I would probably start from a puppy and get maybe a herding breed or one of the breeds that protects your property. My dogs always know what is my stuff and they do not touch it. I just think it is easier to start from a puppy that has acquired no bad habits that you have to train out. Keep the dog with you at all times as you go about your chores etc.., it should learn really fast and once that one is trained, it would be nice to get a second one, so they can keep each other’s company.What breed or mixed breed of dog if any will kill or scare of like Coyotes, opossums, foxes, dogs, etc? We have 115 chickens on 2 of our 7 acres, laying hens sleep in the barn with a chainlink fence yard around it, there is an additional 6ft chainlink fence pen attached to the back of the barn with its own little shelter, and then we have breeding pens behind the barn, we also have chickens in our 4 ft chain link fence backyard, gates are always closed, and birds are always locked up at night and free range in day. Attacks always happen at night, all areas with chickens have been attacked at least once. We have cameras, but they never see where the attack happens. Will a dog protect the chickens at night, if so what breed do we need to get? And do we have to have 2, or is 1 ok?
And yes, we know that LGD need intense training and won't be able to protect until they are adults.
Thanks for your time and opinions!