Total newbie question- coops and high-prey dogs

[CJ21]

I'm new to the whole backyard chickens thing- been doing a bit of reading, but the main obstacle for us is our dogs. We're in central Arizona (county land, unincorporated area), and would like to keep chickens on grass. I've been looking at a number of "tractor" designs so we could move them around- wouldn't want more than 2-3 birds. I don't think we could consume that many eggs, really.

Anyway- we also keep greyhounds. While some are pretty laid back, we have one that is an absolute terror when it comes to anything that's not another greyhound. We had some ducks land in the backyard once- holy heck. We didn't hear the end of that from Miss Whines-a-lot until half an hour after they left.

However, she does get kind of used to critters after a while; we have some gerbils in another room, and she's no longer homicidal about those.

Aside from the obvious safety questions when it comes to keeping birds (I am confident I could construct a coop that would keep her out), would it be stressful or otherwise harmful to cooped chickens- particularly if they started out as very young birds- that might be exposed to a greyhound like that? The greys are inside 99.5% of the time, but I'd rather not keep birds if they'd just be stressed out for that 0.5%. We don't have enough room, I don't think, to fence off part of the yard with an opaque fence.

Any suggestions would be welcome. Fresh eggs would be great, but I'd like for the birds to be treated well.

 

[aubreynoramarie]

i dont think greyhounds are as terrible as terriers. of course they are bred to chase, but if your girsl are in a tractor, what have they got to chase???

if your pup gets used to other animals like you say they do, i think your chickens will get used to your pup staring at them, ESPECIALLY if you get them as chicks and introduce him (supervised) slowly.


soooo, i say

GO FOR IT!

 

[mulewagon]

A dog like that is just great to have outside the coop - it'll kill anything else that tries to get in. Our next door neighbor's chickens have been wiped out again and again, but so far (knock wood!) we haven't lost a single one inside the pen, thanks to our murderous dog! (I'm hoping to goodness he gets weasels, too, because it looks like that's what got their last ones...)

 

[abhaya]

as long as you can keep them safe you should be ok. chickens will ignore the dog after a while