Do any of y'all have a sheep or goat or dog running with your flock? If so, what breed do you suggest? Do they need to be raised with the chickens since they were a baby? Thank you!
We have two goats in our chicken pasture. They are actually quite fond of the hens, and seem to provide hawk protection--we haven't lost a bird to a hawk since we got the goats, and usually we lose at least two or three every fall/winter. We introduced one goat as a kid, and the other as a full grown animal. Didnt' make a bit of difference. They were all nervous around each other for about five minutes. Now they all jostle together trying to get to scratch that I throw. The goats do like to play "chicken bowling" where they will run up to and scatter a group of hens in all directions. I think they just like to see the hens scatter. The hens don't seem to mind--they scatter, then go right back to what they were doing. I did have to re-do my chicken pop door. It was 12" x 14", and the goats could get inside the hen house and eat the chicken feed. Oh, I almost forgot. Our goats are a Nubian doe and a Pygmy wether.
I have 23 chickens all free range. I have 4 goats and 4 dogs. The along get along fine. All of my dogs are different breeds. I have 1 Shih Tzue 1 Yellow Lab 1 Hvanese Terrier mix and 1 Border Collie Flat Coated Retreiver mix. My Goats are Nubians. If I had to request a breed of dog I would say a female Australian Sheperd. Any breed of goat should be fine sheep too. Good Luck!
Really? We raise miniature Australian shepherds. I may have to allow one to run with my chickens! Did your dogs try to chase the chickens when yo first introduced them?
We have two dogs...a weiner dog and a huge chihauhua mutt. The chihauhua doesn't bother the birds, but I can't let the weiner dog anywhere near them. He has successfully killed 2 ducks and 3 chickens. I would get rid of the dog, but my husband had the dog before we got married, so I can't really justify getting rid of him. Good luck! I would love to have goats, but I'm afraid that my yard is just too small...and I like my garden and grass for my child.
Our goats were not raised with chickens but they pretty much just ignore them (alpine/nubian mix). As a matter of fact the chickens hang out in the goat shed all the time with the goats. Most livestock will do just fine with chickens. Dogs on the other hand are another story. They can be trained or raised to be with chickens but ours are not. The few that have gotten out of their free-range area have been quickly chased and carried around in the mouth of our dogs! Luckily each time has not been fatal. The birds pretty much stay in there area now.
I have 6 hens and 4 dogs that share a small yard without problem. 1 pit-bull mix and 3 pugs. 3 of the dogs are from urban shelters with mixed history of abuse/neglect and where not raised on a farm or around birds. It took training but I have not had any issues.
