What breed of dog should we get?

[The chicken wizard]

Wow, thank you so so much for suggesting this. We have immediately started reading as much as we can about emu and geese. Thank you so so much for giving us a solution, not just a problem. Lol. Thanks again!

any time. many chicken keepers make the mistake of getting dogs as guard animals, and i feel like i should help in giving better solutions to protect chickens everywhere.

 

[centrarchid]

any time. many chicken keepers make the mistake of getting dogs as guard animals, and i feel like i should help in giving better solutions to protect chickens everywhere.

Can you describe your level of experience with such efforts?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I had a lovely Collie, a perfect gentleman, who watched over our flocks of chickens years ago and never bothered them at all. I didn't realize what a good protector he was until the day after he got out and got hit by a car, and my flock was decimated by the neighbor's little black terrier because Sammy was not out there to guard them. And therein lies the rub - Sammy, being a herding dog, had a fatal attraction for things that moved. Big, noisy, fast things, like cars and trucks. Somebody left a gate open, he chased, he died. And that's the problem with a lot of big, protective herding breeds. They chase things that move. And moving things may move on or across roads. That's why you need fences.

The smartest dog, the best herd dog, IMO, still has about as much sense as about a 3-yo kid when it comes to traffic. If you would trust a 3-yo kid to safeguard your chickens and keep donkeys from wandering into traffic, then that's what you've got supervising your chickens in a situation where there is traffic. Would you trust a dog to do the job? I wouldn't, not in a million years. That's why God let man invent fencing. Now if it's wide open spaces, no traffic, that's different. Just have to protect from varmints, but I still say chickens need pens. My opinion.

 

[The Moonshiner]

What a strange ride this has been.
Idk where the donkey was involved. Must of been edited out but someone mentioned them as flock guardians. Around here donkeys are for herd not flock protection. We have two minis and they do nothing for guarding birds. Ours lived with our chickens for first year or so and probably caused more issues with stepping on them occasionally then any protecting they did.
The poster that said all dogs will end up killing your birds and recommends getting geese or emus makes no sense to me and I wouldn't follow that recommendation. Of course a dog is gonna be a gamble but not all dogs will kill chickens. We've had several dogs in my lifetime that never killed birds. We have aussies now and they have done by far the most to keep our birds safe then anything else.
Geese? Really? We have geese and they do nothing for protection and do next to nothing as an alarm. They will get eaten as fast or faster then your chickens. Geese make a larger meal, are easier to spot and run slower then chickens.
Emus? IDK if they do any flock protecting but I have small kids so if I turn an emu or two loose in the yard then I think I might have to get something else to protect the kids from the emus. My cousin raised them for years and said they can be a bit dangerous because of their size and strength. IDK.

 

[cmom]

Fencing is the only option!
Mary

I agree. I have fencing and electric wire around my pens and coop, concrete under the pen gates and a heavy duty netting covering the pens. All was done because of losses from predators in the past. I also have several game cameras and was surprised of how many predators roam onto our property especially during the night.

 

[Kikiriki]

as i've told many chicken keepers, NEVER GET DOGS AS GUARD ANIMALS!! they will kill your flock when you're not looking. no matter the breed, no matter the size, no matter the training. they all have the predatory urge to kill small animals, including chickens. for protection, use geese or emus. they are certainly less expensive to hatch from eggs than dogs, and if you let a broody hen raise them, they will grow up bonded to that flock, willing to risk their lives to protect it. a stinking mutt will only pretend to love the flock in return for treats and food, and will kill your chickens without hesitation once it stops receiving treats. geese and emus are the way to go. many online hatchereys carry goslings, and you can find emu eggs usually under 60 us dollars on eBay.

My 135 lb dog guards his chick chicks...he gets soft yes, drops his ears and barks when airborne predators are in the sky until they go elsewhere. When a hen pecked his nose because he sniffed her food, he jumped back and walked away.

 

[Kikiriki]

Update: we edited the thread, that's why it might not make since now, and We have found a solution.

Im not sure what forum to post this in, but, we have a fox that is taking our chickens from various areas at night. It needs to stay on our property. Would it be best to get as a little puppy or around 4-10 months old?

A puppy cannot be trusted with your chickens. You would have to introduce them during that time, without allowing the pup to have direct access. You can pen the puppy next to them to allow all the animals to acclimate to one another. You can teach the dog to recognize hawks and eagles, too. I stood outside and a hawk flew over and landed in a tree. The dog in the picture looked, but didn’t react. I pointed at it, started growling and barking. He watched me. Did the same the next day. He now keeps our area free of flying predators, as well as his natural defense against the ones on the ground.
A dog younger than two years old is often too energetic. You have to provide the example of how to act with the birds. Correct wrong behavior, like bounding at the chickens, chasing, pouncing...
I am currently introducing our 4 month old LGD to our chicks. I made her act calm, lay down, not respond to their rambunctious play. The older LGD was so happy to have chicks again. He loves going into the garage to watch them in their big cage brooder.

 

[FogHornLegHorn79]

No good news here. I can only speak on the German Shepherd Dog (GSD) and the Anatolian Shepherd. I have own 2 GSDs and 3 Anatolians. I have 48 chickens.

Preface this post with: Its all in the drive of the dog no matter the breed or the reputation of the breed.

GSDs are really not an option. I was trusting my GSD until today. He killed my only Barred Rock which belonged to my youngest boy Liam. Little Rock as Liam called him was basically played with to death. The GSD did not eat or bite the chicken from what I could tell. He just played too rough. Here's the thing too, this GSD has been protecting my birds flawlessly for the past two weeks. My GSD is not high-drive either. He's low drive, but these dogs cant just sit around and watch birds. They have to have something to do and typically what they find to do with their time, you wont like very much. Oh and he's also nurtured.

Also as a general rule of thumb. I am never buying another female dog ever again for the rest of my life. I typically buy dogs in pairs of male and female and like the Holocaust, never again. The female GSD is now down at Fort Bragg with a friend of mine and my current Anatolian female is literally the devil walking the face of the earth. She's got one setting in that empty head of hers and that setting is "Kill and destroy anything I have access too" She nothing but a nightmare. Kills chickens non-stop and anything else she gets her teeth on. Zero maturity. Extremely destructive and it never ends. I wake up every morning and first thing I do is go outside to see what she got a hold of and destroyed. Oddly enough her brother Gungy my male Anatolian is the only dog I will trust with my chickens unsupervised. He's very mature and literally behaves precisely as the breed standard. Laid back, not command driven, beyond excellent with my children, independent minded, no training provided or needed. He's intact I.E. not nurtured.

Even though my male Anatolian is working out for me right now. I still will not be surprised if I find a dead chicken. I am now researching/considering a guard donkey

Also, if you cant fence then don't even think about either dog breed. An Anatolian can easily kill a human if it really wants to do so, no problem. I don't leave my guns around for my kids to find and I keep my very large dogs contained. Also another warning. Keeping Anatolians contained is very difficult, they are escape artists and tougher than a coffin nail.

If anyone has any questions please message me.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I noticed with your male you stated "no training provided or needed"
Is that standard with all your dogs or have the others had any training?

 

[FogHornLegHorn79]

I noticed with your male you stated "no training provided or needed"
Is that standard with all your dogs or have the others had any training?

Best way I can put it is that the GSDs and the Anatolians are literally dogs that are at the opposite end of the spectrum.

GSD has had tons of training. It's a must with them. If you don't train them they will ruin your life. Also it increases the communication/interaction/bond between the two of you and that is what they want . . . . CONSTANTLY. To be closer and one with you. GSDs are the most high maintenance annoying person you dated when you were in high-school. They constantly want attention. If you are an introvert like me, its an exhausting experience. The dogs have so much drive, you can literally train them to get you a beer from your fridge.

Anatolians seemed to just come with the right programming. They are independent minded and definitely not command driven. They will not incessantly bother you to be petted. The attention seeking behavior is not present.

I have never tried to train an Anatolian. Only heard nightmare stories from others who have tried. My wife seems to be good at training the female Anatolian on basic things. Sit, lay down, ect.

Gungy even from a puppy of 11 weeks has been great with the chickens. He's just so tolerant. I have seen my 5 year old boy mount Gungy and pull on his ears and he just gets it. He understands the situation "Hey this 5 year old kid who is pulling my ears has no boundaries and he has no boundaries because he's 5."

I have heard people always talk about dogs in terms of "intelligence", I thinks its much better viewed from terms of "drive". That is why I don't try to "train" my female Anatolian. Its not related to intelligence. No amount of therapy will stop a homicidal maniac from wanting to . . . so bad things. Same thing here with the dog. The dog loves to kill what ever it can. You cant get rid of that through training.

The best soldiers I worked with were able to go and give 100% when it was time to go. But the very best can sit around and do nothing when its time to sit around and do nothing. A lot of people/soldiers/dogs simply can not sit around and do nothing. They have to be doing something.