig it up if you are interested.

It takes time to train a dog to be trustworthy around chickens, unless you're super lucky and have a natural. For right now, I know it takes more time than I personally have because I work full time. I may be able to reduce my hours this summer and spend more time at home with the animals... I'm crossing my fingers. Let us know how it goes!

 

[ColoradoGirl42]

An amusing story: we adopted a shelter dog recently -- a breed mix that is recommended for being around chickens. Well, she got in the chicken yard (ironically, while DH and I were making our gate more predator-proof), and chased the birds for a couple seconds, even got a mouthful of tail feathers from one. Now, these birds are my first-ever flock, and I'm CRAZY about them. I screamed in alarm, and apparently I was so loud that the dog stopped chasing the chicks and fled the yard. Feathers were flying, but no harm done. Now when chickens come around her, even just looking through the fence at her, she looks at me and then walks away guiltily. Moral of the story: Sometimes acting like a girl WORKS!

 

[johnsons-r-us]

Quote:
Yes, I am wary of certain breeds for their prey drive. That's a good point! I will not start with a puppy, too much work! However, I will be sure to get a younger dog that I will test with the other animals....and kids as we have those too! Corgies are great. My daughter knows a lady up in MN that does rescue and has had them for a while. They are fiesty little things! And cute. I love the no-tails ones...but I foget which name is which? I need a relaxed, even-tempered dog, that is happy to just be home

If you can find that thread, great. I love reading.......

 

[johnsons-r-us]

Quote:
Sounds like you got a good dog that will respond to you! Bonus!! and much easier to train

 

[Pele]

Hrm... the thread is too old to dig up easily again, sorry about that. However, I did find a link that I found to be really informative back when I first read it:

http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/6/6-4/training_dogs_around_poultry.html
It's regarding training your dog to be 'safe' around chickens ( put safe in quotation because some dogs are not trainable to chickens due to prey drive/personality).

Hope that helps

 

[johnsons-r-us]

Quote:
I appreciate it! I'll check it out. Thanks.

 

[SillyCityGirl]

I had my dogs before I got chickens. First off about 6 years ago I fell in love with a couple of Anatolian mixes (1 is ASD/Rott the other is ASD/BC?). Then almost 2 years ago I added 3 lab/rott/??? mixes to the bunch shortly before that a GSD mix, Sadie, came into our lives too. My 2 Anatolian mixes who had never been around chickens until earlier this year are the only 2 that I trust to walk in the chicken pens off leash with me. The GSD mix no way no how, she shows way too much excitement and potential for un necessary roughness. The 3 labby mixes vary, one male,Seamus, I think will do great, he pretty much ignores them but is always scanning around keeping watch. His brother,Fergus, shows such an interest I dont even let him watch me and the birds. Thier sister, Goldie, is bird obsessed and approaches them in more of a relaxed excited way but is learning to stay calm when she is allowed to come close to them. The ASD mixes and the Labby mixes came from unfortunately unplanned breedings on small goat farms where other animals were also kept and all thier parents were good around livestock cause if they weren't they were not allowed to be there. What I have gotten from the labby mixes is very different that the ASD mixes. They are all excellent and barking thier little heads off to chase away coyotes but a couple of them haven't done in a chicken but I know it's cause I won't let them have the chance.

Since you are interested in a rescue I know that the national anatolian society rescue network occasionally have rescues that have already been evaluated with poultry and would love to be a house dog with some backyard birds to keep an eye and an ear on.

As far as the space to have one, they really don't need that much. I only have about 2 and a half acres and they are happy. They are fenced in away from the chickens in the large back yard, and I have chicken pens in the front yard where "good dogs" get to go. Yes we go on walks but not super long ones all the time. My ASD girlies are first and foremost mama's girls and one is intensely bonded to me, but she has to make the rounds frequently to check on things and lets me know when something isn't right. One afternoon as I was out near the large pen she saw something and let out a warning/attention bark and all the chickens ran towards her to get inside thier coop. They birds don't pay much attention to what the other dogs are barking about but there is a special bark for "stray dog" and "coyote" that gets the entire pack riled up. As far as inside or outside at night I let them decide and usually they sleep inside but sometimes not. In fact when it comes to letting my girls do thier job I have had to learn to trust them. They are not like any other breed I have ever worked with and mine are only mixes. They require a very firm yet gentle hand. I don't think they would be good first time dogs. It took a gianormous amount of time to get the girls that I have today. One of the girls is quite high strung. She is also the one that I have the most off leash power steering on and closest bond. Her sister is pretty much more of a marshmallow easy peasy girl but has more selective hearing and will acknowledge a recall then go finish her self appointed rounds and return when she is good and ready to. She is much better with the baby anythings though. The ASD's really are more of a co-worker relationship than the other breeds.

As much as I love my other baby dogs if I were going to do it again I would be contacting ASD rescue.

scg

 

[blondebarnbabe]

Has anyone tried those solar-powered Nite Gard boxes that you put outside your hen house? I have one up and thus far (knock wood) I have had good luck. I may invest in a couple more now that winter is coming and predators will be more plentiful, I assume.

 

[Mountain Man Jim]

I’m late to the party, as usual. My 2 cents on which breed is this … breed helps but it also depends on the dog’s personality. As far as breeds goes, I think it helps to start with a breed that is known to naturally watch and guard property. We don’t need our dogs to “bond” with the chickies but, they need to have the instinct to be on alert for intruders. For example, our Labs are useless for guarding. When they are outside they sit next to the front door waiting to be let in or waiting for us to do something with them. That’s great behavior for a hunting or companion dog but, we have had chickens stolen literally from right under their noses by the fox. On the other hand, our Great Pyrenees would take her favorite position high in the backyard and survey her turf. Just about any sound would set off a volley of barking. At the sight of an interloper, she would charge the fence growling with the other dogs in tow, quite the sight. If you opened the front door, all of the dogs run to the door. The Pyr , lying on her mound, would lift her head and look at you … What I need to come in now?

So, anyway, guarding breeds guard and that’s a good thing. Some other good things to consider about the breed are:

How weather proof is the breed? Boxers won’t work for me because of our cold winters. Consider that the dog needs to be outside whenever the chickens are outside, in all weather.

How independent is the breed and that particular dog? Many people have the most problem with predators at night. Your guard dog may need to be outside all day and night with little or no interaction with you, the leader of the pack. That’s tough on some dogs. If they are stressed, they can't guard very well.

Size and deterring affect of the dog? A little terrier would lose the fight fast in my neck of the woods; we gots loins out here. Again, the dog way be unsupervised for hours, can it handle itself against the areas predators without you?

Aggression. Oddly enough, you may still need you guard dog to be a big kitty cat around you, visitors and, especially, children. A junkyard dog may not be desirable so, look at the breed and the individual dog for signs of aggression.

Breed, I believe only gets you part of the way there but, it does help to stack the deck. Next comes the dog’s personality. You need to interact with your future dog and test to see if she is going to work for you. Lastly, there’s training. Your new farm dog will need to be trained to accept the chickens, understand the property boundaries, even to bark and chase predators, etc. You can adjust for quite a few personality issues with training but, I don’t think you can change my Labs into watchdogs.
I swear by using dogs to guard the chickens. I also like having a small pack of dogs, the dynamics are great. They tend to keep each other in check. I also I like shelter dogs that are few years old. You can evaluate a dog’s behavior much easier than a puppy’s. And, adopting a shelter dog is a good thing to do for the dog. All of our current dogs are rescues.

So, time to do your homework on DogBreedsInfo.com and plot out your next dog … I hear Boxer are pretty good watchdogs, if the weather is nice by you, maybe it’s time for another

Jim

 

[Beekissed]

You can adjust for quite a few personality issues with training but, I don’t think you can change my Labs into watchdogs.

That's funny...I've only ever had Labs and lab/mix dogs and they make wonderful watchdogs! And I also think their prey drive is the exact reason they make such good guardian dogs...they kill any preds that they can catch, which are any that come in the boundary of our acre. Maybe you don't keep your labs outside all the time and they don't get to establish a territory?

A high prey dog is only a problem if he thinks of your chickens as prey....I've yet to see any of my Labs even look twice at my chickens, let alone think those silly things are prey.

I've actually seen my Lab/GP mix dog stalk the neighborhood cats that come after the chickens....funny to see the cat stalking the chickens while the dog is very quietly and obviously stalking the cat. A burst of activity and the poor cat doesn't know what happened!!!! So funny to watch this big, white dog soft-footing, freezing on point, soft-footing, freezing....then roaring across the yard at a very frightened feline making a mad dash for the woods and beyond!